Pho 88

When I first dined at Phở 88, I was secretly hoping for a reincarnation of Phở So 1 (
), which would create a new golden standard in the long line of mediocre VIetnamese options throughout Chinatown and NYC. Instead, we got the usual, somewhat tired rendition of everything that was just enough for somewhere in the middle flavor wise.
It was at one point new and inviting, sporting a clean interior and a bustling wait staff, not all of whom were big on the Viet. The «88» (which is a Cantonese pseudo homonym for «wealth») was already a semi-​dead giveaway this was more Chinot han Viet, but when the pickins are slim and you’re an inner-​optimist like yours truly, it results in multiple visits for everything from soups to over rice dishes.
⁹⁄₁₀ times, a phở is going to be ordered whether its hot or cold outside. For every bowl of «xe lua» that I’ve had here, it was in the end a phở-​gettable experience. The more essential part of any quality phở, is the almost always the broth and then the accompanying condiments and meat party (if applicable). It was a shrug fest that was punctuated with a faux paus lemon serving. This is just another sign that I need to order something else.
So we did. Bo luc lac, the ever famous Vietnamese beef cubes, along with an order of bun cha gio, or spring roll vermacelli. Both were better than the phở, but not by much. The curry vermacelli (bun ca ri) was more sweet than spicy, a no bueno indication for subpar seasoning over a lack of spice. Where they did get my attention was for their pretty stellar summer rolls (goi cuon), which were on the lower end price wise at $ 3.25. Same goes for a stellar crêpe (aka banh xeo), which was loaded with all sorts of goodies and quite delicious.
It looks like the inevitable has happened unfortunately. I haven’t seen much action from these guys for at least a month. Is it closed for good? (hope not!) Otherwise, it seems another phở spot has bitten the dust.

Sad to say they have closed. No more banana rice cakes for me: (

Me the GF would come here every week during the summer (literally) if were not at Big Wing Wong. Their pretty clean and its not always crowded, plus their PHO is Huge!
We usually order the Phở and spring rolls from here. The catch is that, the PHO would be inconsistant, its either hit or miss, some might say it’s kind of on the bland side but when it’s good, its good!
Been awhile since we’ve been back, because our fav waiter (male) has since left =(but I feel they always dropped as far as their quality of Phở, it’s become more inconsistant as time goes on. If you know me, you would know «I take no chances when it comes to food! »

I thought I’ll tried a different place for the PHO. Order came out to be big or at least I thought the portion size was big. But it wasn’t, only the bowl was.
The soup base didn’t taste like others I’ve order before. It tasted like chicken broth. The noodle was really thin, the meat was tender. There wasn’t enough ingredients in it to make the noodle soup stand out. They charge tax here and they only accept cash. Though the staff was nice, I probably won’t come back here because I’ve had better. =(

Lost my favorite phở place in the ‘divorce’ so have been on the hunt recently for my new phở place. This place COULD be it — it’s clean, well lit, and everything tastes the way it should.
Though, i think i need to go back one more time to be 100% sure

When I first arrived at Phở 88, I felt like a queen. The staff was very nice and immediately catered to my needs as I approached a table. Let it be known, Vietnamese Phở restaurants around NYC are mainly owned by Chinese people. Here at Phở 88, they are owned by VIETNAMESE people, so they know what they are doing in terms of making their dishes.
I enjoyed this place and the atmosphere, their restaurants very clean and so are their bathrooms. It’s a must-​go place!

I came here on a Saturday mid-​afternoon at 3pm because I was in C-​town and starving! It’s definitely not as good as Thai Son or the places in Baxter but in was within reach. You get your standard service– quick, fast, no frills.
I ordered my usual Vietnamese: Bun (Vermicelli) with grilled chicken. The chicken was good but the ricestick noodles were definitely too mushy/​soft for my liking. It also seemed like a smaller amount of food– but eh– it’s 7, who can complain. The veggies (mung beans and co) and the sauce for the bun was all standard.
Meh.

Never listen to a newbie Elite Unilocaler who can’t speak Chinese very well to recommend a restaurant in Chinatown for Phở. The standard soup noodle had the most bland tasting broth I’ve ever had. Service was slow — I hate asking for water when there’s an empty cup next to me for more than five minutes. The tea was decent though as was the clean bathroom. Reasonable prices.

2^nd time eating here. I haven’t drank a Vietnamese coffee in a long time so I ordered one. Also, ordered the spring roll with vermicelli — 1 of my faves in Vietnamese cuisine.
The coffee was not smooth as an old place I used to go to. The restaurant offers complimentary black tea which has a light-​black tea taste (important for my Asian dining experience).
The spring roll w/​vermicelli was good. Rolls were properly deep-​fried and pork filling was moist. There’s less vermicelli in my serving which is good for my waistline. In the bottom of the bowl, there’s a raw salad of cucumber and bean sprouts. OH, a few pickles carrots garnished my bowl.
The bathroom is clean and large with coat hooks. The staff is courteous (enough), prompt seating, prompt asking for your orders, prompt serving of food, and prompt delivery of your bill. lol. That’s Chinatown for ya!

Friendly staff, very clean place.
I ordered the marinated beef cubes with fried rice ($ 7.50 with tax). There wasn’t that many beef cubes but if you mix the fried rice, onions, and beef together, it makes a decent dish (3.5÷5)
I would come back to try other rice dishes or the phở, but my initial rating is a ³⁄₅.
For now, I will still prefer Phở Grand or one of the Nha Trangs

I did not have their noodles. I had one of their rice dishes, beef with lemon grass. It tasted ok. It was too much rice and very little beef! I suggest they do one of the following:
1) Up the price so they can up the beef
2) Change the name of the dish to A lot of rice with little beef
Ok, I can’t be cruel saw a lot of people getting their noodles and they seemed to be happy!

Been still keeping a look out for good Phở places in the city so decided to try this. As with other restaurant the décor was fairly typical, TV on the wall, table, chairs and it is all set. They service was as typical also. Friendly and quick.
We ordered the #1 and #2 Phở with spring roll as an app. The spring roll was decent and freshly made. The Phở came piping hot in a huge bowl and was perfect for this really cold day. It was fairly good attempt at Phở. The noodles where still slight al dente the companying sides of veg… basil, bean sprout, and a lemon too share were all there. What lacked was kind of skimpy of the meat and flavor of the broth was slightly bland. It just needed something. It didn’t have the hint of anise or a from slow cook beef/​pork broth to get all the flavor. We didn’t try the other dishes but will have to next time if we come back. For now though, my favorite Phở place in the city still remains on top.

Appetizers were amazing. The summer rolls and crispy egg rolls were awesome. The Phở was a little bland. The broth was very clear and good, but I am used to having a little more spice added to the broth. Overall a very pleasant experience. The staff was very friendly and accommodating.

I do not know if I am ever going to be a good judge of phở restaurants. The is a very clean and friendly place especially for Chinatown Manhattan. The summer roll was very good and I had a phở dish with some seafood. It was not as spicy as I am used to, and I was conservative with adding spices. I tasted some curry also which was outstanding. I look forward to going back.

I am skeptical about new restaurants in Chinatown but Phở 88 was much better than I expected. It was very clean and there were many tables.
We sat down without a wait and the menus were brought to us fast. The price was comparable to other phở places in the neighborhood. We got the phở and summer roll for the table.
The summer roll was very fresh and you could see they used a good number of shrimp. The peanut sauce for dipping was excellent. My phở, which is the typical with all parts of beef mixed with noodles was great. There was not too much MSG as I did not suffer a huge thirst crisis afterwards. The meat looked fresh and were good.
I am happy there is a clean phở place with good quality of food.

My sister absolutely loves phở. It’s one of her favorite foods, if not her favorite. And because of this, we’ve scoured Chinatown in search of the best phở. So when I heard that a new phở restaurant had opened up, naturally she was the first one I informed. The high praise it was getting on Unilocal encouraged my sister and I to go try it out for ourselves. Phở 88’s interior set up and price point are consistent with their competitors in Chinatown. I was impressed with how clean the restaurant was; it’s not that surprising since they’ve only been open a month, but hopefully they can keep it up.
We started with GOI CUON (summer rolls) as an appetizer.
They were obviously freshly made but surprisingly bland. I know that most of the flavor is supposed to come from the accompanying dipping sauce, but it was as if the shrimp were boiled without any seasoning whatsoever.
For entrées we decided to get one phở and one bun. We ordered the PHO XE LUA (rice noodle beef soup with brisket, navel, flank, omosa, tendon, and eye of round).
The good news is that all the ingredients were very fresh. Unfortunately, I had a major beef with the phở broth. The broth is the key element in a good bowl of phở and takes a lot of skill to get right; the rest is easy peasy. Saying that Phở 88’s phở broth was light is an understatement. It was underdeveloped and bland, bland, bland. Hoisin sauce, sriracha, and lemon should enhance the phở, not be depended on to do all the flavoring. This was the first time I’ve ever seen my sister, who always finishes her phở down to the last drop, leave phở broth untouched in her bowl.
The BUN BO LUI (grilled beef with sesame seasoning over rice vermicelli and lettuce) somewhat redeemed Phở 88.
The beef was well-​seasoned and grilled to juicy perfection, and the sesame dressing was light but flavorful. Unfortunately the restaurant isn’t called Bun 88, and they disappoint when it comes to their namesake.
It pains me to rate them so low since the staff was extremely friendly and efficient. Though I’d rate the food 2.5 stars, I’m rounding down rather than up because I have no reason to return to Phở 88. Yes, Phở 88 is the cleanest phở restaurant I’ve ever seen in Chinatown, but if given a choice between a sparkling clean restaurant and delicious phở, I’d choose delicious phở. No question.

After a night of endless drinks, we were hankering for some phở.
I looked on Unilocal and found Phở 88 within walking distance of our hotel. On the trek there, we came across a few other phở restaurants that were closer, but kept going because I read that the phở here had less sodium than other places.
The restaurant is relatively new and pretty clean.
We sat down at a small table for two and ordered 2 orders of phở tai, 1 order of banh beo and 1 order of summer rolls.
I liked the summer rolls a lot and found them very fresh and tasty. The shrimp, noodles and veggies inside were all good. Some places give you some questionable rolls, but 88 did well.
Banh beo was okay, but not what I’m used to. It came with some potato salad like topping which I’m not sure I was down with.
Phở tai was good, but the broth was lacking in flavor! I had to add a ton of hot sauce and jalapenos to give it some depth.
But, at around $ 6 a bowl, can you really complain?
Service was good for an Asian place.
Cash only.

Phở 88 is my new favorite phở place. Their soup broth is much lighter (and doesn’t contain as much sodium) as other Vietnamese restaurants I’ve been to. The waiters are also very attentive (and talkative) plus the food is delicious. Prices vary, but we spent less than $ 25 for 4 adults and we ordered a lot of food.
I definitely recommend their grilled chicken phở (barbecue grilled chicken steak).

Got invited out here for opening day ceremonies/​food by Jordan W; apparently his father’s S.O. is friends with the owner. We initially went in and were told we couldn’t eat until 2pm, but once his father and ladyfriend showed up we were immediately seated at a good sized table and food just started showing up.
The lowdown: The grub here is seriously good. Even removing our service from the equation, just watching the service to others around us it was obvious it was the typical ‘chinatown efficiency’, but without the typical ‘chinatown apathy’ that so often graces these spots.
Additionally, while the broth in the phở was rather lacking in complexity, the amount of meat and the quality of said meats was surprising. Really good stuff.
The only downside was that the bathroom looked like it was maybe unfinished, and the door to the storage for cleaning products was hanging open so some kid could have chugged a bottle of bleach should he/​she felt so inclined.
I’m sure that’s been corrected by now (and not really counting this against the review; opening day weirdness is bound to rear it’s head) and I will absolutely head back here. Plus it’s next door to ViVi so if you crave Bubble Tea you can get your fix after your meal. Or before it. Or during it, as I did.

This place is actually great. I was here at 51 Bayard Street for the opening day celebration a few weeks back. I didn’t wanna just announce free meal on a sunday, was not sure who would come, lol. I told some fellow Unilocalers about it too. My main man Garrett P. joined me and we got some VIP treatment since my father and his girlfriend met one of the important people here in another previous restaurant experience. Excellent sampling of the menu from 12 pm to 2 pm for guests of the new owners. The place was so nice looking and seeing it on the first day made it a different experience as well.
Had some great food like the Rice Vermicelli (thin rice noodles). It was included with grilled pork
Bún tht nng: A Vietnamese dish, consisting of grilled pork is what it was called served over a bed of greens. The grilled pork tasted great and there was plenty to go around for my party of 4. The spring rolls were really great as well. As if we were not full enough, we also got to sample the PHO. The meats in the soup were great itself. The taste overall was a bit different than soups I have had before at Phở Bang and some others. The quality of the meats though I give it an excellent. I will have to try to the soup again to make another judge on the noodles. Excellent service and it was a great way to spend a Sunday for opening day. I have been back for dinner at least 3 times after this, took a few dates here as well, haha.