Pho Saigon Restaurant II

Step into another world. This place is a culinary and cultural treat. I had the #1 beef broth with all of the good stuff –tendon and other «parts» you don’t want to discuss but you know are good for you! The cost was less than $ 10 and included hot tea. This place is not glitzy, but it is clean and the service is good. As mentioned in other reviews, this is not a highbrow establishment, but that is why I like it. People come here for one reason: to eat. So, if you like that vibe and have a hankering for good Phở, you cannot go wrong with Saigon II. Check it out!

Still the best I’ve had in the area. Not the nicest looking restaurant and, like the service, it is frill free. I’ve been going there for years, and I’m barely recognized, even though ur nice to everybody. Of course since its in Pacific East Mall the parking is a pain in the ass.

What I ate: Phở tai
Visit date: June 12, 2015
First time? In a long time, yes.
I hadn’t been here in at least a decade because its cash only and I never have cash. I came here with some coworkers who are frequent flyers and I’m glad they picked this place for today’s meal. I had the phở tai. I’m always a little skeptical when it comes to trying phở for the first time at various restaurants. I just don’t want to be disappointed. Well, Phở Saigon Restaurant II does it right and then some.
The broth was not only rich but it had a lovely meat fat flavor. You can even get some meat fat broth (this is what I’m going to call it now) on the side and add more to your liking. The beef was tender, the basil fresh, and my belly was happy. Leftovers were just fine, too. I know what you’re thinking — don’t the noodles get all mushy? These don’t!
I will definitely be back, cash in hand.

I remember going here a lot as a kid. It’s the first place I had phở. & without anything else to compare it to, it was amazing. Since then I’ve had what is considered legit phở in places like San Jose & SF. I’d still say this is a solid place. It’s not exceptional, but not bad either.
The service is great. They are fast & the place is clean. Only warning is that its Cash Only. Luckily there’s an ATM in one of the shops close by (literally a 30 sec walk.)

This place gets 5 stars because their phở is good and their service makes the overall experience GREAT! My family has been coming here for years. Our last visit was a few days ago after waiting 30+ minutes with extended family at another restaurant with terrible service. (The extended fam ended up eating at the other restaurant). I’m glad we decided to leave and come here instead because Phở Saigon is awesome.
LOCATION
–Inside 99 Ranch, in the corner next to the restrooms
–Lots of tables and chairs, great for big groups!
MENU
–Phở comes out fast and it’s your delicious, hot broth with noodles and fresh basil and bean sprouts… yummm! Really perfect for cold norcal days.
–Fried egg rolls, comes in sets of 4 cut into halves so 8 pieces. It’s still a good amount and doesn’t feel like their trying to stretch their appetizers to fill the plate.
–Spring rolls are fresh. Each dish comes with two, cut into 4 pieces.
SERVICE
–Super super fast and friendly. You get seated immediately and they take your orders right away :)
epilogue: My family got our food right away, finished eating, went grocery shopping at 99 ranch, and drove all the way home (about a 50 minute drive) by the time my extended family finally got all of their food from the other restaurant and finished eating. Go to Phở Saigon! =)

I would give this place 3.5 stars. I was expecting the worst, but it was better than expected. Ordered a Phở tai — broth was pretty good. Meat was decent as I asked they put it to the side on a separate dish. Also ordered a Phở ga… this I didn’t care for. The broth is usually a little different to me, in a good way, but there’s was really really fishy and I’ve never had it like that before. I don’t know if the veggies weren’t fresh or what but I was having indigestion problems and burps all night after this meal, which isn’t typical. BUT A++++++ for the Vietnamese coffee. No one does the drip coffee anymore — it was strong and delicious. Mmmm I’d go back just for that.

Thank you for your speedy delicious phở! Fresh and good quality food!
They continue to save my life by helping recover from a hangover to holding on to my lost check that I didn’t realize it was lost until days later!
In one word: solid!

No visit to my hometown of Berkeley is complete without the now traditional bowl of phở served at Phở Saigon restaurant with my best friend.
I was first introduced to this hidden gem a few years back. While at first I didn’t think much of it, let me say I definitely did not have the proper experience…
First, we took our phở to go. Overall, the broth and noodles remain hot and intact but assembling the somewhat crushed basil leaves and bean sprouts on top of not having the secret hot sauces provided at the restaurant certainly salts the experience.
My second visit was delightful. We dinned in and I was instructed which sauces to add, seeing that I favor the extra hot sauces. What a difference!
The spicy broth paired much better with the delicate rice noodles and mysterious but delicious beef balls. To this day, I still have no idea what exact ingredients go into those meat balls nor do I think I want to know…
The service is exceptionally fast. Expect your dishes to be brought to you within 10 minutes of ordering.
The restaurant itself is nothing fancy, definitely casual dining, no judgments whatsoever, just be sure to bring cash since no credit cards are accepted.
I’ve never attempted to sample other menu items other than the fried spring rolls which are quite tasty as well as their Vietnamese iced coffee which I personally found to be too sweet and a bit heavy on the condensed milk.
All in all, I am a fan of Phở Saigon with its delicious and comforting bowls of phở.
Thank you for consistently keeping my tummy happy!

I wasn’t able to check-​in when I went because the reception is really bad inside of the plaza. I really hate to write bad reviews but my recent experience here wasn’t all that great. I stopped by for a late lunch before going grocery shopping with my boyfriend. The moment we stepped inside the restaurant, it smelled like dirty towels. And it got increasingly worse as we sat down at a table. I think the smell was from the towels they used to wipe the table. It was just really bad. Eventually the smell went away from us sitting there and getting used to the smell. We both ended up ordering a rice plate. The food was great until we each found a strand of hair in our food. My boyfriend found a long hair while he was eating through his rice and I found a short hair on my cucumber. We pretty much lost our appetites after that. The smell from the dirty towels was one thing but I don’t know how you recover from finding hair in your food. Though I’ve never had a bad experience when I ordered phở here, I’m not sure I’d be back anytime soon.

It fells like you’re eating at home, there is always people making dumplings around you or separating sheets of dough for spring rolls.
The manager/​owner always offers you a different choice than stipulated in the menu in order to satisfy your experience on trying different dishes.
Their ramen beef bowl is delicious, we also tried the prawn rolls (mint, cucumbers, bean sprouts with a side of peanuts) although we ordered the vegetarian rolls with tamarind sauce. They were so good that we decided not to ask the waitress to check our order and just enjoyed the dish.

«I happened to be in the area, so I decided to have lunch here.»
Just how many of my Unilocal reviews start like this? All of them? Too many of them? Well, it’s pretty accurate as to what happened earlier today. I’ve passed this Phở joint numerous times when strolling through the Pacific East mall. I never thought much about it. Truth be told, the place I was planning on eating at was closed. Perfect chance to try this Phở place out, right?
I walked in, and it looked and smelled like pretty much EVERY Phở place I’ve ever eaten at. Same table setup, with little platter of sauces and condiments. Paper napkins, chopsticks, forks, spoons. It was all there. The menu too, looked like EVERY Phở place I’ve ever eaten at. #1, #2, #3. Spring rolls, rice plates, vermicelli noodle bowls without the soup. Back page? Yup. Thai iced tea, lemongrass tea, pearl boba smoothies. Just like EVERYWHERE else.
Wait — am I making a negative point about all this same-​ness? Not at all. It’s kind of cool that no matter where you go to eat Phở, you’re experience is gonna be the same up until you get your bowl of noodles. Well, even then it’s kinda the same thing. Am I describing Phở HELL or something? Hahahhahaaa!
Our little party ordered a few different Phở #s. hey– that’s a cool way to hit on a Vietnamese chick, huh? «Hey guuurl — what’s yo Phở #?» Again — Hahahahhaa! Joking aside, I had the large #2, and others had the #3 and #4 I believe. The friendly owner dude took our orders and disappeared into the kitchen area. We could hear him SHOUT our orders to the cook. Judging by the sheer volume of his voice, he HAD to be about a block away! Or perhaps, the cook is hard of hearing.
Either way, our piping hot bowls of Phở goodness arrived soon after placing the order. They all looked the same, except mine was a tad bigger. Same colored soup, same meat toppings, same smell. Same everything. Kinda like ALL Phở places are the same, huh? Hahahahaha!
I did my Phở-​ritual like I always do at every Phở joint. Shred the basil, squeeze the lime. Plop in the bean sprouts. Squirt the hoi-​sin bottle. Maybe I am in Phở Hell. After hoisting a big fat chopstick full (?) portion of noodles, and popping them into my mouth, I was wrong. I was in Phở Heaven! Phở Sure! Velvety noodles, lots of generous slices of various meats, tasty soup with not a hint of MSG. I like that the flavor was subtle, and didn’t pound you over the head like some Phở places. That’s always a sure sign of MSG abuse.
My lunch partners agreed that it was indeed a tasty bowl of Phở. We were all very happy and needed to be rolled out of the restaurant after we paid the bill. Phở Goodness Sake! Why didn’t I try this place years ago?
4 outta 5 stars from me. A good solid Phở joint in a large Asian mall with several Asian eateries to compete with. I will return, and I am happy to add Phở saigon Restaurant II to my hit list. Phở Goodness Sake. Why you not eat here before?
* bonus tip — the claw machine located just outside across the way is a TOTAL rip off. I tried several times to win a Superman Domo Caca Brown monster, but failed every time. You think EVERY claw machine is rigged? Phở Goodness Sake…

Solid phở for $ 7 a bowl, but nothing to write home about. Service was decent, even with the crowd on a windy Saturday night. A couple of my friends got a rice dish which looked to be pretty good. I went for a small appetizer plate of bi goi cuon (shredded pork and pork skin slivers wraps in spring roll fashion) and was pleasantly surprised at the size of the rolls for about $ 4. Nuoc mam sauce to me was a little too salty, but otherwise reasonably seasoned. The suong sa hot luu dessert drink though I really enjoyed. Decent proportions of coconut milk to mung bean to asian jello/​agar agar to tapioca balls «pomegranate seed» with not too much ice. I love the kind of tapioca with that crunchy crisp center made from water chestnut… This place definitely uses those.

I have to admit I was a bit skeptical that this place would be any good because Bay Area phở really.sucks. First of all its $ 7 for a bowl. yea that’s cheap for Bay Area, but go to SoCal/​Westminster/​garden grove. it’s so much cheaper!!! And the phở is better too. In fact. go to vietnam! It’s cheaper and more authentic (I’m only kidding. I’ve never been to vietnam so I can’t vouch for Vietnamese phở). This place pleasantly surprised me though. The noodles are very chewy and QQ (you know what that means, I think). The phở broth is pretty standard.
They give you so many add ons! Like cilantro, which I never really see. Also the standard basil, bean sprouts, like. I don’t use that stuff though. I like my phở broth clean. with a squeeze of lime. I don’t even put srirarcha or hoisin sauce in it. I know, I’m a monster.
Meat was kinda thick. My only complaint. Wait ok, two complaints, it’s on the other side of the bridge. I would wanna come here more often but since it’s on the other side… I can’t.

Great food! But make sure you have access to water after haha. I usually get super thirsty after! I love the wonton there and I get the spring roll! The spring roll is super fresh, shrimp, veggie, sprouts! Yum!!!

Phô Saigon is a typically ordinary Vietnamese restaurant well suited for the blue collar lunch crowd that comes in.
My dad ordered chicken soup with rice noodles which he thought was «plain, but ok.» My Phô beef combo bowl was also «ok,» but the beef did not come out rare. I’ve had much tastier and deeper Phô broth at many other Vietnamese restaurants. This was a bit thin and cloudy.
The deep fried Spring rolls were huge, about twice the size of any I’ve seen. Taste-​wise, quantity did not beat quality. There was too much skin and not enough everything else.
Service was also typical, with unsmiling staff that don’t check up on you or even bother to give you the bill when you attempt to wave them down.
It’s ok for convenience if you happen to be shopping at Ranch 99, but there are better restaurants in the mall, and better Vietnamese/​Phô places in the area.

If you want cheap ok phở for that hangover, this is the place to go. For $ 7 you can get a phở with all the works in a large bowl.
but I wasn’t here or that. I’m judging this place based on the other phở places I’d been. It’s a bit run down. The lights on the sign needs fixining. We ordered the spring rolls as an app and phở.
Spring rolls were really skinny. There were about 3 leaves of mint in there. Shrimp was good and plump though. The sauce was watered down, but still a decent peanut and hoisen taste. I threw in some chili garlic sauce for a bit of a kick.
All the phở is pretty much the same except for the toppings. They all range between $ 6.50 and $ 7.50 which is good. You get a decent sized bowl. The broth was not clear but foggy like they have been using the same broth for several days. From my understanding a good broth is light brown but still clear enough. The noodles were ok, not like you have to make the noodles ahead of time anyways. The meat was ok. The rare slices of beef got tough. The flank was good though.
It’s an ok place. I wouldn’t go back.

Most people have a «go to» Phở place when you get the cravings. especially after a long night out and the a Bloody Mary just won’t do.
I live in Oakland but I would take the trek all the way to Richmond just to have phở at the place. Why?
At around 7 $ you get a large bowl of, the legendary #1 with all the toppings that come with it. It’ll fill you up, guaranteed.

I went here with some coworkers as one of my coworkers was craving Phở.
We arrived and seated ourselves. We ordered and I got a Number 3 Phở, which comes with the majority of the beef fixings that most Phở places have. I will say that I was disappointed in the quality of the food. I am a fan of my soup to be very warm knowing that it’s fresh, but when this came out to me, it was lukewarm at best. Also, I was not a fan of the smaller portion. Perhaps the other Phở places I have been to have had larger portions for the same price, but this felt overpriced for small quantity of beef. The service was also what you would expect from an Asian establishment, so not very high, but also not horrendous.
Overall, the food was alright. I would not mind going back again, but it would not be my first choice. There are some better Phở choices in the Bay Area, so I don’t think I will be coming back.
Also, cash only!

Let me start off by saying that Phở Saigon Restaurant II is a great bang for your buck. I come here from time to time for a piping hot bowl of phở while running errands. While I would never go out of my way to toot their horn, the food is served up in a flash and it’s pretty satisfying. 9 times out 10, you’ll be seated right away, even if you come on the weekend.
First piece of advice, stick to phở. Yes, they have rice dishes and other plates, but everyone I’ve dined with, that strayed from the norm, lived to regret it. My go-​to is #17 — beef balls, essentially mystery meat that has been finely pulverized. I grew up eating the Indonesian version called bakso, so it’s something of a comfort food. Simple yet tasty broth, generous portions, and nicely cooked noodles. It comes with the standard plate of bean sprouts, jalapeños, fresh basil, and quarters of lime. They have plenty of condiments, everything from chili paste to plum sauce to vinegar to sriracha. Add on a couple of Vietnamese iced coffees, an order of fried egg rolls to share,…and you’re in business.
Sometimes, they’ll skimp on the basil or just give you cilantro instead, so you have to specifically ask for basil. I have no idea what that’s about. Occasionally, they even screw up orders, but as long as you’re firm about what you want, it will be resolved.
Don’t bring your frou frou friends who crave ambiance. This would be their version of hell. The employees are incredibly grumpy and often times, rude. Sometimes, I worry about the overall cleanliness. Grotty formica tends to awaken paranoia in the best of us. I’ve never felt bad after eating here, so I pray my good luck doesn’t run out.
If you’re looking to have a mind-​blowing phở-​gasm, you’re not likely to find it here, but if you’re swirling around Pacific East Mall and want to get seriously fed for under $ 10, you know where to go.

We were craving phở, so we decided to try the Phở Saigon at the same mall as Ranch 99. We have wanted to try this place for awhile and it always seems so busy.
We arrived and were seated right away. We decided on the Rare Beef Phở with a side order of Rare Steak and the Seafood Phở. Both were very good. The side order of beef is for the second half of your soup bowl and want some more rare steak.
I love all the add ons. Lots of sprouts, basil, jalapeños and the cilantro was a nice addition. Of course, I had to add the Sriracha Heart. So good, I loved it!