Roll Play: Viet Food that Loves You Too! — Restaurant in Tysons

Review: Inedible Vegan Pho and Summer Rolls – A Culinary Catastrophe

This was, hands down, the worst vegan pho I’ve ever had—and a complete disgrace to Vietnamese cuisine.

When I first smelled the pho, I knew it was off. Underneath the pile of cold tofu were sautéed vegetables that gave the broth an odd aroma—something like a bizarre Mexican fusion Vietnamese pho. The broth itself was completely flavorless. No richness, no aroma, no soul—just hot water with limp, overcooked vegetables floating around. There was no hint of ginger or warm spices—nothing that gives pho its comforting, aromatic base. I usually order pho when my stomach is upset because it’s soothing and healing. But this? It made my stomach ache.

The veggies were a soggy mess: sautéed green pepper, red and white onion, the stub of a bok choy, and what may have been shriveled basil. Pho is supposed to come with fresh basil and bean sprouts on the side—not dumped into the broth. This added to the sloppiness, making the veggies inside resemble a soggy, unappetizing slop.

The tofu was cold and dumped on top like an afterthought. The noodles were overcooked, lacking any of the bite or bounce you'd expect. The entire dish felt careless and thrown together with no understanding of what makes pho special.

Then came the summer rolls—truly inedible. You get three rolls for $14, and even that felt wildly overpriced for non-traditional, poorly made rolls. I took one bite and spit it out. The fried tofu tasted old, and the cucumbers were cut in thick rounds rather than the traditional long, thin strips they should be. The veggies inside had a strong, unpleasant vinegary flavor. There was even a random rolled-up fortune cookie-like thing stuffed inside. As for the peanut sauce? It smelled off and tasted strange—definitely not sour, but just wrong and unappetizing.

For comparison, you can get two perfectly fresh, traditional summer rolls for under $6 at Viet Chopsticks. Their rolls are packed with crisp, fresh veggies and perfectly fried tofu. The peanut sauce there is creamy, flavorful, and topped with crushed peanuts—everything a good summer roll dipping sauce should be.

If Gordon Ramsay were to see this, this restaurant chain would not only be featured on Kitchen Nightmares—it should be enrolled immediately. The owner seriously needs to sit down at a real, authentic Vietnamese restaurant and take lots of notes.

If you’re looking for good pho or Vietnamese food, avoid this place entirely. Try one of the many excellent traditional spots in the area like Eastwind, TeaBreak, or Viet Chopsticks. Don’t waste your money—I haven’t thrown out food in the longest time, but this was a total fail from...

Great delivery option amid Covid-19 with a robust menu of A-team dishes from Roll Play and its sister restaurants Teas'n You, Chasin' Tails. The contactless delivery is super convenient! The consolidated menu is a fun way to sample dishes from the different restaurants. Happy to support mom and pop small business as the profits go directly to employees and non-profits. Echo fellow Yelper Gretchen on that!

Glad to venture out and try some dishes! My hubby and I ordered a feast with the oven-baked Mac and Cheese, Cajun Fries, and Me's Meals with lemongrass tofu, bok choi and mixed veggies.

While the mac and cheese was quite heavy and greasy. After a few bites, I threw in the towel. t's denser than even Stouffer's!

The battered Cajun Fries were quite crispy and seasoned, but arrived lukewarm. Reheating on broil did the trick!

The Me's Meal hit the spot! The chewy garlic noodles were on point and the large chunks of tofu were perfectly seasoned and bursting with flavor from the lemongrass spices. The mixed veggies rounded out the meal. Sadly, I don't see the dish on the menu and hope that it'll return!

It was a pain to order the Me's Meal - delivery was only twice a week on Mon and Thurs and the order had to be placed by 6pm the prior day. I missed out a couple of times as I hadn't read the fine print closely and finally got around to ordering in advance.

The stellar service from the staff knows how to right a wrong. When I placed my advance order on Sunday, the restaurant messed up and didn't receive it on Monday and wasn't able to prepare the special meal. They called an hour earlier and left a voicemail, but I wasn't around and missed it. A text message or email notification would have been nice. When the driver was dropping off the rest of the meal and called about the missing dish, he offered a meek refund. While a refund sounds nice, it doesn't compensate for my hunger. Where was my dinner?

A shout-out to one of the drivers, Stephen, who kindly helped me out and drove back to the restaurant to prepare a Tofu Banh mi after dropping it off. He was super responsive with texts and very accommodating. He must know my condo complex well after a couple of trips!

The management is great and goes the extra mile! When I called the restaurant to explain the ordeal and still wanted to try the Me's Meal, they put in the order for the next cycle and it was delivered on Thurs free of charge. Roll Play got your back! Excited to...

If I could give this place a 0, I would. I am not about to get into the logistics of my past experiences with this restaurant, but I will say that they've continuously messed up my orders, as well as all of my coworkers orders, simply because they can't read anything correctly from the "customize" option on their website that THEY'VE implemented.

Anyway, the owner calls us one day, speaks to my coworker (who had just placed an online order for herself and a few other coworkers) and informs her that they will no longer service us because our "orders are too complicated." I'm sorry, last time I checked, asking for "well done beef" or "sriracha packets" doesn't seem complicated to me. That's fine though. However, it starts to escalate and this ridiculous and insulting owner tells my coworker, who had just asked him why they're doing this and that they don't understand, "would you like me to come over there and explain it to you?" Regardless, they stopped servicing us and we stopped ordering. HOWEVER...THE WORST PART YET....

My coworker who spoke to the owner, Boaz, decided to write a review on Yelp and inform fellow yelpers about her experiences (and my other coworkers' experiences, including myself). But what happens? The owner, "Di D." on Yelp, otherwise another owner named Di Dang, decides to write a disgusting review on our company's Yelp account. Mind you, he has never been a customer. The last part of his review states, "The staff here is generally very polite except for ** who is rude to the point of being borderline abusive to customers." Are you kidding me? Roll Play Grill could not stand the fact that they received a negative review and decided to lash back by lying? Roll Play Owners - you do realize that is defamation, right? Oh, even better, want to know how we put two and two together? Let's just say this; maybe you shouldn't write reviews to other locations with the first sentence in your reviews stating that you just opened up a restaurant in Tysons Corner called Roll Play Grill!!!

Disgusting, rude, classless, and a bunch of liars. I would never give them my business. Roll Play - next time you receive a negative review (don't even bother with mine) I'd suggest you handle it like professional business owners, reach out to the customers, figure out what's wrong and how you can make it right, rather than lash out and write a nasty review on that yelper's employer's Yelp like a bunch...