Pagolac Restaurant

Restaurant is CLOSED now.

3.5 for their baked catfish. It’s probably the best baked catfish I’ve had anywhere. It only comes in one size (~$ 35) and takes about 35 minutes to cook. So, call in your fish order beforehand if you want to avoid the wait. The fish is extremely crispy and flavorful and the meat is soft and sweet. The seasoning on the fish and the crispy texture is what sets this fish apart from baked catfish at other restaurants. This dish is traditionally eaten with rice paper and greens, for the uninitiated. It’s a do-​it-​yourself spring roll-​type of meal.
The beef stuffed green leaf (bo la lot) and round meatballs (bo mo chai) are a-​ok. Again, these items are eaten stuffed into rice paper and rolled up with greens; do-​it-​yourself spring roll. Each of these dishes are about $ 10, more or less and has about 6 – 8 pieces per order.
Other important info: not very clean, everything is sticky and greasy, super friendly staff, huge screen tv, they charge for tap water, and parking in the plaza can be limited and frustrating at times.

Let me get this off my chest. ANY asian establishment that charges you $ 0.50 PER cup of water can eat it. I’d understand if it was triple filtered, has a pound of ice in it, or even in a nice cup… but tap water for 50 cents!!! cmon. Don’t even THINK about getting a refill as that will set you back another 50 cents. #WATER_​FAIL
Now that I’ve vented, Pagolac is a 7 course vietnamese beef restaurant. They basically serve you beef in 7 different ways, bland decent bland and bland. The only good part of the dinner is the Beef wrapped in Leaves, at least that had some flavor. If you’re to come here, just order 2 plates of that and be happy. The worst part of the dinner was the Beef Salad. I’m so enraged by that. I could have made it taste better at home in less than 5 minutes. The dish was basically lettuce and some boiled non seasoned beef.
I guess for lover’s of the 7 courses of beef, this place is decently priced. The mixed meat dish was about $ 15, not bad compared to others. However, you’d probably have to drag me to come back to this place. Service was pretty much nonexistent, bathrooms were dirty, tables were sticky, and food is bland. Like I said, the only saving grace of this place is the price. 2 stars.

I LOVE 7 courses of beef. My family used to go to the Anh Hong in Rosemead for all our special occasions like birthdays, Mother’s Day, or when we felt like going out for dinner. Too bad they closed down :/​Figured we’d check out the one in the OC since that’s where all the yummy Viet food’s at. No. I was wrong. The Anh Hong in Westminster/​GG didn’t compare at all. So, when we wanted to get 7 courses of beef again, we decided to try another place: Pagolac.
This place is HUGE! It’s in the corner of a plaza right next to Stater Bros and there’s just SO MUCH seating inside. Kind of ridiculous actually. But service from the owner lady was great… the actually waiters, not so much. They were either just texting or glued to the soccer game on the TV. We were the only ones there for early lunch though, maybe they’re more attentive when there’s more of a crowd.
Now usually, my favorite is the onions wrapped with beef course, but the tiny kabob balls were SO FLAVORFUL here!!! The vinegar beef didn’t really have any flavor. Salad wasn’t anything special at all. The porridge was okay. The sauce is a little too sweet for my liking too. We also ordered an additional grilled beef and shrimp dish, and that was great! I guess you can’t have everything…

I really didn’t enjoy my experience here. This place isn’t friendly for people who don’t understand Vietnamese. I wasn’t sure what I was ordering or how/​when 7 courses of meat are served. As such, I’m reading Unilocal reviews and it says we’re supposed to get a beef soup at the end of our dinner? I don’t remember getting this w/​our meal!
The theme of the restaurant is they bring you 7 courses of beef; the beef is prepared in different ways (steamed, satayed, grilled, etc.). The meats weren’t that impressive and nothing I tasted really stood out to make me want to come back.
Raw beef, cooked in vinegar shabu style — ³⁄₅ — OK. The vinegar is a nice touch and gave it some flavor
Satayed beef — ³⁄₅ — Ok — steak beef.
Meat ball (grilled) — ²⁄₅. This tasted a lot like a hamburger patty only I felt like it was boiled or something.
Meat bal (steamed) — ³⁄₅. OK. Similar to Chinese steamed beef-​balls
Leaf wrapped in beef– 3.5÷5 — This was the better dish. It’s beef wrapped in a leaf. The better dishes.
Beef Salad — ¹⁄₅ — Beef was lacking in flavor. Also the salad is just lettuce and beef.
??? — Not sure if we got it???
TIPS:
–They charge $ 0.50 for water! I can see this being at a small mom & pop restaurant, but this restaurant is huge! It has an area dedicated for Karaōke & events!
-$ 2.00 charge for tea
–Restaurant isn’t very clean. My hands touched the back of the chair and it was sticky! You’re using your hands to wrap rice paper too.
–Prices are reasonable at $ 15 or so a person

Used to come here a long long time ago. Like 10 years or more. Amazing how much time has passed. Anyway it’s not a review on how much I’ve aged but rather how Pagolac fares today based on my more experienced palate.
One of the main reasons people come here is for the 7 courses of beef. Came here with a party of 9 and we ordered 6 servings worth.
1) RAW BEEF FLANK IN BOILED WATER:
— nothing special
— just imagine the beef flank in your phở but without the taste of the broth
2) HUGE BOILED/​STEAMED MEATBALL WITH VERMICELLI AND PEAS:
— tasted a bit weird, like there was coconut inside
— apparently to be eaten with the shrimp chips
— nonetheless probably my least favorite
3) PAN-​FRIED MEATBALL
— one of my favorite courses
— great wrapped in the thin rice paper
— very tender and bursting with flavor
4) PAN-​SEARED BEEF FLANK WRAPPED IN BASIL
— my other favorite course
— the basil makes everything taste so much better
— also perfect size to wrap in thin rice paper
5) PAN-​SEARED BEEF FLANK
— meat was a bit rough
— not as flavorful as the one with the basil
6) BEEF SALAD
— nothing special
— basically chopped up beef on a salad with vinegar, salt, and pepper dressing
7) ALPHABET BEEF SOUP
— the end of the courses
— the flour is shaped with LETTERS (i remember being amazed as a kid)
— good way to finish the meal
SERVICE: lacking. there were barely any people in the restaurant and we had to call on them several times to refill our water, tea or the veggies. Even then it took them a while to bring it to us at the table. I understand if you charge extra for the veggies and rice paper but seriously there needs to be better service.
ENVIRONMENT: large restaurant. there are about 20 tables at the restaurant; enough to hold a small wedding assuming you wanted 7 courses of beef as the wedding food. There is a decent sized TV playing a Vietnamese show but the volume wasn’t very loud. The interior is a bit old school but I guess it doesn’t matter for an establishment like this.
Overall, decent place to have 7 courses of beef. I was really taken away with it and actually got SUPER thirsty after dinner… which only means MSG. dun dun dun… Not sure how much it costs since I didn’t pay nor was there a menu to look at. I am not sure where the other 7 courses of beef places are but I usually go to Vietnam House (
) or VIetnam Restaurant (
).

Someone was talking about this place that has 7 course beef …
And something else.
All I heard was 7 course. beef.
Yes please.
Well, it was very different from what I had in mind.
It’s beef that’s being prepared in 7 different ways.
–Boiled in vinegar (you cook it yourself at the table) –Not bad
–Boiled/​steamed meatball — Pretty Good
–Fried meatball — Very Good
–Vietnamese leaf wrapped beef (grilled) –Good
–Grilled beef roll — Good
–Beef salad (just beef slice on top of salad) — Not bad
–Beef soup (with rice) — Very good
I don’t know where. but they have put. oh so much, so much MSG.
The food taste good, don’t get me wrong.
But … man, too much MSG. I had a reaction for 7 hours.
The food is pretty good, but service is pretty bad.
Just don’t expect much, except to smell really bad when you leave.
Poor ventilation, I smelled like phở the whole day.

Growing up, my parents would always take me here. And I loved it! But I wasn’t sure if I loved it for biased reasons, so I went out and tried some of your other typical Bo 7 Mon (7 courses of beef) places. I discovered that this place, is by far, still superior than your chain of thien an bo 7 mon or anh hong. And still better than those small restaurants in random areas that ‘offer’ this meal at their phở restaurants.
If you have never tried bo 7 mon, they are usually:
— bo nhung dam (beef dipped in vinegar)
— bo la lot (beef covered in leaves) — my favorite of all times
— bo mo chai (beef grilled-​ish)
— bo sa te (beef satayed)
— bo cha dum (beef baked meatball)
— bo salat (beef salad) — with a special hour vinaigrette that my friends and I enjoy
— chao bo — (beef rice porridge)
disclaimer: but there are deviations on them at each place
When I come here with 2 people, one portion is more than enough to feed us. The meal comes with rice paper to wrap up the beef into rolls, like the idea of spring rolls. And it also comes with a lot of fresh vegetables. Vietnamese people LOVE vegetables!
When I come here with my parents (2+1), we usually get one order of the bo 7 mon, and than an additional side of the bo la lot, since that is our favorite!
The 7 course meal costs $ 15.99 per order, so that’s basically less than $ 10 per person after tax and top. If you want to get an additional side of any of those items, it is only $ 7.99, but this portion would be bigger than the one in the course option.
Once again, I recommend coming at lunch because you will receive PERFECT service. They get really busy during dinner time, but they last time I came here with some friends, I think they hired another guy to help out… Anyways, the food is amazing! Give it a try, Vietnamese food is not all about phở and banh mi!!!

$ 15.99 per order of bo 7 mon. The four of us split two orders and were totally satisfied. We had also just had Brodard and still wanted to save room for phở, so maybe you should order more if you’re hungrier!
Everything was ok, courses 2 – 5 that all came together on one plate for us were our favorite I think. Loved all the herbs and greens they brought out to wrap the meat in. The soup didn’t have much flavor, the steak salad was boring, and the opener of shabu shabu beef was only really good once wrapped up in rice paper and dipped in chili and fish sauce.
The quality of the beef here seems very low. We meant to go to Hong An but unfortunately it was closed for lunch. This was our first time trying bo 7 mon, so maybe there are better places out there? I’m sure. It was fun though!

Ah, bo bay mon (7 courses of beef), you elude me once again. Pagolac has chic décor, a great wait staff and awesome food. For the prices per person, it’s not bad. I didn’t get to try the 7-​courses when I was here but I did get to try the chicken won tons, sticky rice with cha lua (pork meatloaf), fried chicken wings, beef wrapped in grape leaves, meatballs, and the table-​side grill-​your-​own & wrap-​your-​own spring rolls. My favorite was the beef wrapped in grape leaves; this was the most understated, yet flavorful dish. They offer karaōke on the weekends and have a pretty decent-​sized dance floor. The restaurant is a large space, which is great for parties. They are located next to the Stater Bros. on Brookhurst and Hazard. Pagolac serves beer & wine. Don’t be surprised if you see your favorite Unilocalers here partying it up.

Way back when, I remember my parents talking about really fancy dinners that would have 7 courses of food. As a middle class family living in a small town in Oregon, this was inconceivble to me. But my intense love of great food started when I was young, so I always thought a 7 course meal must be a foodie’s nirvana.
Over time, the 7 course meal idea seems to have faded. But Pagolac is bringing it back, and kicking it up a notch…
7 courses of beef. You heard me right. 7 courses of beef!
This might be the most brilliant menu idea I have ever heard of, and it’s less than $ 15 per person! I think I died and went to beef heaven!
Every single course has beef in it, and they are all awesome!
I was also here a few days earlier with friends for a karaōke and dancing night (which was hysterical) and we tried a bunch of other dishes not on the 7 courses menu. Such as sticky rice with Chinese sausage (melt in your mouth yummy), spicy eel, and the dried shredded pork on fried sticky rice was the bomb!
Amazingly, one of my favorite appetizers was something unexpected for a Vietnamese place… sweet, spicy, and crispy chicken wings. These were seriously better than BWW or Hooters. I’m coming here for Monday night football from now on and ordering buckets of these things!
The restaurant is big too. Lots of room for big groups, which is great because sometimes I have a hard time finding a place that can handle all my friends for big events. Definitely a hidden gem.

Yummy! I have been here a few times and absolutely love eating here. After last night’s adventures with Shane D., Jen N. and their entourage, I’ve also discovered that I love weekend karaōke nights here too!
First, the seven courses of beef is an incredible amount of food here, especially for the price. The late-​night menu features some awesome entrees — especially the sticky rice with Chinese sausage, quail legs, and chicken wings. The dried pork that comes on top of the sticky rice is like finely shredded beef jerky — so tasty as a garnish!
The karaōke nights (Fri-​Sun) feature live music, karaōke and dancing in half the restaurant. It can get loud with the background music a little overpowering, but maybe if I was doing my solo I’d want to overpower people too!
I’m not usually a fan of Vietnamese food, but I’ll come here any day!

This is one of the better tasting bo bay mon restaurant. For $ 13.99, you get 7 dishes of meat, tons of veggies and the rice paper. This is a good deal. Additional dishes are $ 8 which is kind of a rip off since its the same amount but you only get 1 dish. If you opt to get single dishes, they’re about $ 15.99…Kinda expensive.
My favorite dishes are the bo la lot, the sausage and the porridge at the end with abc noodles.
Recommend: 7 course beef

This is one of the two best Bo Bay Mon (Seven Courses of Beef) restaurants in Little Saigon. (The other being Anh Hong). For a reasonable $ 13.99, you get beef prepared in seven different ways for one. Bo Bay Mon is particularly fun to eat because you have to make your own rolls using rice paper and an assortment of vegetables. You also get to dip in Mam Nem which is different than the usual fish sauce that comes with most Vietnamese dishes (although you can also use fish sauce if you can’t handle the taste).
The restaurant is spacious and there are lots of tables to accomodate big groups. The service is not that attentive, but at least you can wave them down when you need them, which is a lot better than some other unattentive Vietnamese places.
Bo Bay Mon at its best is delicious and always a good meal. The only downside is that all Bo Bay Mon places accumulate a smell of grilled beef and that tends to stay with you on your clothes for the rest of the day.
Great place for a meal, but you might want to think twice if you’re brining a date here, unless they’re in the mood for it or are really easy going.

This place is good to come with a big group. so you can order the 7 courses of beef and also the baked catfish. The meat dishes are good and you can never go wrong with baked catfish. Make sure you don’t over order. The catfish is good enough to feed 3 – 4 without ordering the beef courses… If I come with 4 – 5 ppl, 2 orders of the beef and 1 baked catfish is enough for us to leave stuffed!!!
Service is your typical Westminster service… There really isn’t any service available unless you flag them down and speak the language… You always have to flag them down to bring you anything extra… I’ve been here multiple times with my family and every time, we’ve only seen 1 server work there…
Other than that, I always leave here satisfied and full!!! In a healthy way–

Pagolac is one of those places where you have to mark «Yes» when YeIp asks you if it’s good for groups. The restaurant is rather large (they only use half of the restaurant usually) and it’s rarely full nor is there ever a line. I don’t eat 7 courses of beef very often, but when I do, Pagolac seems to be the place to go. I think the last time I went before this was in the late 90’s. However, I recently revisited Pagolac for dinner with some friends and it was a nice dining experience. For about $ 14 a person plus tax and tip, you get large portions of beef cooked in a variety of styles, rice paper, rice noodles, veggies and dipping sauces which you use to make your own spring rolls. It’s kinda fun wrapping it yourself.
If you are Vietnamese or are familiar with Vietnamese cuisine, you’ve probably had most of the dishes served at Pagolac in one form or another at least once before. Pagolac doesn’t really do anything that special with their food, but it tastes good enough that you are pretty much guaranteed to like at least a couple of the dishes (see pics for each of the courses). The entire meal takes around an hour to eat so its nice to be able to sit down and catch up with your friends while you enjoy a good meal. One complaint we had was that they only gave us one tiny hot pot the size of a rice bowl for a party of 8. We had to take turns cooking our meat (course #1) which resulted in a little frustration. Also, keep in mind that Pagolac has been around forever and the plaza is a bit run down, so don’t expect anything that fancy. They do have a couple of flat screen TV’s on the wall though which was on ESPN when we were there.

Never had 7-​course beef and my friend visiting from Nor-​Cal suggested we come here.
Very large restaurant. Easy parking.
For 3 people we ordered 2 orders 7-​course beef and one catfish. OMG, so much food! The 7 courses wasn’t what I had imagined. It’s like they give you diff meats to put into spring rolls. Each meat is a «course». That’s why its only $ 13.99! Haha. The catfish was yummy though a bit dry. I really liked the pineapple peanut dipping sauce.
Service was surprisingly really good. They checked in with us a lot and were very attentive.
Overall a solid 3 stars.

The Hair, The Re-​Used, The Grose and The Disgusting!
Absolutely Disgusting
~The Hair
I am no newbie to bo 7 mon. Here the deal is for 13.99 per person. The first dishes brought out were the veggies and the rice wrapper, which had a long black hair. The waiter left the hair and just turned them upside down when he saw us staring at it. Didn’t even bother removing it.
~The Meat
The first dish brought out was ok. The other dishes were sub par. The meats on the skewer were identical to the ones a few doors down at Dakao. I know because I go to Dakao. To confirm it, we walked over and saw them. Ok.coincidence. Over charged meat that is identical to Dakao.
Our portions were for a single person and not for 3. Huh, what? There are 3 of us. Keep your bushes of lettuce and bring 14 bucks each worth of meat.
The beef salad meat sucked. It was old and chewy and was not grilled recently. We didn’t even see anyone in the kitchen. Just the server.
~The Soup-​NOT A MISTAKE
The soup was the best dish. Very tasty. Why did it come in a single tiny bowl?** Refer to Tam N.‘s review. this is not the first time or a mistake… obviously!
Drinks
$ 1.50 for a tiny half a can’s worth of coke and no refill? Huh, what?
~The Veggies
1. Four tables including ours
2. Veggies were old and dehydrated and wilted.
*** DISGUSTING. Two tables had left. We saw our server go to each of the two tables and collect the veggies and separate them. Yes used veggies. He walked them over and re-​stacked them in the kitchen with the other lettuce, basil and bean sprouts. This was disgusting.
1. That’s how you spread disease and illness.
2. We paid 13.99 for used veggies? We did not actually see him re–
use them, but he separated them and saved them and placed in a
stack.not in the trash.
3. What is stopping them from doing this with the meat?
So, I called twice this evening to speak to the owner. They would not let me talk to the owner and referred to the owner as «She.» This is why I leave this review.
I don’t think I have ever given a 1 star to any business in bolsa. But this place takes the cake. They wont even let me talk to the owner. The guy who answered the phone sounded just like our server.
If the owner reads this, PM me if you care.
I concur with Tam N. This is also the most horrible experience I ever had. I regret paying.

They say you haven’t had Vietnamese food until you’ve had seven courses of beef.
Since I am a non-​native, I get tons of surprised looks when I dip my meat into the fermented fish sauce. Depending on where you go it can smell fishy. That was not the case here. The pineapple and garlic add another wonderful layer of flavor. Just try it.
Seven courses of beef (from wikipedia):
1. Goi bo: pickled carrot, pickled daikon, and celery salad with thin strips of beef in nc mm (fish sauce)
2. Beef patties served with rice crackers
3. Raw slices of beef to be cooked in a heated broth.
4. Ground beef rolled in caul fat.
5. Bo la lot: Ground beef rolled in a leaf very similar to a grape leaf.
6. Strips of beef rolled around a piece of scallion.
7. Chao bo: Beef ground rice soup.
If you love beef, this is it. Wonderful flavors in all 7 courses.

When I go home to visit Southern California, there are two things I crave other than home cookin’. The first is Banh Cuon from Phở Tau Bay (not the same restaurant as the one in San Jose) and the second is Pagolac.
My family has been coming to Pagolac for years– at least 18+ years I think. And there something about nostagia and savory Vietnamese flavors that make my mouth water.
Pagolac is known for the 7 courses of beef. Most of it you cook yourself on table top grills or mini boiling pots of vinegar water. All proteins are meant to be wrapped in the fresh rice paper with assorted veggies then dipped in a very salty/​savory mam nem sauce.
Typically my family orders a la carte as there are some of the dishes from the «7» that aren’t our fav. We usually get the thinly sliced beef, prawns, and the grilled minced meat wrapped in leaves. How many plates should one order? Eh, that depends on your appetite. However, I must disclose that my family is not a good barometer to gauge portion size. For our family of 7 (5 girls), we used to get incredulous looks for the huge amounts of food my mom would order and that we would happily put away.
Word to the wise, this isn’t somewhere you would want to wear your fanciest clothes as you, your hair, your clothing will all smell like grilled food. Not a problem for me but others may not like the scent of L’eau de Grilled Beef.