Pho Kitchen — Restaurant in Watsonville

Very rarely do I do this but I must comment. The Pho #30 was tasteless, it had no flavor. No matter what I did to it. It was awful. I'm a Viet Nam vet who has appreciated Vietnamese cuisine since 1970 during the time I was employed in San Jose and at lunch many of us enjoyed beautiful dishes of pho. I've since moved to this area and I longed for some good VN food and thought I'd found a solution at this place. But no; what a disappointment, and frankly I'm sad to offer my opinion as I want to see more VN food ventures in this Hispanic food kingdom. I want this place to succeed but I can't offer a positive evaluation based on my initial experience. If you've never had a good bowl of pho, don't compare it to the dish I had (much of it left uneaten). I can't speak for all dishes obviously. But explore other mom/pop establishments and form your own...

This Vietnamese restaurant is a great addition to the Watsonville scene. We've tried a few of their soup dishes and the broth is authentic Vietnamese and completely free of MSG! It can be difficult to find Asian restaurants that do not use MSG, so this is a huge plus. Their beef short ribs and noodle dish is very well done - meat so tender that it is falling off the bone. Their Thai iced tea (with or without boba) is the best. Their other beverages are pretty good too. The automated ordering makes for accurate and fast service, so this is a good place to go if you need your meal served promptly. I do think the prices are a bit high, but considering the beating the restaurant business took during covid, I am happy to support good local ones....

We haven't been to this restaurant since it changed ownership (and names). I am very glad we gave it another shot!

The storefront area is clean and orderly, with three digital kiosks to place your order for dine in or takeout. My wife ordered beef stew with egg noodle pho and I opted for a BBQ pork báhn mì.

The dinning room is bright and orderly, with plenty of tables we'll spaced-out. The food arrived quickly and both of our dishes were awesome! The stewed beef was tender and the broth was flavorful in my wife's pho, and the sandwich was really nicely balanced between sweet, savory, and spicy on a really fresh baguette.

We will definitely be coming...