Seattle’s Best Pho & Deli

Will definitely return. Very clean place. Food was really good. We had vermicelli salad, steak and tendon phở, pork ban mi, egg rolls. All delicious!

I really like the phở here. Was a little hesitant at first but I like it. Maybe my new favorite phở place to go to now. They have Ox Tail phở which is the first I’ve had at a phở restaurant besides when I cook phở at home.

I love phở, this phở place is very close to my boyfriends house so we come here often. I don’t like the broth here as much as I do at Phở Hoa, but the phở here is pretty decent. They also have Thai tea which I love! The place does have an odd smell to it which I don’t like. And they play a really weird country channel on the tv, interesting.

We love this place. Just found it recently and the broth is incredible. I like the avocado smoothies too. This is now my go to Phở place when people visit.

Great vegetarian choices! The portions are large enough to take leftovers. The Boba is fresh and delicious. My husband got phở Tai, and I could smell the aromatic fragrance from across the table. This is our second time here, and we will certainly return!

One of the things I like best here is how clean it is! It’s run by a family and super friendly and efficient. The phở broth was amazing. We got phở with flank and steak and the flank was a bit gristley for us but the steak was good. Great experience and we will be back!

Great food and great atmosphere. Clean establishment and very friendly service. I always feel welcomed when I stop by. Great location on a main street with plenty of parking in the lot behind the building.

Surprisingly good phở! It’s a typical little hole-​in-​the wall corner shop, and when I saw Deli in their title I had my doubts. Fortunately it is a typical Vietnamese sandwich deli — that’s what they mean by deli — along with excellent phở. They have rice noodle (bun) and rice plates too.
For a small bowl phở tai & café sua dá (coffee with sweetened condensed milk), it was 12.06.
This is going to be our new alternative phở place when we can’t park in the ID at our favorite, Phở Ba. Most pleasantly, Seattle’s Best has a wee free parking lot! Yay!

This place is awful. Don’t come here. I’m warning you right now. I’m Vietnamese and the food here made me cringe. It is definitely not authentic Vietnamese food.
I came with my mother today at around 11:40 and at first glance, it’s very clean. Everything looks nice so we thought to give it a try.
I ordered a pork chop with broken rice, egg cha, and fried egg, $ 9. That took 17 minutes to come out. Which I think is a lengthy amount of time for a small rice dish.
1) The pork chop was overly salty. It wasn’t because of the marinade or anything. It tasted like straight up salt. I don’t know why they chose to do that. I ended up chewing it then spitting it out because the saltiness was unbearable. It was disgusting.
2) They gave me regularly rice instead of broken rice. Then, when I asked my waitress about it, she defensively stated that I specifically ordered steamed rice not broken. It was an older Vietnamese lady with black eyeshadow all over her lid. I assume that she was the manager. Very rude for a manager. When I said I remembered that I asked for broken rice she replied with, «Fine! Then you want broken rice? Or what?» I was stunned. I thought me calling her over to explain the mistake in the order was clear enough that I wanted broken rice and not the steamed rice I had gotten. She went back to get my broken rice and charged me an extra $ 2 for it. I was confused because she made the mistake and yet she still charged me $ 2 for rice? I think $ 2 for rice is a little expensive.
3) The egg cha was also salty. One bite of it and my body completely rejected it. Not only was it salty, the texture of it was way too mushy. So, that deemed inedible for me.
4) At first, they forgot about my fried egg. I had to ask about it because I couldn’t eat anything else on the plate. I was hoping that one fried egg would fill me up. They gave me my fried it but it was barely cooked. There was still a lot of gooey egg white. I don’t mind if there was a small amount, for example, where the yolk was or anything, but it was everywhere. So, I couldn’t eat that either.
So all in all, they messed up most of my order and it tasted awful.
My mom ordered a bun bo bue. $ 8 for a small.
1) My mom tasted the soup and asked me, «Why does it taste so bland?» So, I go ahead and try it as well. And she was right. It tasted like water with a hint of pepper flakes flavoring. It was gross. She tried eating the rest of the meats in the soup and she said she couldn’t eat it anymore. She had lived in Vietnam for years and has eaten plenty of bun bo hue in her lifetime. Never has she ever tasted anything this disgusting.
Skip this place, please.
I know it may look clean and nice on the inside, but the Vietnamese food is awful. It’s a disgrace to Vietnamese food, really.
Go to Hoang Lan. I can assure you that they make better food than this junk of a place. Actually, go anywhere else than this place if you want real Vietnamese food.
Everything was awful; service, food, and price.

Is it just me, or does it always smell like laundry detergent here?
Anyway, the food is delicious. The oxtail phở is my go-​to. Hot, flavorful broth and a generous serving of meat. Perfect for a cold day in Seattle. The bún bò Huê is also on point, if you need something bolder and spicier. It’s a tad too sweet for me, but I really appreciate how much meat (and fat) and noodles they give you in the bowl. If your sinuses need a little clearing out, this is awesome.
They have a chicken satay dish that comes with noodles per the menu, but I had them give me rice instead of noodles one time, and it turned out so good. It was a little greasy, but I loved the nice little kick. The portion was also gigantic.
My fiancé always orders the grilled pork and shrimp combo plate. He really enjoys it, although he did notice that the portions have gotten smaller since they first opened.
One thing I hope they can improve on is the lack of grilled chicken in their rice combo dishes. It would be nice to have it as an option.
I look forward to having hot pot here someday.

I think this place is good, but definitely not the best. I have had their phở a few times and their egg rolls, so that’s what I’m basing my review on.
Growing on Rainier, finally they took this abandoned and condemned lot of building space and used it to open new businesses! I love it. Love that this location is off the bus stop, blocks from my house, and close to the community. There’s tons of parking in the back lot that is now a parking lot.
Restaurant is clean, has a clean smell, nice large TV screen for football, and you can see the deli counter and some of the kitchen. I like that, so I can see how the restaurant functions. But the service here is nice and kind. Definitely a plus.
The food is kind of expensive for the quality. $ 7.50 for mediocre phở. Broth is hot, meat is soo tender and fresh, but broth is just meh. I found myself putting more fish sauce, more hoison and more sriracha. I think it’s missing the umph that distinguishes this place from competitors. It’s pretty big for a small size, and def fills you up. The phở suffices if you’re desperate and lazy to go elsewhere.
I also tried their egg rolls $ 3 for 3 huge ones. I appreciated that! The taste was fresh but I think it needed more seasoning in the filling. It also came with sweet and sour sauce, strange, since you normally don’t eat sweet n sour sauce with Vietnamese egg rolls. Even I don’t use that. Nonetheless, they were decent enough to want to eat again, but wouldn’t be my first choice for eggrolls.
Overall, love how clean it is. Love how the good is good quality but lacks in umph and distinct flavors. Prices a bit pricey by 50 cents or more. Friendly, fast, great parking and convenient location.

I’ve heard nothing but wonderful things about this restaurant and I’m glad I finally got to try it for myself!
Spring rolls were with shrimp and bbq pork. They even have the rolled up crunchy thing inside (is it a fried egg roll wrapper?) which I love! I got the small phở with steak and meatballs. The broth was full of flavor and perfect, I didn’t even need to use too much of the condiments. The meatballs though… these were quality meatballs! They were tender and juicy. The majority of meatballs from other phở restaurants are tough and gets stuck in my teeth. so I was pleasantly surprised!
My boyfriend ordered an avocado milkshake to go. Flavorful, made with real avocado but I could taste a little artificial flavor as well but it wasn’t too bad.
Overall, a very solid restaurant. I’m satisfied with the service, the food and the cleanliness of the restaurant!

I do enjoy the phở broth here.
The hint of MSG is only slightly noticeable.
The oxtail broth was a treat and definitely different than other phở. particularly because they put other meats in with your phở.
My friend had the Bun bowl and she said it was delicious.
I like the fact that there is a huge parking lot behind the restaurant.
Prices are a bit higher than your regular bowl of phở, but you won’t leave this place hungry. The owners pile on the meat and the noodles.
No real gripes except for the 80’s brown and tan bowling alley look. To each their own.
I hope they keep the recipe the same, I would return here.

I am reviewing mainly to get a message to the owner, who I see reads these. I was in last night with my kids. My daughter and I had hot pot. It was delicious. The thing is, there was way too much food for the two of us. I was told that I couldn’t cook the rest and take it home. I understand the prohibition of take-​out for all-​you-​can-​eat, but that makes sense because you can’t have people abusing it – ordering more food and then taking it home. But we didn’t order more… they just brought us too much to start with. So rather than let us take it home, they threw it away. I was raised to believe that wasting food is a terrible thing to do, and I am trying to raise my children the same way. Again, I get that you can’t let people order more food and then take it home when you have an all-​you-​can-​eat price, but that makes no sense when it is just the food that you put out to start with.
Here is my suggestion, if you feel the need to continue this policy: BRING LESS FOOD OUT TO START WITH!!!
Then, people can order more if they are still hungry, but you won’t end up wasting so much food.
Anyway, like I said, the hot pot was delicious. Come HUNGRY.

Con:
Went to the this place when it was within their first week of grand opening. The phở broth were mediocre because it tasted like medicine and missing that rich beef favor. I ordered the ox tail phở. The ox tail wasn’t cooked long enough so the meat on the tail weren’t falling off from the bone.
The price for phở around a family oriented neighborhood were over prices and it didn’t food doesn’t justify with the price.
Pro:
They had a big tv in the restaurant which was playing the Sunday football game. That was a nice feature. The place was spacious and parking at the back of the restaurant.

My wife and I loved this place. They just opened up and they’re still working things out but it’s a great start.
When my wife was disappointed that there wasn’t bún bò Hu on the menu, they said they could make it and it was really tasty.
They have an extensive menu of beef cuts for phở (including tripe). I got a regular size with every type of cut (except tripe) and it was really impressive. The beef was great and the broth was superb.
I have a feeling it will get better as the menu’s finalized. In the meantime, it’s a nice, tasty and CLEAN (big plus) addition to the already booming Vietnamese scene in the Rainier Valley. I’m curious to come back and try the hot pot.

I’ve been anticipating the opening of this place for months. Last week was the grand opening! More of a restaurant than a deli. I didn’t see any aspect of a deli except that they sell Vietnamese sandwiches. Overall, not a bad restaurant.
PROS:
Location/​Parking: Very conveniently located on the busy street of Rainier. Right across from Nguyen’s Pharmacy. Coming from the south, it’s a little past the QFC. The huge parking lot has good access and is a great addition to the location.
Ambiance: Very clean, spacious with great lighting.
Service: Overall service was pretty friendly and attentive. Our food came out in a timely manner.
Food: Overall, the food was okay, nothing spectacular. My husband and I ordered the egg rolls, Vietnamese coffee, che ba mau (3 bean dessert), bun bo hue (spicy beef noodle soup) and phở (beef noodle soup).
Vietnamese coffee ⁴⁄₅: Good flavor. Sweet with a bit of a bitter kick to it.
3 bean dessert ⁴⁄₅: Great amount and balance of all the ingredients. They added tapioca which is something that is not commonly present. It added a nice texture to the dessert. A bit heavy on the ice though.
Phở ⁴⁄₅: The broth was very tasty, flavorful, meaty and a bit tangy. The meatballs were delicious and homemade. The beef was very tender. Very solid.
CONS:
Food: Bun Bo Hue 2÷5−3÷5. When it first came out, it smelled and looked great! Sadly, the broth wasn’t as great as I hoped it would be. It lacked depth from the beef bone stock. However, it was very tangy and a lit salty. The noodles were also a bit under cooked. The beef was tender and the pork rolls were tasty (also very tangy and salty as well).
Egg rolls ²⁄₅: Good portion. Very meaty. Too much on the oily side. Every bite was very greasy. I couldn’t finish it.
Price: Pricier than the average Vietnamese restaurants around the area. Their phở sizes range from regular $ 7.50, large $ 9.00 to super bowl $ 11.00.
I wouldn’t mind coming back here but it’s probably not my first choice.
*Cash Only*

I tried the phở duoi bo (oxtail phở) and the broth was amazing. I’ve never had phở so full of flavor before. They just opened so it took a while, but The wait was so worth it

The menu here is not very extensive (which is not a big deal IF you’re good at making the things you do have…), it’s basic, and overpriced for Vietnamese food around the area. I was under the impression this was a brand new restaurant (possibly with a cool new concept), but it’s just your run-​of-​the-​mill Vietnamese restaurant.
The two stars are for cleanliness (Grand Opening Day), and Parking.
Here are some things I’ve experienced, and to keep in mind if you eat here:
— Their Eggrolls are room-​temperature, with no fish sauce on the side unless you ask.
— Their Bun Bo Hue isn’t anything special (but not bad), and doesn’t come with a normal side of veggies (or anything, not even lime). If you ask, they will bring you wilted bean sprouts and some shredded cabbage.
— There is one server, so if you come, make sure you’re not here at a busy time. The server will not have time to fill our tea/​water, get you napkins, answer any questions, or even make eye contact with you.
— I think it’s definitely overpriced for the area it’s in ($ 9.50 for a large bowl of phở, on Rainier, near Chinatown)…We ordered two small bowls of Bun Bo Hue’s, one beer, and one order of eggrolls and our bill came to $ 35.07 (not sure how it got to this unless they charged us for the tea as well).
Overall I don’t mean to bash this place since they are brand new, but if you’re going to open a restaurant similar to the other restaurants in your area… it should be amazing/​different and not mediocre. Good luck to this place, but we will definitely not be back.

This restaurant just opened up! I wanted to give this a place a try since I’m vietamese. I had the bun Bo Hue and it is amazing! Has a nice little spicy kick that I like.
And I also ordered the three bean dessert and it was really delicious. The restaurant is very clean and very appealing to the eye.
I highly recommend this place. Oh Yeah THE Best Part There Is PARKING!!!
Will be back for all you can eat hot pot!!!