Golden Star Vietnamese Restaurant

This place was good. Very ordinary which is why i gave it only three stars. I would say it was very forgettable. nice that is was cheap and conveniently located. Food was good but again, not somewhere I would take someone excited to see them love it.
Imperial rolls are delicious — best thing we had.

**CASH ONLY**
Maybe their specialty is phở here, but they only have beef broths and I don’t eat beef/​pork. The menu items I got were quite underpar, though the service quick.
— Chicken with veggies ($ 8.95): pretty salty, not white meat chicken. comes with bok choy and broccoli, onions and very dry carrots served with long grain rice.
— Shrimp spring rolls (~$ 9): bleachy tasting shrimp, and yellowing bean sprouts. Served with decent peanut sauce. Table hoisin sauce wasn’t flavorful.
TLDR: I think this place is meant for beef phở eaters. Order anything else, and it’s probably unlikely to be a hit.

I ordered their combination small phở and I added seafood for 2 bucks. Their broth came out hot which is a plus. I didn’t really care for their beef meat. It just had a funny taste behind it, at least for me. You guys might like it though or can’t tell. The phở comes with a side of bean sprouts, 1 lime and slices of jalapeño. You could always ask for extra. The condiments they have on the table are hoisin sauce, soya sauce, sriracha sauce, another red chili sauce, salt, and pepper. If you want the red chili pepper in hot oil sauce you need to ask for it. They will bring you a little bit at first so if your like me and eat very spicy don’t hesitate to ask for more. The place is clean. It’s a small restaurant and fits around 40 people. The bathroom is in the back going towards the kitchen downstairs in the basement. Next time I want to try their eggrolls or also known as imperial rolls. The wrapper they use is not the hard thick wrapper, instead spring roll wrappers are used so it’s lighter and crunchier in taste. The price are reasonable too. Also they have the 3 color dessert which consist of crushed yellow mung beans, kidney or red beans and jelly with coconut milk and sugar. I didn’t order this here so I cannot comment. I’ve had it before at Vietnamese restaurants and it was delicious. I always get mine with ice.

I came here around 5 PM on a Sunday. The restaurant had a few customers, but plenty of room so our group of 5 was seated immediately. There were a ton of flies outside, but thankfully none of them seemed to have made their way into the restaurant.
I got the number 12 Tai Gan, which was phở with sliced beef and beef tendon. It was solid, with some flavorful broth, and large portions. It’s also pretty cheap, although I was a bit confused because the listed price for my dish on the menu was $ 7.35, but they ended up charging me $ 8 pre-​tax. Note that it is cash only!
Overall a solid, cheap option for phở, but I’ve had better. From what my dinnermates said, some of the other dishes (vermicelli and their dinner-​only clay pots) are pretty good, but I didn’t have a chance to try them.

They have awesome egg/​imperial rolls! Ordered Phở Xe Lua and all the meat were tender, with broth being just ok.
CASH ONLY! parking is almost nonexistent around here. Cus Chinatown. but it’s in a pretty touristy location and you can hang around in the area/​walk around different shops.
Came around 6:30pm on a Friday night and it wasn’t packed, so that was good

I really like the grilled pork and prawn with rice. My bf had grilled pork with phở soup and it is quite nice. The rice taste best with some soup from the phở over it as it is dry to be eaten on its own with the grill beef.
Overall I enjoyed the food alot and will want to go them again if I return to San Francisco. Price is reasonable and definitely better than many Vietnamese restaurant around.

Packed with locals, so you know it’s good. Very fast and efficient service and everyone was polite.
My husband and I both visiting San Francisco from Cleveland, ordered different vermicelli dishes and they were delicious… and super affordable! When you can get a great lunch with tea in San Francisco for under 20 bucks… you’ve done well!

One of the WORST restaurants I’ve ever been to! There’s a fucking FLY in the hot tea they provided!!! And after I pointed out, the server did not even apologize or show the attitude of being sorry, he just simply took tea away! I can’t believe such horrible customer service even exists! They did not greet you, they barely talked to you, and they did absolutely nothing to fix their mistake! In a word, I had a extremely horrible experience here! If you don’t wanna be given a shitty customer service after a long day, DO NOT COME HERE!
Seriously, how is this place rated 4 star???
p.s sadly I forgot to take a picture of the fly, I was too overwhelmed and called the server immediately…

Lemon beef is so good. The beef is thick enough as well as beef in Phở.
If you love the crispy egg rolls, you should come here.

Great traditional Vietnamese restaurant. When we first arrived we have been served a nice hot pot of tea.
We ordered amazing, crunchy spring rolls and then the meat phở (number 22) was great! Huge portions and great taste

A friend of mine took me here since we were around china town. Kind of funny to eat Vietnamese food in Chinatown but this place is really bomb! They are known for their 5 spice chicken. Now typically the way to order is to order it with noodle soup but just so you know where is a rice version where they give you imperial rolls (egg rolls). I am more of a rice person and definitely enjoyed it more. It is typical asian place service and they take CASH ONLY.
TIP: for some reason the chicken with the noodle soup is more juicy compared to the rice but its not that big of a difference.

On our first night in San Francisco, I wanted something light and the fantastic reviews for this place led me here. I’m starting to question the Unilocal community in San Francisco cuz this is the second time a place with stellar reviews had me scratching my head.
I ordered the phở with beef balls and flank steak, my brother got the vermicelli with pork, and we started things off with the shrimp salad roll. The food was OK, nothing special, and definitely not in the same ballpark as what I’ve had in Garden Grove.
As for the service, one of my standard summations on Unilocal is «…service was friendly.» What should I write here? «Service was hostile» sounds about right, but maybe all those stellar reviews like that type of thing, and really, who am I to judge?

Does the trick but the phở was bland and flavorless. How does this place get 4 and 5 stars from people? Service was not good, but it’s Chinatown so what can you expect? The spring rolls were suuuuper tiny too. What up with that?
Wouldn’t visit this place again. Sf is doomed with bad phở.

Phở’s not bad… does the job, but I can’t agree with lots of reviewers here that it’s as good as they make it seem.
The location is great as it is a stone throw away from fidi. In terms of service, décor and food taste, it’s pretty on par with most other Viet restaurants. Great stop in if you’re in the area and wanna grab a bite without hassle, but I wouldn’t go out of my way for it.

This is probably the only phở I had so far in the city that is passable, however not close of what you can get in San Jose.
I got the house phở for $ 9. The broth is thin and not that fatty which is a plus and the meat they give you is quite a lot. As a big guy, this bowl definitely filled me up at a cheap price.
When I’m around the area or feeling for Vietnamese, I’m coming back here for sure.

A very popular lunch joint on the edge of Chinatown bordering the FiDi. Tons of business casual professionals scarfing down reasonably priced Vietnamese cuisine. It’s not quite like going to Little Saigon, but better than many Vietnamese options in the FiDi proper.
House Special Beef Noodle Soup: When it comes to phở, my signature combo is rare steak, well done brisket and beef balls. To achieve that, I ordered the house special, without tendon or tripe. Very nice broth, packed with flavor and not overly salty. The beef balls were their standard chewy texture. Large chunks of hearty brisket. The steak wasn’t that rare since it seemed they just tossed it in, instead of carefully placing it on a floating island of already cooked meat. Lots of noodles, so super filling.
Imperial Rolls: Glad they offered a half order (3 rolls) since that’s just the right amount when pairing with a bowl phở. They’re no Tu Lan, but they’re crispy and tasty. Only provided one lettuce leaf, so I could only wrap one roll in noodles and pickled veggies.

I ordered the bun bo hue and it was a large bowl, filled with a lot of meat. It wasn’t that spicy but it definitely hit the spot. The people sitting next to use order the chicken dish (#42) and it looked like huge portions and really good. I will def come back again and try that!
CASH ONLY!

Going to Chinatown to eat Chinese and getting Vietnamese in the end…
This place was packed during the week, we figured it had to be good & trusted Unilocal,once more. We couldn’t pass up a yummy place ;-)
We wrote our name on the list and even though the line was big before us, the owner assured us we’d get in in 5 minutes. He wasn’t too far off, we only waited 10 minutes to be seated.
We had phở, a vermicelli bowl with shrimp and the sauteed seafood/​calamar. Complimentary tea was offered.
Everything was authentic, fresh and tasted good! Pretty big portions!
There’s lots of staff and they’re all helpful & friendly.
This is a CASH ONLY place so bring in yo bills & coins!

Chinese style Vietnamese Phở. Little flavor, cheap ingredients. I got the Phở Dac Biet, which was the special combination phở. It had little flavor and there wasn’t a lot in the bowl.
I think because this place is located next to the large parking lot in Downtown Chinatown, many people find this as an easy to find meal. I wasn’t impressed.

Soy un gran fan de los Bun Bo (sopa de fideos translucidos con carne de res y rollos primavera fritos) pero desafortunadamente en México todavía no he encontrado un lugar vietnamita que lo sirva (o un lugar vietnamita punto)
Entonces aquí fue el lugar para probar nuevamente esta delicia. Y gracias a la reseña de Uli B. fuimos con los ojos cerrados y no nos arrepentimos ni un segundo.
En efecto no esta super cómodo, pero el servicio fue bueno y la comida buenísima.
Ademas, viajando en San Francisco, encontrar un lugar barato es un plus.
¡Vayan!

Not the best, not the worse either.
Food: Order a bowl of bun with flame broiled pork. I never order pork, it was actually an «accident,» my pork was surprisingly super dry and semi-​cold. Lots and lots of vermicelli, not enough veggies and a sufficient amount of protein. I just wish the protein was tastier and not dry. My boyfriend wasn’t too fond of his rice plate either, he had the five spice chicken and his chicken was a bit tough and also dry. I think next time we’ll both have phở or bun bo hue instead… seems to be what they’re more known for.
Price: Most definitely affordable for the most expensive city in the country. Competitive with prices of most Viet/​Chinese restaurants… the fact that the portions are generous provides more support for liking the price.
Ambiance: Typical Chinese/​Viet restaurant. Very busy, lots of families eating family style, but most phở at this place. A bit loud, but not in a harsh way.
Service: They’re ridiculously fast and prompt! Good service.
Overall: The price and portions were good, but there was nothing special about the food that we ordered. We’ll try for some BBH or phở next time.

Petite adresse qui né paye pas de mine, mais on y est rentré parce qu’il y avait beaucoup de gens du quartier et pas que des touristes.
Né comptez pas sur le décor, c’est simple mais les plats sont copieux et goûteux, et les prix sont vraiment abordables 10 $ le plat.
En plus on vous sert du thé pour le même prix

Gute Kritiken bei Unilocal haben uns hierher geführt, leider wurden wir ziemlich enttäuscht: Essen hat nicht geschmeckt, Bedienung unfreundlich und lustlos, alles ziemlich schmuddelig. Auch in dieser Preisklasse gibt’s deutlich besseres.