Yes :-) Faythe's review (Jul 12th 2006)

After we walked in, we sat down at a table near the window, and immediately a waiter came out and gave us menus. It had been a long time since I’d eaten Vietnamese food, so I was trying to remember what everything was. I still hadn’t made up my mind when the waiter came back, so I decided to just go for it and randomly ordered some chicken soup (Pho somethingorother) and some dish that had beef, chili sauce, rice noodles, and beansprouts. Karla decided to try out their teriyaki chicken, and I also ordered a milk coffee. I didn’t bother writing down the proper Vietnamese names of the dishes I ordered, but I do remember that I ordered a #9 (the soup) and a #18 (the beef). I think Karla’s teriyaki was a #14.

My chicken soup arrived first, along with a small side dish of bean sprouts and it smelled SO GOOD! It was sprinkled all over with lots of cilantro and green onion, and there were huge chunks of chicken breast meat, onions and a bunch of rice noodles swimming in the broth. I had ordered the small, but when my bowl arrived it was huge! Definitely an entire meal all by itself! Anyway, I was very happy when I tasted it. The broth was very nicely flavored, and there was plenty of cilantro, and the chicken was definitely good quality and all white meat and there was plenty of chicken, too. I am a huge fan of cilantro, so I’m always happy when restaurants don’t get all skimpy with it. Karla tasted my soup and agreed that it was very good. I would take this chicken soup over regular chicken soup any day!

Our main dishes arrived soon afterwards, and mine looked quite tasty. It had a side sauce that was both vinegary and rather sweet, and actually my chili beef was so good that at first I didn’t think I’d want to try out the side sauce. How could it possibly improve what was already great? I loved my beef dish because the chili had a spicy kick to it, but it was also on the sweetish side and went perfectly with the tender pieces of beef. When I decided to try the side sauce on half my dish, I was amazed that it made it taste even better!

Karla’s chicken teriyaki came with rice, and it was also really good. It didn’t taste like the teriyaki we were used to eating—it tasted different, but in a good way, and hers also came with a side sauce that was like hoisen, but a little different and sweeter. It tasted really good on the chicken and the steamed rice.

Actually, my coffee had arrived first, and Karla and I marveled at the presentation. It certainly looked very cool! However, it wasn’t until I was done with my chili beef that I was able to drink it because it took that long for all the water to finally filter through the coffee grounds. When it was done, I was then able to mix the coffee with the thick layer of condensed milk at the bottom of the glass…and—WOW. I don’t think I’ll be sleeping tonight! That coffee was strong! It was like taking two shots of espresso and mixing it with sweetened condensed milk! I definitely liked it, though, because I make my coffee very strong anyway.

After we were done eating, Karla and I sat around and talked for awhile. We didn’t notice that we were supposed to get up to pay for it AND that we were supposed to box up our own food when we were done (they have a table set up with various styrofoam boxes and lids in the middle of the restaurant), so we probably sat for a lot longer than we were supposed to until it finally dawned on us that we had to get up.

Pho Van is located near Sonic Burrito and David’s Pizza. It also happens to be conveniently located at a spot that’s sort of on my way home from work, so I think I’ll be stopping off here and ordering food to go. I see lots more chili beef in my future!

Yes :-) Ryan's review (Feb 27th 2007)

Pho Van was my first Vietnamese restaurant and it’s still my favorite. I still haven’t tried the coffee! Most of the time I get the #16 – I think it’s Bun Vermicelli with pork, and the pork is wonderful. Yum.

Yes :-) Joseph's review (Jul 19th 2007)

Pho Van is the best “Pho” restaurant in Spokane. I just about always get the large #1 (steak) and my wife loves the shrimp soup. The stock/broth bases are wonderful. Do not order from the Chinese menu.

Yes :-) Elyse's review (Apr 22nd 2008)

I got #22, which is noodles with shrimp and vegetables, it was pretty good, the shrimp was delicious but there wasn’t as much shrimp as I would have liked.

My boyfriend got the #13, which was chili beef with rice, and he loved it, and said it had just the right amount of heat.

Next time I’ll get one of the vermicelli dishes, they looked really good, and they’re not as greasy as the usual noodle dishes (the noodle dish is like Panda Express chow mein, but thicker noodles).

Staff was really nice and friendly!

No :-( Angie's review (Apr 23rd 2008)

We really wanted to like it but after half a dozen attempts we are through with Pho Van; never again. Our very favorite Vietnamese pho in Spokane is at Kim Do’s just up the street. But when Kim is closed, we still have to satisfy that nagging pho monkey so we would head over to Pho Van. We tried to overlook the dishwatery broth, the stingy plate of sprouts and basil and the overall drab, grimey environs but the last several visits we had to wait up to 45 minutes for our food and 15 to 20 minutes to even be noticed in the first place making it difficult to pick Pho Van over the other better Vietnamese choices available.

Yes :-) Matt's review (Aug 1st 2008)

Pho Van is the best place for Pho around! Rarely do we have to wait to be seated the waitress is right there and knows us and where we like to sit. We can sometimes not even finish our order of spring rolls before our soup arrives and is steaming hot. I’ve had homemade Pho before and Pho Van is right on par with them. Great food.

Yes :-) gonzlaw's review (Oct 24th 2008)

Since Kim Do no longer exists on Hamilton (It’s some sort of Teriyaki joint now) I couldn’t compare it to Pho Van. Portland has 90 trillion Vietnamese eateries and I’ve tried to sample them all. I know my pho. All I can say is that Pho Van may have the best broth I’ve ever had. Go for the number 8 with the tendon, meatballs and steak. 7 bux for a large bowl of heaven. Best bargain and best tasting lunch in the U district. Service was iffy… it was meal time for the staff when I came in at the slow 2 o’clock hour. I was barely seated when asked for my order. I waved off the server for a few minutes so I could look at the menu. After she took my order she sat down and had lunch. Food arrived in 10 minutes piping hot and perfect, brought by a different server (the first was off after she too my order). After 25 minutes of concentrated, serious eating, I waited for someone to check on me. Server number two was also eating lunch. I just waited by the register for a minute until I was noticed and was cashed out with much apology. I could have cared less due to the price and the taste and the fact that this appears to be a real family operation. Killer iced coffee too.