Pho Huynh — Restaurant in South El Monte

Wanted to eat something quick with for lunch the other day, and saw a few reviews from Yelp friends about Pho Huynh, so I decided to drop by. There's a small parking lot behind the restaurant, and street parking if there aren't any spaces. Lots of tables, but since they serve the bowls of pho so quickly, people pretty much come and go.

My friend ordered the filet mignon (#1) and I ordered #2. He added extra beef balls, which were served on the side a few minutes after our pho came out. Everything came out fairly quickly.I thought the broth was pretty tasty, but I'm not a pho fanatic so as long as there is flavor, I'm good. I thought that all the pho specials came with the flat noodles (which is why I picked this place), but mine came with the regular vermicelli, while my friend's had the flat noodle! That was disappointing.

#2 had lots of meat and LOTS of noodles. Meat wise, I had tripe, flank, even some beef balls in my soup. The meat was tasty and added to the flavor of the broth. I was really full after eating my bowl. #1 seemed to contain more noodles than meat, and my friend also mentioned that the broth wasn't as tasty as Pho Pasteur. I think our taste palates differ by a lot haha.

They serve the typical beansprouts, chili, mint and lime on the side. I also got an iced coffee for my dad, which he said he liked. Flavor was good, and the cup wasn't overflowing with ice like some other places do to their iced coffee!

Overall, I thought it was decent. Would have liked to have tried the flat noodle for my bowl though. Very quick meal and pay at the counter. They accept credit cards as well and this place opens...

Had the house special w/ filet mignon

Soup 7/10

This was a very interesting broth, it's not your traditional broth, it was less salty, maybe no msg, and they added ginger for an interesting twist that made the soup more balanced (I find traditional broths to be very tasty while at the store but feel a bit heavy after leaving the store, where this soup just tastes good during and after)

Beef 6/10

For the beef, this is my fault, it was very soft and actually too good to put into pho. I am more used to the slightly less tender beef they put into your every day pho store.

Coffee 10/10

I hardly ever have problems with Vietnamese coffee. I am a more of an iced expresso with no sugar and cream type of guy. The coffee here was strong and not super sweet. Perfect.

This is one of the few pho places that open at 8am. And they served the pho in less than 2 minutes. (I was here at 8am)

So would...

Why am I giving this place two stars? The place has gone downhill since I was last here. Note, I'm the person to order the Pho Dat Biet at every pho restaurant, because it's usually the default special dish (hence the name). But I found this place to be on the "Why even bother coming here" short list.

The large size had more noodles, and the noodles were stuck together,.meaning they didn't even bother to dunk it cold water or oil it up before putting broth in. The broth is as bland as drinking regular water. The quantity of meat was maybe a half portion size than other places. The worst of it all was the toppings. One dish for two people.

Service was meh, even though there were five servers for a not even packed place. I say meh because the person who served us gave me a slight attitude. The only saving grace was the speed of when we order to when we...