Pho 6 — Restaurant in Town of Carmel

It's a joy to find authentic Vietnamese food anywhere in this area. The joy is even better when the food is this good.... This unassuming restaurant sits in a patch of new foodie havens, this one attracting the hungry with the lush smell of pho and the prospect of a very tasty dinner.

The room stretches back, long and narrow, ending in a small but pleasantly arranged Formica modern dining room. A few people seemed to be enjoying their meals; I opted for takeout.

Takeout is a good choice with Vietnamese food. It doesn't seem to mind sitting quietly while all the plates are arranged and it reheats surprisingly well. Our bowl of pho came with extra bean sprouts, a few slices of jalapeno and a nice bunch of rich Thai basil. The generous broth was intense and lush, as it should be.

I opted for the Pho6 Special which came with generous amounts of Angus eye round and brisket plus short ribs and meat balls. Wow. All tender, all distinctly tasty. Alicia, ever the saner of us, chose the healthy vegetable pho with tofu, cabbage, broccoli, carrots, and mushrooms in a dense vegetable broth. A very tasty choice.

If that were the end of the menu, I'd still happily return for seconds. Instead this menu goes on with noodle and rice dishes. banh mi (sandwiches) and a whole page of Chinese (Szechuan) entrees....

Service was prompt and pleasant, staff has helpful and cheery, food was definitely worth a trip back. And another. And another. Pho6 is...

I consider myself to be a bit of a pho connoisseur. First off, this place is not authentic Vietnamese, meaning it’s not Vietnamese owned. Very likely Chinese owned. Nothing wrong with that but just validates my review.

Scent: 85/100 smells like pho for sure, almost got me in the first half.

Broth: 40/100 — so bland, missing key spices. Fail.

Meat: no tendons, tripe offered = fail. They use some form of brisket but it’s not fatty or thin sliced. It was actually kind of tough to chew to be honest. Most good pho has that fatty thin sliced brisket so this was a fail. Meatballs were fine.

Additional comments: the real crime was the portion size. they barely gave any noodles. Noodles are cheap… don’t skimp on them. You are asking 18.50 for a bowl of pho and can’t give...

Alright, I'm not usually the "leave a glowing review" type. More of a "meh, it was okay, I guess" kind of guy. But Pho 6? Pho 6, my friends, shattered my expectations.

I went for the braised short ribs pho, and let me tell you, it was an experience. The broth? Forget about it. It was like a warm hug from your grandma, but instead of grandma's love, it was pure, unadulterated beefy goodness. The short ribs themselves? Oh, they melted in my mouth like a dream. I swear, I could still taste that heavenly beefy goodness days later. So much so, I'm actually writing this review a full 9 days later, my stomach still grumbling in anticipation of going back.

Highly Recommended: If you're within a 100-mile radius of this place, drop everything and go. Your taste buds...