Pho To-Chau Vietnamese Restaurant

Before Unilocal was around, one would have to ask others for recommendations or look for long lines that form outside of restaurants. Well, Phở To-​Chau is a hole in the wall and one of those restaurants where there is normally a line. One might ask if it is worth waiting and the short answer to this is yes. The best time to come is on a week day before or after the lunch rush hour where your wait time can be kept to a minimum. Service can be slow if you come during the busy times. Even though I was ready to order, they weren’t ready to take mine.
You have an option to order your phở in three sizes. Regular, medium, and extra large. The regular should be reclassified as kids. The medium was the perfect size to satisfy my phở cravings. When your phở arrives your bowl will probably be filled pretty close to the brim leaving little room to add vegetables. I like adding all the vegetables to my bowl. The flavor in the broth is probably one of the best that I have tasted in Honolulu.
After you are done with your meal, your bill is settled at the counter. They only accept cash :-(. Street metered parking or the municipal parking lot are you options. Check out this place which has been around for a long time and let me know what you think.

Best Phở and Vietnamese Eggrolls on the island.
The traditional VN Eggrolls should be wrapped with the «spring roll wrap».
Something I realized out here in HI is that spring rolls are called summer rolls here and VN eggrolls are called springrolls. Definitely strange, but in short– I highly recommend this place.
Yes this place maybe a bit dirty looking, but the food is very good. It is legit, especially their VN eggrolls.

This review is because my boyfriend loves this place and he wants me to rave about it lol.
I was introduced to this place a while back. My boyfriend is a regular here & apparently so is his entire family. He frequents this place since he was a kid! It’s a hole in the wall and never would I have stopped by to eat at this place if I wanted to eat some phở but I’m so glad I tried it!
The ladies here work really hard! There’s a line that forms right outside because it gets really busy at times. It’s too bad they close at 2pm. There’s only one lady that cleans the tables and seats people along with another lady who takes our order & serves it to us.
There’s just something about their phở that draws us to it. It is weird if I say I like the scent of it? Lol. I can just smell difference in the phở. Their spring rolls are pretty different from what I’m used to, but they’re good too. Sizes come in regular, medium, and extra large. The regular is actually small but if I’m working an appetite then I’d get the medium.
Parking is street parking but do what we do and park at a nearby garage & we pay a dollar.

Literally grew up eating here, I remember when I was in elementary school, waiting in line with my family because my dad was so bent on eating here. I’ve been coming here maybe 15+ years and honestly no changes. The décor is the same, seating the same, and the same 3 sisters are there working everyday.
Honestly today was pretty crazy because we waited a long time for our food possibly 30 mins, but when the food finally came out it was as if we only waited a few minuites. My combination phở was great as always. I personally love to add bean sprouts to my phở and basil basically everything on the plate will go into my phở, it really made me compare this place to other places this morning. Even though we had to wait long the food here is still good after all these years.

If you really feel third world environment/​cleanness validate authentic Vietnamese food I have a challenge for you! I used to come here for 10 years! Ten! Well after this part of China town changed.
eg. Homeless, graffiti, pee smells… Outside I can’t really blame the restaurant, but when a bug ends up in my soup and I pay $ 14 fricken dollars because I get a little extra meat I have to call
It quits. Remember back 5 or so
Years ago on a Jerry Seinfeld eps. Where they had the soup Nazi? Bad attitude,
No smile but it’s ok. My food is so damn good we can be this way… Well it’s 2016 and now has the sickly, bad attitude that put a bad taste in my mouth. Sorry went to another phở place that is clean, kind, enjoyable and leave happy.

4 years later I decided to try this place again. Unfortunately this place still falls short And I am still perplexed as to why it receives great reviews.
1. DIRTY– my summer roll had a short curly hair attached to it. Nasty and unsanitary
2. Phở is decent but nothing special.
There are so many better places out there for phở — do yourself a favor and skip this place.

Every week my husband and i go out to different phở restaurants to eat phở. Since we ate here it has become our go to spot for phở. By far the best phở on the island and the portions are perfect. Love this place!

One of the best phở places in Hawaii. Tasty and they give a lot. I’ll agree with others, it’s ‘crack’ phở… Very addicting.

Got seated and ordered fairly quickly, but the wait for food was at least 20 minutes. The place was not even that busy when I went. I did metered parking and the limit was only 1 hour. I had to go back to my car to add time before the rest of my party finished eating.
I had the #5, and it was really good. They give you a lot of mint, lemon, bean sprouts, and chili oil to put in, if you so desire.
Based off the length of time it took to get my food, I would give this a 3.5 star, but I’ll round up since the food was really good.

Absolutely the best place to eat phở on the island. A bit dingy, but the food is spot on. No one else makes phở like her! The broth is unreal. It doesn’t have that sweet flavor like most phở here. They always give a huge plate of veggies, too!

A close friend of mine brought me here when I was at a deciding point in my life. He says, You want to go to China town? I have to buy some things. Would I? Would I? Of course, someone to go food shopping with and who knows the area. So we do our parking and go here first. Can you say OMGoshhhhhh. We ordered coffee spring roll with shrimp and Phở. The coffee is served the same way it is served in Vietnam. I forgot to say my friend was Vietnamese. I was in Heaven! He showed me how to drink it. The coffee and the creamer, either evaporated or condensed milk are not mixed yet. It was perfect. Then we had the Phở. Phở in China Town in Hawaii with my Vietnamese friend. OMGoshhh OmGosh… I felt like the luckiest girl in the world. Remember, I was at a crossroads and for 2 hours, I did not have to think. Just drink this wonderful coffee and then prepare my Phở. They bring everything and more to add to the Phở. Not all places bring that many accompaniments. They bring the meat out so you put it in when you want it. I get a kick out of Phở, you fix your own type of soup! It was food wise luxurious. Decadent. If you love Soup and coffee and then this type of Soup and coffee and in Honolulu this is THE place to come. My friend is not for hire. But you will have a wonderful meal.

This is one of my favorite places to get phở in Chinatown! Large portions without being stingy on ingredients makes me really happy. A medium bowl here has more food than a large at most other places!
The best time to go is during the weekdays. During the weekends, a line forms and it can take some time to get a table.
Service is reasonably fast. The employees don’t speak English very well, but they are very efficient. Just announce what you want from the menu and your order is made quickly and expertly.
Parking is on the street or in the paid parking lots available throughout Chinatown. Stop by for sure if you like large bowls of phở!

This is my Lunch Buddy’s favorite place (I think because they give lotsa extra veggies like bean sprouts, jalapeño peppers, lemon and basil). I’ve been here twice with him (Daniel C.) and Gary N. This time, we added Jules Y. to our table. She’s fun because she is open-​minded and wants to learn about everything!
Our lesson today was: how to eat onions in a different way. Dear Daniel asked for a plate of extra onions and proceeded to sprinkle them with freshly squeezed lemon juice. Then, he tossed the onions with Sriracha sauce and hoi sin (plum) sauce. The result tasted almost like Portuguese-​style picked onions — wow! Very flavorful!
Daniel didn’t need to say a word to the Order-​Taker. She knew him from his many previous visits here — plus, he is the Duke of this establishment. Gary got the Medium sized #1 Phở with meat on the outside. I got the same as Gary, but with meat inside the bowl for a more well done texture — I kinda wished that I had ordered «outside» because the beef seemed a bit tougher. Jules and Daniel got one of the other combinations. We all gobbled up our phở except Jules because she had ordered an Extra Large bowl. She took the leftovers home.
At first, I was hesitant about eating here. Honolulu’s Chinatown isn’t the cleanest or best smelling. There are homeless citizens wandering around and loitering in groups. I had free street parking on River Street, since it was a Sunday. I walked in the middle of the street so as to avoid walking near the groups hanging out on the sidewalks. Parking in the Municipal Parking Lot is another option, but you still might want to hold your breath and walk quickly in the stairwells…
However, the reputation of this restaurant is good. I knew I was in the right place because of the line of people waiting outside the door to get in. This place doesn’t serve dinner, so come early for better service. (They close at 2:30pm every day.)
There is a «system» where one lady takes care of the beverages and seems to bus the tables. The other woman takes all of the orders. They will leave a pitcher of water on your table to streamline their routine. Remember to bring CASH.
This is a Hole-​in-​the Wall joint, so please pardon the plain décor. There are ceiling fans — not much air conditioning. The doors are left open. The music was surprisingly contemporary — which didn’t match! I felt like singing along!
If you want a cut and dry, no frills experience, this is your place. Phở real!

100 Unilocal Review Challenge 2015: ⁹⁶⁄₁₀₀
My desire to try this Phở place started last December when I got the flu and my manager took me down to Phở To-​Chau for lunch. The line was incredibly long so we walked across the street to Golden River (which was delicious also). But after that one incident, I forever «bookmarked» Phở To-​Chau, longing to taste the Phở which is claimed to be The Best Phở in Hawaii.
It definitely lived up to my expectations. We were very fortunate this Tuesday that we didn’t have to wait though it was a full house. They have a good amount of tables, spaced out nicely. The three of us were seated and since my co-​worker is a regular here, we had an effortless experience ordering Phở. I ordered the regular rare steak which was tiny but was actually a perfect lunch for my petite frame. The Phở came out within minutes and we dug in, adding the veggies, lemon and sauces. I, by no means, am a pro like my co-​worker whose broth concoction looked nothing like it’s original form once he added every possible ingredient to it but mine was delicious nonetheless. The booth is truly delicious and almost addictive — I couldn’t get enough! I do wish I had more noodles with my broth but the steak and veggie portions was very generous.
Maybe I had awesome customer service because my co-​worker frequents here, but regardless, it was AMAZING and I will surely return for more!
Cash Only.

The phở here is great! The broth is really rich and flavorful, but the regular size should be called kids size. It’s so small. The meat is really thick, but it’s delicious!
As for the service, it wasn’t very good. It took about 10 minutes for them to come give us water and take our order. It wasn’t even that busy inside.
The table was not clean. It had dried food on it and that’s gross.
The only reason I gave it 3 stars is because the phở is yummy.

This is an add-​on to my original review because I really went over my 5000 character mark! Please increase the limit!!! Unilocal should let you apply for a character limit increase based on activity and amount of character use on your reviews, somewhat like a credit card :).
Anyway, I needed to add this, regarding the French Filtered Vietnamese Coffee!
Not sure if it’s because I have some French in my blood and Vietnamese culture influence, but this coffee was awesome! Way better than Starbucks! The coffee came with a metal French filter sitting atop of the coffee cup. The coffee slowly dripped down into the cup with sweetened condensed milk at the bottom. You can order it without the milk too, and with or without a glass of ice. Because it slowly drips, you are able to enjoy your food first. When all the water is gone from the filter, you take off the filter, and you get hit with an amazing aroma of dark roast coffee and awakens your senses. Once you stir and mix in the sweetened condensed milk, the coffee thickens and becomes more so creamy than your normal coffee creamer. It wasn’t very sweet, just right. This was like a dessert after the giant bowl of Phở I completely finished.
I wish this place opened an hour earlier, so I can swing by for a cup before the start of my day.

I’ve been coming here since I was little. My grandma does not eat beef so she does not like to eat phở. But for some reason, she will only eat phở with me here, and this is the beef phở now. When we go to other phở places, she would usually get a rice dish or some other noodle dish. I love it here because portions are great and the sauces are amazing! For some reason, their oyster sauce (I think that’s what it is) is thicker and just better tasting. I love their chili oil that they serve too.
The service there is not the best, but once you get to know them better, they are actually really nice. The place is busy so I understand when they seem kinda grumpy because they are probably focused on their work. I also know that they work on a system within the three sisters. So don’t mess it up by trying to switch tables! The lines used to be super long and would have to wait before they even opened! but now it seems to have slowed down a bit, probably because no one wants to wait so long when there are phở places around, but I would wait anyways!
I love this place :)

I took the opportunity of coming here for lunch on thanksgiving day. Therefore, no line but it was a full house.
Phở was excellent of course!!!
What I noticed today was that the lady who takes the order and delivers food has the best order-​taking memory. She took orders of 5 tables without writing it down. It is AMAZING! And I love their phở!

Located on River/​King Street and only open till 2:30pm daily, my bf has been coming here for years and it was only this weekend that I got to try this place out. I’ve been missing out on the best phở on the island this long?!
Supposedly there is a line out the door of this restaurant but we went on Saturday and Sunday (yes, i loved it that much that we went twice this weekend!) at around 1:30−2pm and walked right in and got a table. Sweet, no wait!
Caveat: don’t come here expecting a warm welcome and wonderful wait-​staff… they got hungry customers to feed and they work like a well-​oiled machine pumping out phở and cleaning tables and taking orders.
Small family-​run business consists of 2 ladies (sisters?) that wait and buss the tables and one man in the back kitchen. yes, ONE. holy smokes. Regardless of how low staffed they are, our food came out within 5 minutes and boy, is it delicious!
I ordered the Regular Phở (~$ 8) which comes with savory broth filled to the brim and is guaranteed to overflow once you put in the bean sprouts, basil, jalapenos, lemon, etc. that comes to your table in heaps. This place does NOT skimp! I feel almost wasteful by leaving the left-​over veggies on the table but as i looked around at all the other tables, i found that no one can finish up all sides they give!
To Chau also gives the most meat you’ll ever eat in phở (sooo tender) and the tastiest broth ever… I can’t say enough good things about this place!
Also got a Vietnamese iced coffee which comes to your table in a slow-​drip. Mix it well because the condensed milk at the bottom of the cup can be forgotten about before adding to your cup of ice. YUM.
Cash only!

I remember when everyone had to wait in line for at least 30 – 45 minutes to get a table here to have a bowl of phở. It’s not the case anymore and I think it’s because of the price increases they had every time they came back from vacation. The portions are about the same but the price has definitely increased. This is why they lost a star for me. Don’t get me wrong, they have good phở and they do give you lots of veggies to go with your meal but at their current price point, there are a lot of options.
Parking here is still convenient because you can park on the street or in garage parking in Chinatown. It’s easier now because the meters now take credit cards so you don’t have to dig under your seat for loose change. It’s sad that there is so much homeless people that hang out near most of the street parking stalls. Not a big fan of the urine smell there too. Park in any garage if you aren’t used to that smell or crowd of people.
I like the large combo phở with the rare steak on the side and extra onions in my soup. The amount of sides that I add into the bowl leaves me full every time I leave here. It’s a hole in the wall type of restaurant so sometimes the veggies that come out don’t look as appealing as other restaurants but portions are generous. Overall, 4.5 stars on their phở.
They do know me on a first name basis as a regular at the restaurant so customer service has always been good for me and my guests. Décor has stayed the same over the years and they still play the same type of music over the speakers (radio I believe). Typically they leave a pitcher of water on the table so you can refill as needed. I used to eat here several times a week but now maybe once or twice a month. It’s good and I still come back from time to time. Worth trying if you’re in Chinatown and they are top 3 phở places for me in Oahu.