Pho Ethan

Unfortunately, Phở Ethan was one of my favorite places. Just tonight I went in to get some Phở with my boyfriend quickly after work. The man at who was seating said that unfortunately they stop taking dine-​in at 8:30, but the kitchen will still do take-​out until 9. Strangest part about it was that it was only 8:20. Bummer, I didn’t drive 30 minutes to a restaurant that advertises closing at 9 to be turned away by a thoughtless staff member. There are other options nearby with comparable broth, I’ll remember them next time I go out for Phở. Bummer.

I’m a frequent diner at phở Ethan (my best friend even got her hedgehog from one of the waitresses here!), so I know the service is great and very friends. I Came here at 8:20 tonight, a server I’ve never seen let us know that they are not doing dine in after 8:30 and offered us take out. We left. We drove from Waterbury to this location, in the future I will be going to west Hartford.

Yum.
I’ve been here a handful of times and was completely unsure of myself the first few times so went with standard, trustworthy type dishes (spring rolls, grilled chicken, rice, etc.). This week I visited for lunch with someone who had the patience to explain what to order, how to spice it, and how to eat it.
… and now I’m hooked.
We started with the spicy beef rolls, which are like eggrolls but rolled in thin slices of beef instead of pastry. Dipped in the hoisin sauce, it was divine. I was afraid of the heat element, as I don’t particularly like spicy food, but this was well within my limits.
For my entrée, I got the plain phở (D2), nothing special or fancy. I ordered the small and was shocked at how much came in it. I added bean sprouts, basil, and a few drops of fish sauce at the direction of my companion and then dove in (almost literally — that bowl was huge!). I took home most of it to be eaten later as it’s deceptively filling, and sat back to enjoy a few cuppas before heading home.
As I stated earlier, yum.

This is a very solid option for Vietnamese food.
No matter what your dietary preferences, the fresh tofu spring roll appetizer is excellent — very large, with delicious peanut sauce. If you like things spicy, add sriracha (provided at your table); you won’t be sorry.
A vegetarian can do pretty well here, but they could be more explicit on the menu about how well. There is a pretty limited vegetarian section of the menu, but actually, you can order any phở bowl with vegetable broth. A lot of them contain meat, obviously, but you can have a bowl of phở with vegetables and tofu if you want it – great on a cold day. Vegetables all taste and look fresh. Mock meats (ham, chicken) are on the menu and are tasty. Since they have all of these resources, it would be good to see more additions to the vegetarian section of the menu.
The atmosphere is casual, and the staff are friendly and as attentive as you’d want them to be. I appreciate that the default situation is that you have chopsticks; they ask whether you want silverware. Prices are reasonable, and portions are large. And there are plenty of napkins at your table, in case your spicy phở gives you the sniffles.
I could easily see someone who is less stingy with five-​star reviews giving Phở Ethan a five-​star review. From me, they receive a robust set of four stars.

Decent phở. I’m from California and Phở is on another level there BUT this place I was pleasantly surprised with how it held up to my standards pretty well. Hit the spot! Had to knock off a star because it was a bit pricey.

This is my favorite place for phở. The quality and service beat any place in new haven. We will drive a half hour just to go to this place. If you ever go hopefully you’re lucky enough the have Greg as your server, he’s so attentive. He saw I was using a lot of sriracha so when I asked for the rest of my food to go he threw some in the bag to go without me asking!

Best around in the area.
I have not eaten more times in a week at any other place for lunch except this one just to test out if food is consistent.
Tried different items on the menu.
Had the phở, fried rice next day and mixture of stuff the third.
The taste of food is excellent, fresh, adequate spices.
Would definitely recommend

I’ve eaten here twice & both times I’ve had the Yellow Noodle Soup with pork. It’s so good! This is a gem hidden in an otherwise non-​descript shopping center. I will definitely be back to try the banh mi sandwiches and rice dishes.

I love phở. Let me say it again, I love phở. My daughter visits this place on occasions because there’s plenty of parking. The phở is good. I’ve had better in other areas but this local.
Prices are great and you get your money’s worth. I’m full off of a small bowl and my stomach feels like it’s going to buss (not burst) when I gulp down a large bowl.
Don’t bother with any of their fruit drinks. Blah. Perhaps it was the person who made it but I’m not willing to give it another try.
It always feels drafty so layer up if you go in the winter. The staff is nice and it’s clean inside.
Check out groupon before you decide to go. You can often find great deals from them.

I can always appreciate a good bowl of Vietnamese Phở soup and Phở Ethan, which I have been meaning to try for months, delivers.
The portions are huge. Their small size soup is a meal in itself. There are three sizes (S, M, L) and I opted for the medium.
I got the number D3 Phở rare flank steak with tendon. I recommend getting the flank rare on the side and adding it to your hot soup so it cooks slightly up to medium as you eat. Otherwise the meat can tend to dry out.
The tendon has a very gelatinous consistency but adds a punch of savory flavor to the soup. As usual you are served bean sprouts, mint leaves, green jalapeños and lime for garnishing.
The soup was excellent but I would have liked it to be served piping hot so that by the time the meal is over the soup is still warm. This was a little too lukewarm upon initial serving but it is far from a deal breaker.
My wife and I also split an order of combination fried rice which included grilled pork, chicken and shrimp.
This was the highlight of the meal. I’ve never had fried rice that had a distinctive grilled char to it but this did and the chargrilled meat really added to the pop of flavor in the rice. I highly recommend getting this.
If you are not a fan of Phở but like Asian style food their menu is extensive. They have many different appetizers, rice and noodle dishes and banh mi sandwiches. They also have a hot pot option that looks excellent. Based on the grilled pork in the fried rice I will be coming back to try the pork banh mi.
This spot is in a non-​descript strip mall on Route 5 but don’t be fooled. Phở Ethan is a good value and has some outstanding food.

Ok ok ok.
They got me.
So here’s the update: while I am still a fan of the competition, this place has changed my mind based on my «trying it again» meal this week.
It wasn’t so much the food that won me over-​though dinner was just fine-​it was the lovely care and consideration of our server. She took the time to talk about her experience with the owners and their food, and was overwhelmingly joyful about Phở Ethan. Coming from an industry where customer service is KEY (I work in healthcare) there is something to be said about employee engagement and satisfaction pouring out from an employee-​and to have it appear completely genuine.
Bravo-​having an engaged and energetic and kind staff? That fête alone is worth applauding.

Delicious food simply put.
I ordered the D1 special, regular size, which came with rare beef, brisket, tripe, tendon, and beef ball. Broth was flavorful, noodles and meat were plentiful and tasty. Everything was very clean and fresh tasting. My first time having tendon and I was pleasantly surprised. Very soft and melt in your mouth consistency which added a nice richness to the soup.
The spring rolls were great, both the fried and non-​fried variety. The portions were quite large for the cost which was nice as well. The peanut sauce was on point.
Also pictured is a coconut and avocado frozen bubble tea. They were super smooth almost like a milkshake consistency which was great. The coconut was really good. Tasted like real coconut opposed to the more artificial variety. Avocado was good as well but I didn’t get much avocado flavor, which I wasn’t exactly mad about.
I will be coming back. Good was a great and prices are very reasonable. Large portions and fast service. They serve sake which was cool to see.

Delicious phở and great service!
Came here for lunch on a weekend and the place was a little empty. Spacious layout with plenty of seating. The waitress was very friendly and provides great recommendations. we decided on the Spring rolls (also known as the summer rolls at most other phở places). The filling was very fresh but the shrimps was a little dry but overall large in size. We also got the fried shrimp and it was fried to perfection where even if you tried to remove the fried skin it was well coasted it wouldn’t come off easily. Super crispy and again they used jumbo shrimps and accompanied with a sweet tangy sauce. My brother went with the phở (which came in a size small, regular, or large) and I chose the vermicelli soup which was absolutely amazing. The broth was flavored with lemongrass and left a pleasant aftertaste on your tongue. Despite the 90 degree weather outside, this couldn’t have been a better choice. The broth was slightly spicy and it just complimented so well with the thin rice noodles. This place also offered cubes of pork blood which made the dish even more authentic and the cube of pork blood was cooked just right so it was soft and easy to bite into. I can say I’ve acquired quite a taste to piggy blood (hopefully that doesn’t make me a vampire though)
The portions were also very generous so make sure to come hungry! And don’t be ashamed to walk out double fisting their bubble tea smoothie, highly recommend the avocado or taro!

I was indifferent to the phở at Phở Ethan. However the egg rolls and beef rolls with peanut sauce were fantastic. If I go back, it’s appetizers only.
We had the brisket and flank steak phở, and in my opinion, it tasted overwhelmingly like cloves. I’m not a fan of cloves, so perhaps it stood out for me more than it would someone who likes cloves, I don’t know. The soup was salty and the meat was gray. All in all, wouldn’t do it again. I’ve had it better.
The grand finale of our evening was being charged $ 1.50 a piece for four cans of coke (two each) and never being offered their fountain Pepsi, which probably had free refills. Didn’t break the bank but they knew it was our first time there, would have been nice to know it was an option.

I like to think of myself as a pretty informed and educated person when it comes to various types of cuisine, especially having traveled extensively outside of the U.S. But, there are a few things that I had never tried nor heard of until I starting Unilocaling. One of those things was phở. I quickly learned the correct way to pronounce it («fuh» vs «foe»), which, ironically is not phở-​netical (lol). I still laugh when I say it because it just sounds funny to me.
Thanks to Unilocal,I also quickly learned that the best phở places are in the Hartford area with Bridgeport a close second. New Haven has yet to jump on the phở bandwagon (minus a food cart or two), which is surprising, considering the otherwise extensive variety of asian cuisine in the Elm City. So, thus brought me to this place, which opened within the last year. I have a coworker who raves about it and also read some good Unilocal reviews, so decided to check it out on a recent cold, snowy day while in the area.
I am hoping to be able to make more comparisons as I visit more phở places, but I thought everything was great… the atmosphere, service, prices and quality of the food. They have an extensive menu, everything from apps to rice/​noodle dishes and phở, which come in three sizes and all are only a dollar or so difference from each other. I went for the medium size for about $ 9, which was still huge to me and I was only able to eat half of it. In hindsight, I’d probably go for the large next time, so my leftover could definitely be a full sized second meal. I did not ask for my flank steak to be served rare on the side (per other Unilocalers’ advice), but will do so next time since I found the thinly sliced meat to be a little dry/​chewy after sitting in the broth for the duration of my meal.
Definitely a place worth checking out to satisfy your phở craving!

Just ate here for Valentine’s Day. The food was pretty good. We had pork and shrimp spring rolls which were yummy and fresh. Also had the chicken kabobs, and the chicken was nicely seasoned and tasty but they were barely even lukewarm.
For our main meals we had crispy noodles and split a large rare angus phở which was good as well.
I found the service here disappointing. We weren’t asked how our appetizers or main meals were until we paid and were leaving, no one came back to check I throughout our meal and our drinks were never refilled. We also had to wait for bowls to come out since we were splitting the phở and the first man we asked forgot. Luckily we were able to catch another man and he got them for us. There were not many people in here for Valentine’s Day so not sure why the service was so poor?

I’ve been looking forward to coming here for a while, and it was good but to be honest I was a little underwhelmed. The restaurant was very quiet, maybe 3 or 4 other tables had people sitting at them, but almost every table that was not being used had dirty dishes from previous customers on them, which was kinda gross. The service was fine, the waiter helped us pick our souls and appetizers, and the food came out after a little while. We got large soups and they were HUGE, my chicken was alright, it wasn’t the best quality but it was cooked well. The broth was alright, didn’t have a huge variety of flavor, but it was light and nice, and the noodles were cooked well. Overall this place was good, definitely worth the price for the amount of phở you get!

So I convinced my mom and sis to try out Phở Ethan after checking out the threads here on Unilocal and the phở cravings were kicking in.
First of all, thank you Unilocal threads! We found a new phở restaurant that is closer to home AND we received more bang for the buck.
All three of us decided to order the D1 Phở special each in the large bowl, as well as one order of the special for the day, which was «spicy lemongrass grilled beef rolls.» The rolls wrapped up summer roll style, but tender strips of grilled beef were used in place of the rice flour egg roll skin. The beef was delicious and tender and the rolls were very flavorful, but incredibly spicy. Drinking the whole glass of water helped me tame that spiciness. They also a have of variety of different menu items, such as rice plates, noodle bowls, Banh mi sandwiches and different kinds of fried rice, if phở is not your thing.
Their «large» bowl of phở is HUGE! For $ 9.95, you can’t beat that price as compared to other phở places where the large bowl is easily 11 or 12+ dollars. Besides the large bowl, there is also a regular and small size, and even a kid size phở bowl, where other phở restaurants only have two bowl sizes (or none). I could barely finish my bowl, but fought my way since it was incredibly delicious. The broth was sort of sweet, but savory; not too bland or salty. I like to add a bit of sriracha and a squirt of hoisin when I received my bowl to make my phở flavorful to my liking.
Service is excellent. Our server was very nice and attentive. Our glasses were refilled with water whenever it was needed. The décor of the restaurant was simple, but nice. The booths alongside the wall on the side of the register each have an outlet, so you can charge your phone if need be. Plus, they also have free wifi.
I think we found our new phở place when those cravings kick in.

I want to love this place as the restaurant itself was actually nice — no sketchy hole in the wall look here. The service was prompt (I’ve read people complaining about speediness being an issue) but the phở was just super duper underwhelming. It was good, but it definitely doesn’t hold a candle to Phở Boston. The broth was just meh.
On the plus side, my spring roll was good, the regular size phở was huge and I liked the cut up jalepenos vs the couple of shrivel-​y looking chili peppers PB gives.
If I’m in the area and have a hankering for phở and am just too lazy to go to West Hartford, I’ll return, but it just didn’t hit the spot like I was expecting.

I was really sad when I learned that Phở Saigon in West Hartford was closing. I was really happy when they said they had a new restaurant opening in Wallingford (especially since it’s closer to where I live).
We decided to head down there on a cold rainy Saturday, because what is better than a steaming bowl of phở to warm you up?
The restaurant was clean and fresh, but had many of the same menu items (and much more) as my beloved Phở Saigon. Of course we went to our old go to’s, egg rolls and phở.
We started with the pork egg rolls which are hot, fresh, and crispy. I could eat a bucket of these things. For the Phở we ordered the D1, their signature beef phở soup. It comes with beef in all forms: thinly sliced flank steak, slow cooked brisket, tendon, and balls… well meatballs. The broth tastes like it was made slowly with the bones, but it wasn’t overpowering at the same time. All of these things make for one amazing soup. Add in the DIY factor of the Vietnamese condiments (fresh basil, sprouts, hot peppers, spices, sriracha, hoisin) and now you can create your own designer combination for a perfect soup.
Our servers were very laid back and friendly, and seemed genuinely happy to serve us, and the service was fast. Even doable for a tight lunch break if you’re a pro at eating phở.
We will definitely be back, and then I could fill you in on my next favorite thing, vermicelli bowls, yum.
Here are a couple tips, which I will post as well:
1. Ask for your flank steak on the side raw. I learned this from some other Unilocalers! You can add it as you’re eating the soup, and it will slowly cook in the hot broth and stay tender.
2. Egg rolls are fried, spring rolls are cold in Vietnamese restaurants around here.