Phở Đông Restaurant — Restaurant in Redwood City

At first it felt really weird to be in a Vietnamese restaurant with clearly non-vietnamese servers; even the kitchen staff seemed to be non-vietnamese as you could hear conversation going on in Spanish&English. I usually go to Vietnamese restaurants in San Jose and they are all very authentic. I was afraid this one wouldn't be, but I was already seated and decided to try it.

I ordered a rice plate with pork chops, and my partner got a beef pho. One thing about the menu is that many plates come only with the English name, so when I saw chicken on rice I was wondering if it was comga (literally rice-chicken) a dish I enjoy, but the waitress didn't know what comga was. (I don't think they serve comga, the chicken came grilled, she explained, And comga is steamed).

But food was good and tasty, not very different from other vietnamese I've tried, although of course every place tastes slightly different. I found the soup not to have a good broth but my partner liked it, And he usually orders pho, so he should know best.

The restaurant is a bit nicer than the "typical" vietnamese where waiters and bussers run around pushing carts of dirty dishes, but it still has the feeling of a...

Upon previous visits, the cheerful and engaging owner let me know that the pho recipe required 100 lb of assorted meat, spices, and rock sugar boiled for 3 to 4 hours. This may still be the case, but the pho this time a bit thin and uninspired. It's customary in most Vietnamese restaurants to serve hot tea for free. Though I understand about rising cost, it was disheartening to pay $2 for stash tea instead of the expected jasmine tea usually served in Vietnamese restaurants. This is a clean, efficient, and well-run restaurant with serviceable food and would certainly satisfy most everyone. The menu has no Vietnamese translation of dishes and instead of saying "pho tai" it says "steak pho." This is a good restaurant, will satisfy most people and their friends, but would benefit from a little more sincerity about their dedication to preserving more Vietnamese...

The broth in my pho was flavorful and full of spice, but I prefer a weaker more wholesome meaty texture and flavor in my pho. The meat in my soup also had a strange texture. I enjoyed the pho, but it was nothing to really write home about. The imperial rolls came with a sweet and sour chili sauce, which is a big no-no to me. I requested Vietnamese vinaigrette after trying to enjoy the rolls without it. The rolls themselves were less tasty than I would have preferred and needed something to dip in. The Vietnamese coffee I ordered was more on the bitter side, and the liquid did not fill my iced cup all the way Luke most places. For $10/bowl, I would say look elsewhere. It's rather pricey, where I order a small bowl of pho, imperial rolls appetizer and imperial rolls totalled 21$. That's a bit much for me for food I consider to be normally...