Was in town for the week on a business trip with my fiancé and decided to try a local Vietnamese restaurant. I normally don't take the time to go write reviews, even for bad experiences -- but this one was so terrible that I had to create an account just to leave a review. My fiancé ordered a XL Pho Bo, I ordered a Bun Cha. Here's our review for the night (but stick around, it gets much worse than the food)
$17.25 - Pho Bo XL (Rating: 2/10)
- Overpriced and bland, but still edible. Definitely not authentic. About as good as an instant pho you can buy at the store (the difference being the price), just throw in some onions and bean sprouts and you have more or less the same thing. If you spent 20 years perfecting this pho like it was mentioned in replies to other reviews -- I'm afraid 20-40 more years may be needed.
$16.99 - Bun Cha w/ Lemon Grass Pork (Rating: 0/10)
- Where do I even start with this? The other review regarding the terrible Bun Cha is pretty much spot on. The "grilled" pork was definitely not grilled, it tasted and looked like it has been boiled. The pork was terribly dry and there was absolutely no lemongrass flavor. The pork had no lemon grass taste at all.
Owner (Rating: 0.1/10)
Allow me to explain the rating. I was born and spent the first half of my life in Vietnam and have NEVER seen Bun Cha that looked like this, not in the States, not back in Vietnam.
The owner came around to ask us how everything was. I mentioned that the Bun Cha was so-so (instead of terrible, just to be polite), and she (the owner) got VERY defensive. She talked for a good 10-15 minutes non-stop. These were some of the things that the owner mentioned after my ONE comment that my Bun Cha was "so-so":
- That she knows that Bun Cha is usually pork meat balls, but she decided to use thinly sliced grilled pork because that's the way she has always made it.
- She makes the Bun Cha the way she makes it because that's the way her husband (who is an ER Doctor, she had to make sure EVERYONE knew that) asked her to make it.
- That's why she didn't call this place "Pho of Vietnam," instead she called it "Kay's Table" because this is HER table and this is her creation, and this is her twist on food (which is fine, but it seems in her response to other reviews, she thinks her food is authentic and that others don't know what they're talking about).
- She doesn't use pork meat balls, instead uses thinly sliced pork because there's a lot of muslims in the area, and they will call asking her what the meat is and how it is prepared. (Why was this even mentioned? Whether it is a pork meatball or thinly sliced pork.. a person of muslim religion would not order this dish no matter how the pork is prepared)
- She cooks for husband's family (which she AGAIN had to make sure that we know that they're all physicians) all the time and they all love her food.
- She does not use bonemarrow and oxtail in her pho broth and msg in her broth because she wants to make it less fatty and healthier (but when I got home.. I see that she replied to another reviewer that she does indeed uses "high quality bone broth from the freshest beef femur bones," which one is it, mam? Do you use bone marrow or do you not?)
- She cooks for husbands friends (which are all physicians -- again she had to make sure it was known) and they all love her food, like to eat healthy and they don't like all the fats and oils, and that's why she makes her food the way she does.
She had to spend 10-15 minutes at our table explaining herself and rambling on and on. Then came back later and offered a refund for the Bun Cha, to which I said it was okay, and is not necessary (because my biggest issue is not her food, I can deal with bad food, but it was the way she responded). She still however left the cash on our table to refund us for the bun cha and came back to say "she doesn't want us to leave unhappy and leave a bad review).
The owner CANNOT take feedback, so I don't understand why she would walk around and ask for feedback. Relax a little bit, take feedback and move on -- there's no need to spend 10-15 minutes at a customers table rambling on to try to justify bland terrible food.
Ability to take feedback -- 0/10
Arrogance -- 10/10
Owner's customer service skills -- 0/10
Chance that I will remember that her family, all their friends, etc., are doctors. Would have given this a 10/10 if only she mentioned it 2-3 times more. -- 9/10
Bad food can be overlooked, the way the owner carried herself cannot be. Would definitely think twice if you were thinking about eating here. If you do decide to eat here, make sure you praise her food, because anything less than praise would have her at your table for 10+ minutes because her pride is just so high. read more