Pho Kapaa

Quite possibly the worst Phở we’ve ever had. The spring rolls were tasteless. They had no mint in them and appeared to not be seasoned at all. Hubby had the phở soup. Was not impressed. The broth was bland. He did say the meatballs weren’t too bad. He tried to add some flavor by adding sriracha sauce but that didn’t help. He said it was like they had watered it down. I had a noodle bowl with chicken. The peanuts were more like a sprinkling of peanut dust, the noodles were not typical rice noddles and, like the other items we ordered, it was unseasoned and bland. Very disappointing.

A late afternoon craving for phở led me to Phở Kapaa. I wish I’d had my craving while my wife and I were still on Oahu.
Everything about Phở Kapaa was just «OK.» The phở was OK. The broth was very tasty, but I am not at all a fan of the thicker rice noodle Phở Kapaa uses, and there wasn’t a whole lot of meat.
The spring rolls (fresh rolls) were OK. My wife and I agreed that the inclusion of a spear of cucumber actually subtracts from the roll. Rice wraps, rice noodles, pork, shrimp, and some lettuce (with maybe some basil and/​or cilantro) has bee the standard spring roll since I have been frequenting phở joints. Nobody adds cucumber. Ever. It throws off the whole flavor profile.
Speaking of spring rolls, that brings me to the peanut sauce. Woof. The most bland peanut sauce I have ever experienced. My wife commented that she thought they had just mixed peanut butter with poi. So bland. I can’t stress that enough.
Finally, while the server was nice, the amount of time it took to get the phở out of the kitchen was lengthy. One of the staples of phở is quick turnaround from order to table. That was certainly not my experience.
I would say that this place will do in a pinch for phở only, but I’d take the time to drive a bit further and get good phở (and spring rolls) if I had it to do over again.

Needed a bowl of phở to satisfy my craving for Vietnamese food. It was ok but not like bay area

It was good, but not the best. We think the other phở place in lihue is better. But friendly service and tasty enough broth.
I think it deserves a 3.75.

I ordered the raw steak, tendon n tripe phở. Broth was delicious. But they were stingy with the ingredients. I had 3 thin slices of beef, tripe was cut paper thin (which was ok) except that I had only 2 slivers of it.
The bean sprouts were fresh tho. Overall, i think it’s overpriced ($ 10), so I’ll probably not go bk again.
Restaurant is clean n service was friendly.

Good authentic phở and spring rolls. I ordered the phở dac biet and had them sub the meatballs for rare steak. Sh! t was bomby. Mahalo!

Walked out when both broth and tap water tasted off. Broth was like water bland. I’m from little Saigon area in Orange County ca so this was the worst watery broth even with housin and hot sauce added. No one was eating except me and bowl is about $ 10

The vermicelli noodles with chicken, shrimp & egg roll was good. The egg roll I’ve had better. The calamari wasn’t light & fluffy like I expected. Staff was very nice & accommodating. Nice atmosphere. $ 21 tab for both dishes. Okay value for your dollar.

My fiancé and I were looking for some good food after a long hike and this place was recommended to us. We ordered a phở dish, a bun dish, and egg rolls. It was all delicious! Our server was great, very friendly, and reasonable prices.

Feb.2016, went there for supper, we ordered phở soup and a rice plate, both turn out pretty
good, the service and price is reasonable, will be back. RJ

When on vacation usually don’t expect food to be awesome, but surprisingly Phở Kapaa is not bad at all. Service was quite fast and food was ok quality. I gave 4 star because it was not cheap for vietnamese cuisine. A bowl of beef phở costs $ 10.99!!! that is 30% more than other places and it was more expensive than SF, SF!!! We ordered beef phở, chicken phở, spring roll and papaya salad. I do not recommend papaya salad, but definitely order the spring roll for appetizer!

We were craving phở since we don’t have a phở restaurant where are from. The spring rolls were ok but nothing special and the chicken phở was ok but lacked the phở flavor that we are used to, maybe a little thin on flavor. There was almost no chicken but the portions were huge. Service was good.

The phở is watery and tasteless, even after loading up on basil, hot sauce, fresh garlic, and hoisin sauce! I’m never returning.

Love this place
All food is great
Tommy is the greatest
Bun is good
Bbq good
Phở is good
It’s all amazing

Was really craving something soupy so we decided to come here.
First thing I noticed — there was a screaming boy at the back table (maybe the managers kid) — but it wasn’t TOO bad.
I ordered a phở w/​rare steak — comes out quick! They serve it in a huge bowl that looks super intimidating but there’s not too much in there besides soup. My sister and I were both pretty disappointed and left feeling hungry. Also, there was only like 3 small pieces of meat in there :(
But on a more positive note… the soup was really good! But don’t think its worth $ 10.

Ate here on a recent trip home. I had bun thit nuong (vermicelli noodles with pork and fish sauce) and café sua da (vietnamese iced coffee). A few of my friends had phở.
I thought my dish was good, the pork was flavored well and the portion size was pretty big. Service was friendly but a little slow despite how empty the restaurant was. My friends commented that the broth for the phở was one of the better ones on Kauai.
The menu had a pretty big variety of Vietnamese dishes compared to what else I’ve seen on Kauai including banh mi. If they had bun bo hue, the menu would be nearly perfect.
Prices for everything were a little high and that’s my only complaint. Phở was around $ 10 for most of the bowls (phở dac biet was $ 11), bun was $ 9, and the café sua da was $ 4. I really wanted to try their banh mi but I thought $ 7 for one was REALLY expensive. Maybe I’m just used to mainland prices where they usually aren’t more than $ 4.
Next time I’m home I’ll definitely try this place out and get the phở!

I’ve tried many phở restaurants, and Phở Kapaa stands up there with the best of them. Expect fast and friendly service, as well as tasty food!
The beef broth is fresh, light, and not overly salted like phở can sometimes be. Pair it with the fish balls, shrimp, and squid in the #18 Seafood Phở, and you’ve got a very tasty meal.
The vegetable broth is mellow and refreshing, and makes for a light and delicious meal.
Each table comes with a generous plate of garnishes for your phở, along with lots of chilies and Sriracha. Yum!
Best of all, Phở Kappa is a family owned restaurant. The staff is very friendly; on our first trip our waiter (and the owner of the establishment) gave us a huge mango right from his own garden. It was very delicious, and a wonderful treat on a hot day. I will definitely be returning to Phở Kapaa during my stay in Kauai.

Food is all amazing
Service is red carpet
Phở broth it excellent basil is super fresh. Meat is of great quality. Seafood rice was very good, spring rolls, drip ice coffee, lemongrass n other chicken dishes were all yummy too.
Ask for tommy he will take good care of you

Better phở is only 15 minutes away at Phở Kauai in Lihue.
While this restaurant is serviceable and not bad food, it falls into one of my pet peeves of flavorless ethnic food.
Really? Do I have to bring my fish sauce with me to a phở restaurant?
If you’re in a pinch and don’t want to go to a better phở restaurant and are okay with mediocre food, this place is perfect for you.

Phở! In Kapaa!
Finding this Vietnamese restaurant was great on Kauai, since I had been craving Phở since the day before. I guess you would call me a phở junkie. Being that said, I thought that the reviews here were kind of the same. It was just okay. I tended to say the same. The Phở itself was delicious and the service was simple, but just average you would find in any Vietnamese restaurant in Hawaii. I came here on a recent Saturday afternoon after picking up my race packet @ the 2014 Kauai marathon and needed that Phở fix. You know how it is when you need that daily fix. Talk about coffee lovers! I guess it’s how it is with addicts. :)
Phở Kapaa is located in the heart of Kapaa at the Kailua Village Shopping Center in Kapaa, kind of borders on Wailua, but Kapaa all the same. The parking situation can be a mixed bag of busy and not so busy, but there are plenty of parking here. This Vietnamese restaurant very much accepts major credit cards, which is awesome as always. The restaurant itself is relatively small, simple and clean. Several artworks are displayed and the décor is good. Prices here are consistent with other Phở restaurants I have visited, although the server asked if I wanted the Super Bowl, which was ¹⁄₃ more meat and soup, but costs like $ 3.00 more. I declined about that, but wanted extra bean sprouts to make the meal extra crunchy. The ambiance here was quiet, calm, and comfortable. The place was kind of empty on a Saturday afternoon, but I’m glad that it was open.
I also ordered an order of summer rolls, which was prepared on ordering. The taste was good and delicious. Dipping it into the shiracha infused peanut sauce made the world fade away. Pretty good bliss. With the Phở, I ordered the combination phở, which was already standard in the lexicon, so that was a tight meal to enjoy. They gave more broth than noodles, but that’s probably the conventional practice. The broth itself was darker than most I have seen, so it was richer and more flavorful than the others. The extra bean sprouts proved to be one of the game changers here, but could’ve been better with extra noodles, but that can be done next time.
I would say that the experience here at Phở Kapaa is positive and good, but average to be honest. The location is perfect in Kapaa, if you don’t want to drive to the nearest Vietnamese restaurant, which is in Lihue. Recommended for a good meal if you are in the area, but wouldn’t call it stellar or extraordinary. You get good service here, but find it just ordinary.
3.5 stars, but rounded to 4.
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B