Top Vietnamese Restaurant in Lake Forest
Thanh Binh II
23600 Rockfield Blvd # 2H, Lake Forest, CA 92630, United States
Where can I go for great pho in the Irvine/ Lake Forest area? Thanh Binh!! I am so glad I found this place, because previous I going to the horrible Pho 99 just down the street. Pho 99 has horrible service and food quality, but I went because I was desperate for some pho, but now when ever I have cravings Thanh Binh!I love their Large number 1 Pho special, but the thing that I enjoy the most is the egg rolls. Vietnamese egg rolls can vary extremely from restaurant to restaurant. Some places are crisp others taste old and soggy. Thanh Binh has the freshest tasting viet egg rolls I have ever tasted. I would recommend wrapping it in lettuce and the other veggies provided and dip in the vinegary type sauce.The Pho has a delicious soup base. Im still unsure if they use MSG or not. The soup is very flavorful on its own, but you can always spice it up or add mint, lime, hot sauce or jalapenos to taste. The Large is enough for two people, but if you are a hungry man like me you wont be let down. The pho includes a lot of meat.. I wish they would slice it thinner, but still delicious.The service is very friendly and attentive, which is a shocker, because I dont expect good service when I eat a Vietnamese restaurant. I am glad that Thanh Binh changed pho experience.Highly recommended. Pho- shizzzle! See you there.
Simply Pho
23775 El Toro Rd, Lake Forest, CA 92630, United States
My new favorite vietnamese restaurant and glad it is by work! The oxtail pho is very good as well as the beef garlic noodles! Probably the best I have had. Inside the restaurant is very clean and modern. Great and fast service too! I will be back!
pholicious Noodle Bar
23532 El Toro Rd #15, Lake Forest, CA 92630, United States
Randomly discovered this place 3 weeks ago and it has become our most favorite Vietnamese restaurant in southern Orange County. We used to go faraway to Little Saigon in Westminster to get good Vietnamese foods. For those who are big fans of Vietnamese Foods, try their Egg Noodle Special and Pholicious Special, you will understand what I mean. The rest of menu looks really inviting, will keep trying one by one. Also, people and the owner here are very nice, the place is very clean and decorations have some French touch. They are applying for alcohol license, it would be a plus for dinner. A++++
Pho Ha Noi
23624 El Toro Rd, Lake Forest, CA 92630, United States
This is currently my favorite Vietnamese restaurant. The fare is about what youd expect from a Pho place. The food is good, as is the service.
Pho So 1 Lake Forest
21771 Lake Forest Dr #114, Lake Forest, CA 92630, United States
Pho So 1 has been such a tried and true restaurant for me and it has taken me out of the trenches more times than I can count. Despite inflation, the prices are still decently priced and the food is always amazing.The food is always ready when you order it and it’s always piping hot. I absolutely love ordering pho with rare steak, well done brisket & flank. Nothing has ever disappointed me here.The restaurant is extremely clean and they have an awesome lunch special for additional egg rolls for $2.This is my favorite Vietnamese restaurant in Orange County and for good reason!
Mitasie Vegan Cafe
22722 Lambert St #1704, Lake Forest, CA 92630, United States
Mitasie is my favorite Vegan restaurant.We discovered it about a year after we moved to this coast, and since then we quickly became regulars (we eat here A LOT). Love that everything is vegan and we dont have to worry about cross contamination.Havent tried the whole menu yet, but we like everything weve tried so far.Some of our all time favorites are:-Thai iced tea-Jasmine tea (this one is great if you dont want to drink something sweet)-Vietnamese coffee-Veggie egg roll-Sushi roll (Im not much of a sushi gal, but this one won my heart/stomach)-Pho noodle soup is so delicious and rich in flavor, you wont regret trying this. (Highly recommend choosing the chicken as your protein)-Veggie wonton soup, this one is one of my favorite options whenever Im craving soup, the wontons are so tasty!-Soy chicken Alfredo, I really missed this once I went vegan and I cant tell you how happy I was when I discovered this really hits the spot!-Eden burger, this was a nice surprise, its a different take on burgers and I really appreciate the change of flavor compared to every other burger out there.-Kung-pao chicken, this one is my partners to go meal. Never gets tired of it, it really is the all time favorite.-Mix Veggies with soy chicken and rice, Simple yet delicious, this one has been my personal favorite for quite a while! (if you havent noticed their chicken is my favorite thing in the world, wish I knew how to cook it myself)Over all he food is super consistent flavor wise, and the price is great for the size of the plates, you wont leave hungry I swear!I honestly have nothing but good thing to say about Mitasie, the staff is great and supper friendly, they will make sure your food is good and ask if there is anything they can do to help. They are amazing so please be kind to them.If you want to order take out, I recommend using their website and picking the food yourself, this is cheaper than using doordash or the likes, and the money goes directly to them, no pesky extra fees.They recently expanded their lunch special from 11:00 AM to 3:00 PM, so if you are like me and often have really late lunch on the weekend, this is perfect for you!Please try Mitasie, you wont regret it!
Thanh Binh Cuisine
23809 El Toro Rd, Lake Forest, CA 92630, United States
I grew up in a vietnamese restaurant, so its hard for me to find a place that comes close to what Im looking for. I usually will go to an area like little Saigon when Im looking for vietnamese food, but I was in the area, and just really wanted vietnamese food! I was super impressed with the service as soon as we arrived. Another thing that caught my attention was that they serve curry! Its super hard to find at a vietnamese restaurant! One of my favorite plates there! If I could give this place 100 stars I would!
Pho Tm Cali
24531 Trabuco Rd I, Lake Forest, CA 92630, United States
If I could only choose two words to describe this restaurant, it would be: DELICIOUS and AUTHENTIC!I have been here three times within a week because the food is so good; and I am also eating my way through their entire menu.1. Pho - They are the ONLY Irvine-area restaurant that I would say is of the same caliber as the great Little Saigon restaurants. The broth is hot, delicious, and balanced (not salty or sweet)...AUTHENTIC. The meat is high quality with a good meat-to-noodle ratio. They use ribeye (probably one of the few places I have seen use this cut for their rare) and it works so well. The beef rib in their Special bowl is tender, still juicy, and flavorful.2. Banh Mi (Classic) - They make it with high quality cold cut meats, cha lua (aka Vietnamese bologna) with pate and pickled vegetables are absolutely on-point; with a dash of Maggi seasoning creates the most authentic tasting banh mi I have had in all of Orange County or anywhere. Though I am more accustomed to the sectioned baguette that most other shops use, the mini-baguette they use is still good considering they probably have to buy the bread elsewhere.3. Spring Rolls - Perfectly cooked shrimp (note: no pork) rolled in plentiful greens and not overstuffed with noodles inside. The fish sauce dipping sauce was light and subtle; very approachable. Only critique was that the rolls could have been rolled a little tighter.4. Chicken wings - So hot and crispy...perfectly and lightly battered. Yet, they were not overcooked. I enjoyed it even without their dipping sauce (though the sauce was pretty good). Reminded me of my moms chicken wings.All of the food is beautifully presented; you can tell they care about every single dish they serve.The wait staff is always very nice and pleasant. Pretty well run, especially for a newly opened restaurant.Definitely my go-to Vietnamese restaurant. My trips to Little Saigon are going to be much rarer now that Pho Tam (I think the name is translated as Pho Eight in Vietnamese) is open in Irvine/Lake Forest.
Lees Sandwiches
23624 El Toro Rd C, Lake Forest, CA 92630, United States
Out of all the banh mi shops Ive been to, Lees Sandwiches served me the worst Vietnamese baguettes. But in south Orange County, where else can I find banh mi sold at working class prices ($3 to $3.50)? Near my office, alternatives for banh mi include a Asian fusion cafe that offers a sandwich + fries combo for $9 and Pho Saigon Pearl that charges $8 a pop, almost 3 times the market price at delis in Westminster or Rosemead.The base of Lees banh mi isnt an Americanized version loaded with meats and skimpy on the do chua, but the execution was horrible. Ive been told that Lees baguettes are baked in-house, but how often and much time had elapsed between the bread being out of the oven to being served? The baguettes are rarely crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside. The type of flour that this fast-food chain is using must be different from what mom and pop bakeries use, because the bread was heavy and not very airy. In addition, the exterior of the baguette has consistently been rock hard. The mouthfeel of Lees baguette reminds me of day old stale bread thats been exposed to air for over 24 hours. It was barely edible. I prefer to eat baguettes that have a flaky crust.Fillings for Lees banh mi can be hit or miss. In my opinion, the Saigon special (dac biet) and anything with Vietnamese cold meats are the only solid options. Forget about banh mi with grilled meats like thit nuong or ga nuong, because the meat was not even cooked, not to mention the texture was rough and chewy. I suspect the grilled meats are pre-cooked and the employees in the back are just sandwich assemblers. Recently, I ordered the xiu mai, which arrived as a mush of ground meat in collapsed form. The slimy and soupy texture was very unappealing, Im not even sure if the meat was properly cooked. The only decent aspect was the sweet tomato and vinegar sauce that was mixed with the meatball.Despite the relatively high turnover rate at this location of Lees Sandwiches, the food quality still managed to disappoint. This deli is a decent introduction to banh mi, but those who want fresher ingredients, better tasting bread, and more options for meat, are unfortunately stuck in a lose-lose situation. Either take a 30 minute drive up to Thanh Tam/Banh Mi Saigon/THH in Westminster or fork over a big bag of money ($9) for a more proper banh mi in Irvine.
Maison de Pho
26612 Towne Centre Dr, Lake Forest, CA 92610, United States
NOT VIETNAMESE OWNED. LATINO OWNED. Workers were nice. Other than that, I wouldn’t really call this place a pho place. I can tell they are missing ingredients, especially the right herbs to have that pho smell and flavor. Their soup is not real pho flavors. Their eggrolls aren’t really Vietnamese eggrolls either. They tried. Points for trying. Their fish sauce was not it either. Maybe they should have an actual Vietnamese person teach them how to cook our food. They tried though. Reviews are misleading, non-Vietnamese reviewers don’t know any better lol I should’ve known better when I walked in and didn’t smell pho throughout the restaurant. Nice people though. But wouldn’t recommend as “pho”.