One of the best spots in San Diego for authentic Vietnamese food!
When you enter, it’s loud and busy, so you know it’s going to be good. Service is fast, you get all of your food out at the same time relatively quickly. The guy taking my order didn’t even have to write anything down and he took other tables orders after too 😂
We ordered calamari appetizer, bun thit nuong and egg roll, bun rieu, broken rice, and seafood pho. Everything was great!! Loved the calamari, I would recommend the bun thit nuong and egg rolls, the egg rolls are very filling! All of the portions are big and decent pricing, mostly under $15 each.
Other tips:
If you google maps, it’ll take you to the back parking lot, so come around to park at the front. The parking lot is free. Also, after eating, you pay at the counter, and they accept credit cards.
Best Pho in Kearny Mesa!! You can smell the Pho as soon as you enter the restaurant!
Plenty of parking spots but at a certain time this Center can be very busy and hard to find a parking spot open.
I recommend their Signature Pho then ask for a beef bone (picture), it’s delicious. Also all of their Rice meals with BBQ Pork, or BBQ Beef are also worth the try.
Overall, this is the place I will stop by every timeI find myself pass by Kearny Mesa!
We ordered the rare beef pho and spicy lemongrass beef noodles. They were so tasty! The egg shrimp crepe was also delicious and didn't get a chance to take a photo before we devoured it. The pork roll (#1 on the menu) was very tasty. It had right combo of textures. Will come back if we ever come down here again. Plenty of seating and service is fast and friendly.
Absolutely 5 stars. Great wings. Amazing spring rolls with the crunchy stick inside. Great Pho. Great service. Solid! Oh yeah and the egg rolls are the best I've ever had! Try the Bun Bo Hue! Just say Boon Buh Huay when you do so you sound cool. GET THE BEEF STEW ALSO.
Decent place. We were near and had a hankering for so we went for something we usually don't eat and this place had decent reviews. We ordered the vermicelli noodles with grilled chicken and egg rolls.
So for the cons. The chicken was just warm and not hot, not something I like. The chicken should've been hotter. I don't expect the restaurant to grill chicken on order but it could be been delivered warmer.
For the pros:
The noodles were fine, plenty of them with plenty of veggies all throughout. The egg rolls were the standout part. They were hot and recently cooked and tasted amazing.
I'd order and come here again but the next time I'll send the plate back and tell them to warm the grilled chicken.
Despite the stars I'm leaving I'd come here again. Very authentic.
Extras:
Clean bathrooms two stalls for the women's portion (according to my gf) but only one for the men's. Place looked clean throughout and restaurant staff was masked.
First time to this restaurant. It turned out to be pretty good. There are two locations for parking in the front and back. Google took us to the back side. When you first see the back of the establishment, I thought it was going to be a hole in the wall but once I walked in it turned out to be pretty big on the inside and they had a very clean bathroom.
The food was good and service was quick. Overall a good place to go in a pinch.
If we are in the neighborhood and had a craving for Vietnamese food then yes we would go again.
My friends and I desperately wanted soup because it was frankly cold outside. We came here on a recommendation from our friends.
What I ordered:
- #3 Bun Rieu aka Rive Vermicelli with Shrimp and Crab Paste. I really enjoyed it. The soup was hot, the broth was well seasoned and delicious. The noodle was cooked perfectly and the meat ball was chewy and yummy. it tasted like my mother used to make it. 100/10, delicious!
- Beef Pho, I ordered the well done beef. I don't recall the number order on the menu but it was appetizing. I ordered the small and it was still fulfilling. The broth was delicious and so was the noodles.
- Lychee Smoothie, yummy! it was 100% a calpico lychee blended with ice into the smoothie. i'd know a calpico taste and smell from anywhere. it was cold and refreshing after a hot soup.
overall, i can't recommend this place enough. good food, good price and supporting a family business!
This place has great spring roll, egg roll, pho and bun. Service is quick and friendly.
I wouldn't get the birds nest again just because the noodles had a powdery type taste that I'm not too into.
For pho in the Kearny/Clairemont Mesa area, I usually go to Phở Duyên Mai. Nothing fancy about the place. Just good food and quick service. Ordered the usual: pho tai, cha gio, iced coffee (not pictured), and a side of sate sauce. For what I look for in a pho broth, they hit all the right notes: clean and not fatty, balance of beefiness and spices, and slightly tart. I'll be back again soon.
Always have to get the pork paste rolls, they are incredible! I love the crunchy roll inside and their sauce is delicious. These are pretty addicting.
I usually get Pho Dac Biet (special #23) as my main dish here. Even the small size has a lot of meat. I've tried their bun bo here and wasn't a fan. I'd go with pho, vermicelli noodles, or any of the rice dishes.
Service is quick and food comes out fast. Large parking lot but it can get filled during prime hours.
We had the pork paste spring rolls, the salt and pepper wings, pho, and vermicelli bowls. Everything was very delicious. Service was fast and relatively friendly.
This place takes credit cards which isn't always the case with vietnamese places. But, don't wait around for a bill. You just go to the counter and pay.
It's loud. Extremely loud when busy. But that usually means the food is great! They might have the best salt and pepper chicken wings of any Pho restaurant! Perfectly crispy and tender. The Pho broth is definitely a 5/5, I didn't needed to add much to flavor it up. Prices are moderate for the service. I highly recommend.
The Vietnamese food was very flavorful and freshly prepared. The shrimp and squid rolls, served with a special version of the fish sauce, were a delight. I ordered the spicy lemongrass beef soup and was very happy with my choice. My friend ordered the house special pho, and the broth and ingredients tasted delicious. I wanted to order a blended smoothie since half the tables had patrons sipping on different drinks. I got so full that I'll have to wait until next time. I am definitely coming back here. The staff is friendly, too.
The pho here is really good and the employees are friendly. The egg rolls are good. My son is picky but will always eat pho. So taking him here was a no brainer. They have a good selection and everything we saw looked really good.
I got the number 35: Rare Steak my son got the kids with meatball. He only wants the broth and noodles so his mom and I ate the meatballs. Those were ok. Your standard vietnamese pre-made meatballs. All in all very decent food with good service. 5 out of 5 in my book with all that combined.
I’ve never had a favorite pho restaurant before, but Pho Duyen Mai changed the game. 5/5 stars for everything! At first glance on a Sunday evening, the restaurant was packed and I was slightly bummed that there may be a long wait. To my surprise, myself and the three parties before me got seated in under a five minute wait. The menu and restaurant were both so manicured. The service was efficient. I ordered a large #23 House Special and a Thai tea. Both items were delicious and served in a good portion. Can you believe a large is just $1 more? Restroom is also rated high on a cleanliness scale and even smelled rather delightful. Overall, I highly recommend Pho Duyen Mai for its exceptional service, cleanliness, and food quality.
Heard about this restaurant from my Vietnamese co-worker. We decided to stopped in on a Saturday afternoon. It was packed with people finishing up so we got our table rather quick.
Waiter took our order quickly. We ordered #2 spicy beef noodle soup, #8 pork paste rolls, Vietnamese pancake, and a Vietnamese coffee.
Good: the rolls were very tasty and crunchy - like them; spicy noodle soup was spicy yummy and no msg - great!
Not so good: the pancake was a bit greasy to my taste; the $4 coffee was only 3/4 cup and with ice.
Overall, we still had a great experience and will return to try other items on the menu.
The staff is attentive. The food is excellent. I have never had a single bad dish here. the pork paste rolls are better than brodard. Don’t even @ me if you think otherwise cause you must have a horrible pallet.
Pho is super flavorful.
One of the better Vietnamese places I've seen. Fried rice had that wok hei flavor.
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