Siam Zap pho
★★★★☆ 3.8 (209) • $$
"Note: Queen of Pho was renamed to Siamzap Pho on Yelp within the past couple weeks. This review describes our visit under the Queen of Pho business name.In this area, which is a pho desert, for the pho and service alone, Queen of Pho was decent. In Chapel Hill, we liked the pho at Queen of Pho better than the pho at Pho Happiness on West Franklin St: https://www.yelp.com/biz/pho-happiness-chapel-hill.The Goi Cuon (fresh spring rolls) and Bun Bo Hue (Hue-style noodle soup) left something to be desired.We appreciated our server Vicky's honesty. Honest almost to a fault (more on that below). Overall, service was top-notch from everyone including Vicky, her kids, and the kind folks in the kitchen. This is very much a humble, mom-and-pop business. The dishes came out fast, especially the pho.Here's what we got:A1. Saigon Fresh Rolls - Goi Cuon (2 for $5.99) - protein (we chose pork) wrapped in rice paper with lettuce and steamed vermicelli, served with peanut sauceP7. Pho Beef Combination - Pho Dac Biet x2 (medium bowl, $12.99 each) - beef broth, cooked 100% from beef bone (not instant), rice noodles, green and yellow onion, basil, bean sprouts, lime (seasonal); meats described belowP12. Hue Style Spicy Beef Soup - Bun Bo Hue (medium bowl, $12.99) - pho noodles, beef shank, mixed beef, pork, and shrimp brothThe amount of meat in the Goi Cuon was sad. Miniscule. Really thin slices of pork, not even close to any of the other Goi Cuon I've had. I do think it's nice they give you different protein options: shrimp, pork, chicken, tofu. Most Vietnamese restaurants I've been to don't offer that. And the rolls were indeed made fresh. However, the meat was close to non-existent and therefore, the rolls were more like eating vermicelli and shredded lettuce rice wraps.Whenever I order pho, I like to get the Pho Dac Biet, which is pho with everything. Here that means rare eye round steak, beef shank, fatty brisket, tripe (beef stomach), and beef tendon meatball. The broth was delicious. It tasted genuine. The meat quality was good. I think the portions could have been better, but they were fair for the price. In general, I thought the prices were reasonable.The veggie quality was good too. The only veggie that was missing was culantro, but around these parts, I'm not surprised. On the menu, I like how they say the lime is "seasonal" because pretty much every other pho restaurant I've been to that has served lemon instead of lime doesn't say why.As far as bowl sizing goes, it's relative and subjective, but I think Queen of Pho's three bowl sizes should be small, medium, and large instead of medium, large, and extra large. In other words, our "medium" bowls felt more like "small" bowls, to give you an idea of what to expect.The Bun Bo Hue was disappointing. It was too spicy. I love spicy food and it was too spicy, even for me. I did order it after reading the warning on the menu: "KINDLY BE AWARE IT'S VERY HOT SPICY!!!" Our server Vicky warned me too. So, I was okay taking the loss and ordering a second Pho Dac Biet to eat in its place.Spice aside, Queen of Pho's Bun Bo Hue was unlike any I've seen. Vicky was real with us and said the reason they serve pho noodles in their Bun Bo Hue instead of the traditional, rounder, thicker rice noodles is because of the lack of demand for Bun Bo Hue at their restaurant. In this area, that's understandable. After hearing about how spicy the Bun Bo Hue was and how they use pho noodles in it, I considered ordering one of the vermicelli (bun) dishes. Vicky told us they were out of the pickled carrots and daikon radish along with some other ingredient(s) that normally go with bun. Again, we appreciated Vicky's honesty, but I was starting to run out of options to order!We saw Vietnamese sandwiches (banh mi) on the picture menu, but during our visit, Vicky said they weren't serving banh mi either.Along with the aforementioned dishes, Queen of Pho serves stir-fried egg noodles (mi), Vietnamese crispy egg noodles (mi xao gion), and rice (com) and fried rice (com chien) dishes. They also offer Vietnamese smoothies (sinh to) with boba and Vietnamese iced coffee (ca phe sua da). If you're familiar with Vietnamese food, I'd come here with tempered expectations. I think you can only expect so much in this area.Queen of Pho opened in March 2017 in the Timberlyne Village (Food Lion) shopping center near I-40 exit 266. It replaced the old Queen of Sheba Ethiopian restaurant: https://www.yelp.com/biz/queen-of-sheba-chapel-hill."
"On my most recent visit, I ordered Goi Cuon as an appetizer and Pho Dac Biet as my entree. Although the space is small, there are many tables for seating and our group was seated promptly. The food came out very quickly as well, but I never felt rushed in any way. The service was very friendly, very prompt, and they were quick to bring out things we requested (such as an extra bowl and extra silverware).The food was excellent here. The pho broth had great flavor, the portion size was very generous, and the meats and toppings were all good quality and plentiful. The pricing was reasonable for what I got as well.In my opinion, this is probably one of the best places, if not the best place, to get pho in the Triangle area."
"Best/authentic pho in the Raleigh-Area. Service is pretty quick. They renovated a little bit."
