Every time we're in the mall, this place is closed, so when I found the booth open today while picking up lunch at their sister restaurant, Ichiban, I decided to give it a try since we love pho. Unfortunately, it was a big letdown. I ordered the chicken pho. For starters, the broth is EXTREMELY salty. I am born and bred in NC and you know we love our salt in the south. But even I had a hard time stomaching the broth.The chicken was decent. It wasn't as bad as some reviews make it out to be. In fact, it seemed pretty fresh since some pieces weren't sliced all the way through yet and you could tell it was a larger piece from a chicken breast.The other big problem were the veggies. Now most pho places give you the bean sprouts, jalapeños, lime and cilantro. And the pho is topped with green onions. Well this had all that, but then they also have another side of veggies that's mostly cabbage, some carrots, raw yellow onion and broccoli. I saw the lady remove it frozen or at least chilled from a container and put it in hot water for about 20-30 seconds. I guess that was supposed to cook them quickly. But it doesn't and you end up getting mostly raw veggies instead. I made the mistake of accidentally biting into a raw onion and it was pretty nasty (I hate raw onions unless they're green onions). I was hoping that by adding these to my broth it would soften them some and add some unique flavor to the dish, but I just regretted it afterwards.The noddles were a bit weird and didn't taste like the usual rice noodles. They weren't as tender and didn't taste fresh, but more like frozen noodles that were heated up a bit.With all that said, I don't recommend this pho since there are better places locally, although I've yet to find a really good authentic pho restaurant that matches our favorite from Philly (iPHO if you're ever there). Locally, Thai China Buffet has the best in Durham so far, but we're still on the search for the best pho in the Triangle. My husband and I both agree that this was a one and done for Pholicious.The owner of Ichiban is very nice and we've loved his food over the last 8 years in the mall, so I hate to write a bad review about his other restaurant. I'd encourage you to get the black pepper chicken at Ichiban instead since it's awesome if fresh - it was very tasty for lunch today.
The coffee tastes like instant coffee. They walk over to another restaurant to get the egg rolls, and they are not good. The chicken pho is filled with cabbage, broccoli, and carrots. Sooo much cabbage! The chicken is not cooked how you'd hope for chicken pho. The broth was okay, but overall would not recommend.
We got Boba tea and it was nasty. Plus the lady making it had no mask on and kept rubbing her face. We immediately threw them out. So disgusting
We got 3 different Pho meals as take out. We got beef pho, shrimp & fish balls, and beef stew. All were tasty.
Ordered the BOBA classic milk tea and they charged me extra to get the boba in it even though it’s in the name. Be warned they might charge you extra to get chicken in the chicken pho too.
The tea itself was ok, boba pearls were over cooked in two teas. Thai tea was hot and flat tasting. The matcha tea was good. Customer service seems irritated by previous customers with kids slumber party. So when our order was given with boba instead of pearls clerk seemed put off, the server making them didn’t seem bother and quickly fixed it. A lil too sweet for the banana milk tea, tasted more like candy and couldn’t finish it.
Great stuff, restaurant quality Pho at the mall! Beef/meatball was excellent, honestly better than anything else I’ve had in Raleigh since moving here. New reason to tag along with wife to the mall!
Pho tasted delicious. Not sure if it's authentic. They forgot my chicken egg roll.
Lady was rude, she rolls her eyes at you when your kids ask questions. They should employ someone who don't bring their problems to work!
Pho was not good at all. The vegetables were hard and uncooked. The workers don’t have good customer service. If you want good pho go to Anise Pho in Raleigh!