Pho Saigon Gem

Well, the third times a charm!They just reopened under new (the third) management and with a new menu, so I had to stop in again.As always I got the #1 Pho. The flagship mixed pho which to me is all that matters at a pho shop.Whereas the previous two owners had completely failed to make a decent version of this basic pho, the new leadership has succeeded!Now, it's certainly not up to little Saigon standards, and it's relatively expensive, and I'm not a fan of mysterious "surcharges" being added to my bill, but Pho Saigon Gem at least now finally puts out a reasonable product for South Orange County. After three years or so of not doing that.The broth is okay, a bit light and underseasoned, but passes the gelatin test and is fine after adding the available condiments. And you get a decent amount!The mix of meats is finally the correct and traditional cooked beef, tendon, tripe, meatballs and raw beef. A little shy of a decent portion, unfortunately. The noodles are fine, and a good amount.The all-important toppings, basil, sprouts, lime, sliced green peppers were all just ok.A bit skimpy, but next time I'll ask for more.The place seems fresh, clean and inviting, but I almost always do take out, so...I'm happy to say I'll be back, it's just blocks from house and that definitely works for me! I gave an extra star just for that.

I was in the mood for pho after a long week and unexpected turn of events. My husband was amenable so I took a look on Yelp to see if there was a place nearby I'd want to try out. I saw that Shane D. had previously reviewed this place and gave it a glowing recommendation so we headed to Pho Saigon Gem. We sat down and ordered after looking at the menu. We both wanted pho. I ordered the short rib pho (P4) and my husband got the pho tai nam (P9) in the regular size. While we waited for our food to come out, I happened to hear a familiar voice at a table nearby. It was none other than my friend Shane D. who's review I had seen earlier in the day and one of the reasons we chose to dine there that evening. What a coincidence! After a brief greeting and conversation, our food arrives. My husband inhaled his food, down to the last drop. On the other hand, it took me a little longer to get through my food. The short rib presentation happened to be smaller rib bones than I'm used to seeing. Other places give one big bone but Pho Saigon Gem gives you the meat in smaller pieces. One, it wasn't as tender as it could have been and two, it was tiring picking up the smaller bones as I was eating. It wasn't fall off the bone tender so it was hard to remove the meat from the bones. I made the best of it and finished most of my bowl of soup and noodles. The broth was nice and aromatic. We added the usual suspects of herbs and lime to the bowl. It was a delicious meal on a chilly December evening. Thanks to Pho Saigon Gem and Shane D. for popping up on my feed. 4.5 stars rounded up.

This is the best Pho place I have tried south of Garden Grove/Westminster. The owner takes great care in making the broth fresh each day, using higher quality, more expensive bones and most importantly, takes the time to wash them before using them to make the broth. I've tried all of the different options and my go-to is the beef ball with some sliced rare steak added, because I'm a carnivore like that. The service is very fast and they check to make sure you're satisfied.I go for lunch and it always seems to have at least several tables going of other satisfied customers. The owner will be happy to take the time to talk about how they make the pho if you're interested! I always leave full and satisfied, and they are less expensive than other local options too. I cannot recommend it enough. They are on the delivery apps, but it's a much nicer (and less expensive!) experience to enjoy the restaurant.

After a long day at the office, I decided to try a new place. Craving a little fuss I decided to go to the place down the street and loved every second of it with a few caveats. Today is a holiday so I think it's an outlier, but this place is relatively empty and medium size compared to the other places I've been to around the area. Despite this, they had a very expensive menu, especially with a lot of drinks, which is something I love because I love flavor in my liquids. Ended up getting picture below and a strawberry smoothie and a bowl of rice which honestly wasn't that bad for what I got. The highlights, though would have to definitely be the pho which is perfectly seasoned and portion cause I ordered the small with everything tasting very well and not muddying the rest of the flavors. I also love the noodle portions because it was just right and under, which is what I'm used to to around the area at points. I would say the one low light of my dish, despite portion of eggrolls as the sauce was bland that I thought and the eggrolls almost tasted burnt with the flavors of the meat and vegetables inside not really coming out as much as I would hope. For the value I would definitely say that this place is a really good spot to go and definitely will be coming here more often. I a few things could be better for one thing that I wish was a little cheaper was the rice but then again I'm being a little picky on that since I like eating with my meal so much so your mileage on that may vary. I know this thing I wish was a little different, but definitely have no control over would be the fact that the food came out a little slower than other places. It could just be that they're understaffed, which I understand in this economy so that also may vary based on time of day when I went and the holiday being a significant change, but overall the people were very nice and accommodating they checked on me quite often and I would love to come back here again.

Was craving Viet food and ended up here. The food here was disappointing. Pho was not good, rice dish was not great. Glad we tried though. Staff was very sweet.

This is still my go-to restaurant for Vietnamese food. It tastes home made and is delicious. The chef is always so polite and accommodating. Love their beef pho, banh mi, beef garlic noodles and Vietnamese coffee. Yumm!

Been here twice and the food and cleanliness is great, but the service is very slow. Brought 12 guests on a Saturday morning following an event at 11 am. There was hardly anyone there so I was hoping we'd get taken care of well. Everyone got their meal soooo slowly it was hard to wait. The last person finally got theirs after maybe a 45+ minute wait and everyone was already done eating. I felt really bad. Although the meal was great, and a bit pricey, I kind of wish I had chosen a different place.

So happy to find this place so close to our house! Pretty decent pho and service was good. The place was kind of dead but it was a weekday. Would definitely come back

Husband ordered last minute for pho to-go. Very underwhelmed, despite the glowing reviews. Ordered almost $50 worth of pho and cha gio, just to find out pho didnt have accompaniments like condiments and bean sprouts and basil. Nothing. Or those have additional charge that we don't know of? Cha gio also expensive for $7 for two. Only came with one lettuce , and no pickled veggies. Never ordering here again. Here is my sad pho. Only thing we have is left over samba oelek. Broth is bland too. Doesn't even deserve one star.*Edited to reply to the manager.You clearly missed my point of review. For $50 worth, with all that breakdown you mentioned, our order should have included all the accompaniments, which were not in our order when it got home. We inly had chopsticks and plastic utensils. As customers who had been trying pho places in every corner of this country, we get bean sprouts, basils, hoisin, sambal oelek and sriracha. Bottom line is, we only got $50 worth of pho without the usual accompaniments. We have left over sambal oelek from a pho place we went to last time, and that was the only way it made my pho palatable.

Came for the first time since the business has been under new ownership. First time dining in. Friendly but inexperienced server. Comfortable, clean, spacious interior. Now for the food: Ordered a large rare steak pho. Steak on the skimpy side, quantity wise. The other ingredients were all reasonable portions. Broth, a little light in flavor, not salty (much appreciated). Noodles cooked perfectly (not overdone). All ingredients decent quality. Really bad pop music playing, which marred the dining experience (not relaxing). Overall: 3.5 stars.