Phoholic - Garden Grove, CA

Delicious, steaming bowl of pho, deeply savory broth. I find some of the better ones have a sweeter finish, but maybe that's just me?

They have oxtail. #13 with its gristly, gnaw-off-the-bone meat interspersed with thin slices of tender steak. The flat-noodle option is just icing in the beefy cake. 

Great bowl of pho in a casual, crank-em-out setting. Would absolutely come again. 

Pho Redbo - Palos Verdes

This pho is fancy, make no mistake. It's hot, it's savory, and tastes amazing in this setting, a spacious former diner surrounded by a skating rink. 

Cut through the cold by crunching into an Eggroll so crispy you can hear the skin break in your brain. The beef is extra good, and the shrimp softens the stronger meat. 

Watch the skaters zoom by or listen to the rhythm of hockey blades slice through the ambient music as a chimney of beef broth fills your nose and soaks your senses. Sip the soup and ask for the wide noodles instead of thin for a different texture. The Pho Combo will do nicely as the rare steak is great, the brisket fatty and tender, and the rib cubes melt in your mouth. The meatballs have the rubber chew you'd expect. 

Fight the urge to upgrade - that premium pho with the Wagyu Oxtail is more like a downgrade and definitely not worth the upcharge. There's nothing wagyu about it, and I wag my finger at whoever doesn't know how to cook oxtail. This meat should fall of the bone, but I had to take it home and ugly-gnaw at this mess. 

Similarly bland is the Shaken Beef, with barely-cooked peppers, not too many cubes of actual beef, and very little seasoning to speak of. The spicy dipping sauce can help, but it makes a most unsatisfying meal.  

Wagyu Beef Stew is supposed to give comfort, but only some of the beef chunks are tender, depending on the amount of marbled fat. It's alright, but I prefer the pho. 

I would come back but only for the pho. Their classic pho is marvelous, and the meats are mostly marble-lous, but don't be distracted by the other noise. 

Pho 45 - La Mirada

It's all a numbers game with pho, and the latest powerball number is La Mirada's 45. 

The broth here is super-savory and deeply flavorful, much meat with some of that signature sweet. The #1 has everything, soft rare steak, tender brisket and flank, tendon and tripe for texture. 

If you're hungry get the one with all the Beef Ribs. Same solid broth and it's fun to see those big bones sticking out of your soup, but I don't think I'd get it again - one of my ribs was mostly a sac of inedible fatty tissue, and just looking at it gave me nausea. 

Eggrolls are the best! Impossibly crunchy wrapper, juicy mincemeat within. Get more than one order because four is too few to share. Dip in fish sauce and wrap in lettuce for best result. 

It's all a numbers game when it comes to pho, but once you hit 79, all others pale in comparison. But you can't always have 79, and so far, Pho 45 is solidly in second place.

Pho Hue Oi - Torrance

Caught them on a soft opening, supposedly the South Bay's best broth for pho. 

Sad they didn't have banh beo yet, but happy with my P2 filet mignon. Pushing those slices of rare steak down until red turns to pink is becoming a favorite pastime, and this broth is hot and satisfying. I can say it's better than most random strip-mall stops, but I don't know if they have a lot of serious contenders anyway as the South Bay is more of a hub for ramen. 

Overall a good broth, a good bowl of pho, but for the local award of best, I think I'd rule for Pho Hong Long. 

Pho Hue Oi - Redondo Beach

It's down the street, it's easy to eat, and even Eater LA endorsed it. 

I was all ready to feel satisfied, but the disappointment became so clear. The P2. Filet Mignon Pho was supposed to be a favorite, but it certainly wasn't mine. The filet was fine, but this bare broth was light and thin. I liked Pho So 1 so much better. 

We also got a couple of sandwiches. Banh Mi Hue Oi with cured cold cuts and Banh Mi Bo Ribeye Beef Nuong. The bread isn't great, but the beef had a nice lemongrass flavor, and props for a housemade pate.

It'll do. I'd eat it, but I'd rather have another. I know I can't drive farther south than the South Bay for better sandwiches and pho, but I'll gladly drive a few streets over for someone else's. 

PhoTasia - Irvine

 

Vietnamese food in Irvine, not Garden Grove. Close enough?

Close enough! Menu meets authenticity criteria; it's all numbers and has photos to match the food. The Pho is a pho-filling broth, P9 is pho-loating with juicy rare steak, soft tendon, and fall-apart brisket bits. 

Despite my poor pho-tagraphy, this stir fried veggie dish is well-made. Toddler loved the tofu, wouldn't touch anything else. Would recommend for vegetarians over 18 months, especially with the garlic butter rice. 

B12 Bun is noodle goodness, good noodle-ness. The shrimp on a stick is alright, the roast pork is sweet and pretty tender, love the egg rolls with the juicy ground filling. Fill with fish sauce, stir it all silly, and feast. Pho is better though, FYI.

The pho is just better when you go south of South Bay. Good broth, great steak, lots of choices. What's not to like?

Pho So 1 - Gardena

Only 3 and a half stars for Pho So if Yelp has the say-so. 

Pho So is no-frills, and Pho So is so-so in service if sit-downs are to be believed, but these eggrolls are are at least five. That texture on that skin is crispity-crunch, and it's fluffy with air. The filling is savory, juicy pork and veggie carrots. 

The Pho is good, warm and filling and hits the spot. Mine has tendon, and rare steak sealed separately (I put it in for the pic). Dump in the broth and watch the steak slowly steep. 

It's Pho So, not Pho So-So, and I like it, far more than a 3-star Yelp rating would imply. I like it, I love it, I want more of it, and although it won’t win any awards, I'd easily revisit for pho and some egg rolls. 

Pho 79 - Garden Grove

There’s been a lot of fake news lately, and you can’t believe everything you hear. Read responsibly and check your sources, and when it comes to food, confirm it yourself when you can. 

Pho 79 makes some of the best pho in the country. Source: James Beard. Confirmation: YES. 

I don't have much for comparison, but I’ve never had anything like this. The broth is fatty and thick, sweet, meaty, and rich to a depth I’ve never seen. I got the Pho Tai Nam Gan (#24) with tender rare steak, melty slices of well cooked beef with so much marbled fat, and gooey bits of tendon. 

Get the “side” of oxtail (Xi Quach Duoi Bo, #39) before they sell out, and you'll find the secret to the pho. The meat slides off the bone in shreds and it's this incredible mesh of meat and sweet that melts in your mouth and lingers on your tongue.

The main attraction is the pho, but the other stuff is decent too. 

The Goi Cuon (#2) are good because when are spring rolls not good? It's not Broddard, but it's good. 

I can never resist a Bun Bo Hue (#45), but this one isn't their best. The broth is thin and not spicy, unnecessary compared to the pho. 

A few other selections like the (#87) Bun Tom Thit Nuong Cha Gio and (#92) Bun Cha will nab a noodle craving, and I loved trying the (#97) Banh Mi Bo Kho with tender stewed beef with a tomato tang.

Come for the pho, leave with the oxtail. Come with some skepticism, leave completely floored. The pho is phabulous, and even James Beard agrees! 

Pho Ever - Gardena

Okay, no. 

No Pho ever, not from here, probably not even again. The broth is thin and sweet and not very beefy. The noodles are whatever, and it’s mostly just noodles. The rare steak looked good, and I’m told it was. 

We also ordered the Bun with five toppings but they crammed it all into a styrofoam container so every item spilled into the bottom of the bag somewhere in transit. So for $16, we got vermicelli and bean sprouts. 

The Banh Mi were pretty good. The Lemongrass Chicken wasn’t dry and it was juicy. The bread was toasted, and it didn’t slice up the roof of my mouth. 

The Cold Cut Combo works as well. Thick slices of pork loaf, head cheese, with all the fixin’s, a cured and pickled delight. 

The banh mi are good and everything else was okay as well. Nothing bad here but pho sure nothing I’d pho ever make a point to come back for.

Pho Ha Grill & Bar - Oceanside, CA

My first taste of Vietnamese snails. 

I wasn’t prepared. They’re daringly chewy compared to their delicate French counterparts, and they boast of a pungent brine that sizzles and sears their coat of garlic butter into a sweet, bold memory.

Pork Spring Rolls are a classic appetizer if you’re looking for something more familiar. They’re no Brodard, but their meat is soft and the veggies are fresh.

Clay Pot Chicken Rice is a nice filler dish to appease a more neutral palate, and the chicken is as tender as that runny-yolk egg.

The Pho is a standard beef broth, customizable with every combination of ingredients. They have any and every Vietnamese staple you could possibly crave in this menu, and the pho is just one among many. 

The flavors are right, and the food is fine. Great selection at a reasonable price, and you won’t wait long for anything to arrive. Good for a craving if you can’t get to Garden Grove. 

Pho Hong Long - Gardena

I hate to admit this; but I've never had good pho. All the broths I've tried are thin and forgettable, and it's a torturous taste, like a sneak preview to the unique powers of star anise, but a preview that barely scratches the surface.

Enter Pho Hong Long, recommended by my Vietnamese twin. Here they do the pho, and here they do it better.

The #19 Pho Tai Gan Sach is my usual, tender raw beef that cooks juicy-pink in the steaming broth, and my go-to mystery-meats, the soft tendon and tendrils of chewy tripe. The broth here is thick, a little bit creamy and cloudy with a deeper savory edge that tastes a lot more like tails, bone, and msg.

The #22 Pho Tai Gau is another fun choice with raw beef and fall-apart fat brisket.

This is more like it. I have yet to unlock the full power of pho, but at least I have an idea of how it's supposed to taste. Pho Hong Long is a definite step in the right direction, and it's worth the extra steps to Gardena.

Pho 1945 & Poke Bowl - Lomita

Simple Vietnamese food and a poke option if you're feelin' it. 

Not feelin' it. The Spring Rolls are terrible. The wrapper has started going stale, and the shrimp is not fridge-fresh...as in it's clearly been in the fridge for days but hasn't gone bad. You can barely taste it, though - it's suffocating in a thick forest of lettuce leaves from which no flavor can escape, and no amount of sauce can save it.

The BBQ Chicken Bahn Mi is a much better choice for lunch. The baguette is nicely crispy but not big enough to give you a carb coma, and the chicken is tender and has just the right amount of sweet bbq flavor.

I've been craving Pho for days, and theirs does hit the spot well enough. The beef broth is standard and pretty okay. I went for small bowl with rare steak, tendon, and tripe, which is just enough to be filling but not too much for leftovers. The tendon is soft, the tripe is tripe, and the rare steak is tough and very NOT rare.

So far all the pho places seem interchangeable in the South Bay. This one is affordable in price and comparable in quality, though I think Pho Pch is a little bit better. I'd come back to grab a quick and casual meal if I were in the area and hungry, but I wouldn't go out of my way to make it back.