I love pho! Â In my mind, it joins pizza and sushi in a very select group of PERFECT foods. Â However, much like pizza and sushi, all pho is not created equal. Â Pho Hong Anh is a prime example of that axiom. Â
Pho Hong Anh, like many of its peers, resides in an unremarkable strip mall. Â Its dining room is surprisingly large, seemingly capable of handling the pho hungry masses. Â Pho Hong Anh offers two sizes of pho, a large bowl for roughly $7.50 and a small one for a buck or so less. Â PHA's large is most definitely large to the point you could almost bathe a small child in it. Â Their small bowl is comparable to many of its competitors' large bowls. Â
Therein lies the rub. Â Despite the generous bowls of broth, the pho was comparatively light in the meat, noodle, and vegetable add-ins compared to its competitors. Â Still, the key to good pho is the broth. Â PHA's broth was on the bland side seeming to be more of a straight beef broth and lacking some of the characteristic spice notes from cinnamon, ginger, star anise, cardamom, coriander, and clove in sufficient quantities or altogether. Â Secondly, the broth had more of an oily sheen than others I've had. Â Pho Hong Anh's namesake dish isn't awful by any stretch of the imagination. Â It's just unremarkable. Â With the availability of other pho options, Pho Hong Anh doesn't make it into my rotation of pho joints.
Maybe it's because this was my go-to pho place when I was younger, but I have a bit of a soft spot for it. No, it's not the best I've had, but I like it.
You seat yourself. Decor is sparse. Service is pretty typical of a pho place (non-existent), but you get your food very quickly (when I worked nearby, I was able to get in, eat, pay, and get out within my 30-minute break). They're very generous with their meat portions.
This may not be relevant, but I would always have an oily face after eating here. Not sure if it is from some ingredient they use or what, but just something to take note of.
The sizes of the bowls are generous. The small is a like a large. and the large is like a super large. The broth has a good flavor as well..although they give just a little less meat than some other places (but that might be because the bowl is bigger so it seems to be less). This restaurant is by far the BEST LOOKING pho place I had ever been to, and I"ve been to Pho places in Reston, Sterling, Falls Church, Springfield, Arlington, Riverdale.
Review Source:Just ok. I was in the area and decided to check it out. Not the worst pho I've had but not the best by far. The broth was not that flavorful (but at least it wasn't greasy), but I think what bothered me was their noodles. They're an unusual kinda noodle (they're actually square) and the thickness  didn't lend well to softening in the broth so they weren't completely cooked. Also I didn't really care for their garden rolls. They used the same bad thick noodles... Â
Service was fine - typical Pho shop. Â They bring out the food quickly and thats about all to their service.
Overall, it was just ok.
I have to admit, we went to Pho Hong Anh after we went to Saigon City down the street and the place was crowded because of a Birthday party. Â That being said, the pho at Pho Hong Anh was very good with lots of chunky meat and delicious beef broth. Â We also ordered summer rolls which were HUGE compared to other pho houses we've been to. Â Alltogether, we were very happy with the food, prices, and service. Â We'd definitely go back (if our mainstay Saigon City is crowded!).
Review Source:Great Pho. Â I admit the service isn't GREAT but it's a no frills pho house. Â They are very clean too. Â They replace all the chopsticks and spoons every so often and they use good meat a well. Â the pho isn't oily either like alot of the other Pho houses. Â What more do you want from a pho house?
Review Source:This was the worst Pho experience of my life. I had the meatball Pho and my girlfriend had the seafood Pho. My meatballs were like cold sausage gumdrops and tasted like stale meat. I ended up eating mostly noodles and got no protein. My gf's seafood was (aside from the shrimp) not even close to real seafood. She had several chunks of what I can only guess was supposed to be fake scallops and squid, but looked more like matzoh balls. I will make sure to avoid this place in the future at all costs.
Review Source:I used to come here a lot with my friends back in the day. Â Just the other day, I took my boyfriend to this place because he was sick and wanted some nice hot soup which he specified he wanted pho. Â He was not very satisfied because he likes the darker, smellier, more oily broth. Â However, I would have to disagree because I like their lighter broth. Â Also, the soup portions are pretty large. Â
My only complaint was that their veggies were not fresh. Â The leaves were already wilted, the sprouts were turning translucent and limp (prior to putting them in the soup), and the lime was dry. Â
I had their coconut milk & jelly dessert and it was super thin, almost like it was watered down. Â However, I actually did like the jellies in there because they were nice and chewy. Â
Next comes service... Service? what service? Â This is how it works. Â You walk in, seat yourself, they'll come give you water and take the order(s), serve you your order(s), you eat, walk to the counter to pay, and leave. Â It's almost self-serve. Â LOL...
My roommate, sister, and I used to go to Pho Hong Anh all the time for our Pho Fridays. The pho is good - no complaints there; it's the service. Not once did our waiter or waitress ever ask how we were doing or if we needed more of anything. Also, when we would order egg rolls, they would come out AFTER our pho came out, which I thought was wierd. I just think if you are going to run a restaurant or work in a restaurant, you need to be more hospitable.
Review Source:3 Star Synopsis - When you just need a bowl of pho and you happen to be in Springfield, VA, Pho Hong Anh ("PHA") is good enough for the ordinary diner. A good bowl of pho basically comes down to the Four S's: Soup, Sides, Speed, and Stinginess. [Note: Contrary to popular belief "pho" most likely refers to the broth and not the rice noodles.]. The soup, as Anthony Bourdain describes, should be "spicy, hot, complex, [and] refined." PHA, by comparison, was bland and watered down. The Sides (of which I mean freshness of the garnishes) were borderline of being in tomorrow's trash bin: the Thai basil leaves were starting to wilt; the beans sprouts were limp near the edges and becoming translucent; and, the sliced jalapenos were drying up. On the plus side, PHA offered speedy service (dishes prepared within minutes of ordering) and proved to be very generous with the quantity of food (meat, soup, noodles, and garnishes). A small bowl of pho costs $6.50 and a large bowl costs $7.25. PHA also offers desserts ($2 each) and appetizers including crispy spring rolls ($3), garden rolls ($3), butter wings (5 for $4.95), and lemon beef salad ($6.95). Overall, Pho Hong Anh is just another place for pho - not terribly bad but not exceptionally memorable either.
Review Source:Dinner this evening was an exploration of new Pho places - Springfield has several Pho places and I've not been to any of them. Â I found Pho Hong Anh first - although I was looking for another place.
The place is fairly large and spacious on the inside, there were about 5 tables of folks eating when I arrived. I took a seat and looked over the menu - its a fairly short menu - Pho, some rolls and a couple of other odds and ends.
As usual, I ordered the Garden Rolls and the Pho Ga. For some reason - both came out at the same time - I would have preferred the rolls come out first. I added some Sriracha sauce to the peanut dipping sauce and devoured them - they were pretty good.
The Pho, however, was another matter entirely. The Pho broth was cloudy, lukewarm, and bland. The plate of aromatics and veggies were fresh looking, but they could not save the broth.
I added a good bit of Sriracha sauce to each bite and to the broth. A very uninspired Pho. If they'd raise the temperature of the broth and improve the flavor of the broth - they might have something good. Maybe they were having an off night or something.
Please keep in mind that the credit card minimum is $10.00. My dinner was $9.98. I left the server a $2.00 tip.
Afterwards I drove around a bit and found where both Pho 495 and Pho Super Bowl are geographically located.
This is a no frills pho stop in a strip mall that my friend's resident introduced her to. The price you're paying is for your bowl of pho and not the ambiance. When ordering, you have the option of Small and Large. I think my friends and I ordered Small and it was enough. The staff left us alone and the restaurant was empty except for one family on a Sunday afternoon.
One of my friends is really sensitive to spices and I forgot when I had her try my pho after adding red pepper sauce. Of course, I tried to make it up to her by getting more water which is also self-serve. My friend who brought us describes it as her idea of comfort food. I'm not a big connoisseur of pho but if you like it, you might want to try it out to compare against your favorite pho places.
To pay with credit card, you need to charge up a minimum bill so bring cash if you plan on spending less than $10. It's the same price as fast food but with more personality so you might consider treating your party.
If all you want to order is pho, then this is the place to go. Â They do not offer rice dishes - just pho. Â No frills decor, this place has been a staple for me when I needed a quick fix for pho. Â Friendly service - the food comes out fast. Â Only down side is they are a bit stingy with the beef meatballs when you order extra. Â For the charge, I think I should get more than two dinky meatballs.
Review Source:
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