Pho Lantern Cafe

Food is just good here. We eat here frequently. My husband’s favorite is the BBQ pork and egg roll on vermicelli. Mine is the same but with rice. Spring rolls and phở are also delicious! The young waiters are friendly; the older ones could smile a bit more. It’s a bit uncomfortable ordering food from a waiter who isn’t inviting and welcoming; hence the 4 stars.

Very clean phở place! There is plenty of lot parking and the place is not too big. My phở tasted like any other phở at the same prices. I just really like how clean this establishment was, compared to others serving the same menu items.

What can I say, this place is like family to my daughter and I. I have been a regular for over a year at least 3 more like 5 times a month. 10 – 13 for a delusions fresh meal especially one that my 4 year old eats with a smile, you can’t beat it.

Bombbbbbbbb the keep it real, she opened my beer and was very nonchalant about it, so dope, 5 stars will come back deff

This place was just okay, there phở was kinda bland. I ordered it as take out, so maybe that had something to do with it. They didn’t package any siracha which was disappointing.

Great food for a very good price. Fast and friendly service, great parking. Try this place, make sure you get the spring rolls. I go for the rare steak and well done flank phở soup and add a little Asian red pepper sauce, very good every time.

Really really good. With phở, the broth is everything, and this place has mastered the broth. Alisha was also very sweet and accommodating. Will come again with my girlfriend.

This was so good! It was unpho-​getteble! And phở-​bulous! Recommend to all. Cant wait till come back! Thank you guys!

Very nice food and delicious, fancy restaurant and very good service. The rice and meat is very well done and i love their sauce.
I will visit this place once every 2 weeks at least. Yummy

The woman in the store, the owner I guess, is such a racist. It might be because we are both Vietnamese, and so, they don’t regard us as high-​class as native American. She smiled and greeted people coming in the store very cheerfully. However, she treated us totally ignorantly at the very first time we say hello to them in Vietnamese. How shameful that is? I thought we would be welcomed as there were not many Vietnamese in that area. But no! How can this person, known as Vietnamese, could turn their back on their fellows, going against Vietnamese tradition? And selling Vietnamese food?

The food was okay that wasn’t the problem. The service here was unpleasant, to start we ordered three Thai teas that we later forgot about till we saw them on the bill, then we wanted to order more food to only be told that we could only order to go because they were closing in 30 minutes… When you go out to eat you want to eat out not be told you can only order to go. Bad customer service won’t be dining here again.

They were packed (for good reason), but the staff was friendly and helpful anyway. Food was great, and prices super reasonable. Definite would visit again.

Came here to see what all the hype was about.
Lantern Café is located at the end of the 55s in a very nice plaza with plenty of parking. As one of the only vietnamese restaurants in the Costa Mesa area, Lantern Café has much to live up to with all the vietnamese food easily accessible in Westminster.
The phở here is top notch and has a unique tasting broth, especially when compared to the typical Phở restaurant. Appetizers are great as well and come with a lot of garnish, which makes this place stand out from the other vietnamese restaurants which usually only give you lettuce.
Order the calamari and phở. Rice dishes are also really great.

This is one of the better Phở places/​restaurants I’ve been to. The price is pretty much the same wherever you go for Phở, but they have filet mignon as a meat, and you can mix and match. I liked doing the filet phở with a side of rare beef ($ 4 more I think), and it’s definitely worth it. One of the main reasons I’m not a huge fan of phở is that they overload it with noodles and broth and then it looks bigger than it actually is, but this place definitely does the right combination in my eyes. And adding the extra meat may be overkill for some, but it was just right for me.
I’ve also tried their crispy noodles and I believe they were vermicelli. But there are also crispy egg noodles (which I actually wanted but was stupid and ordered the wrong thing), surprisingly one of the few times I ordered the wrong thing and still liked what came out. I assume the crispy egg noodles would’ve been just as delicious.
Finally, on my most recent visit there, I had the clay pot, I believe it was the shrimp and pork (3^rd down from the section) it was really salty. But I love really salty foods, so I loved it. My girlfriend is not as much of a salt fiend as I am and said it was ok.
One last note, apparently they don’t have desserts anymore, so their dessert menu is just for show.
Pricing is pretty much the same as any other place. Everything is around 7 – 10 bucks.
Quality is great in my eyes and the quantity is amazing compared to other Phở places.

Never a good sign when the waiter isn’t able to identify the meat like product that you’ve been served. Ordered flame broiled chicken with my bun noodles. Sure it wasn’t chicken, not sure what species I was served.
Eater beware.

I order the rare beef phở every time I go. It’s pretty delicious. And the regular size phở hits the spot for me. The egg rolls and spring rolls are decent. The restaurant is cozy and small.

LOVE. Starry eyed, uninhibited, lusty LOVE.
I know, I know, I am a white girl so my opinion doesn’t count as much as it would if I were Vietnamese and really knew the authentic flavors of the culture. That being said, THIS IS MY FAVORITE PHO PLACE. EVER.
My favorite is the rare beef bowl. I just ate it and could literally go for another right now. My only complaint is that this time (3^rd time getting this dish) it was served with a lemon wedge instead of a lime… to-​go order, btw. Next time I will specify I definitely want lime. Not disappointed by this enough (to say the least!) to knock off a star. The broth (jeez, the broth!), the meat, the veggies, everything, is SO FRESH and so tasty.
Will definitely be back when the Phở craving strikes! And by the taste of this Phở, it won’t be too long.
Until we meet again Phở Latern Café! xx.

My favorite Phở spot in Newport/​Costa Mesa.
Fresh shrimp spring roles and made perfectly and enough for an entire meal or to share as an appetizer.
Phở is solid and reliable.
Food is equally good in-​restaurant as it is to go.

Phở Lantern Café is a cute phở shop in Newport Beach.
I was surprised there was phở in this location, but ended up enjoying it. There were a lot of menu choices food wise like rice and meat dishes in addition to phở, and a good selection of drinks such as milk teas, coffees, and sofas.
PHO W/​BRISKET AND STEAK ($ 7.50)
Their phở was very well cooked, and tasty but came out not very hot so when I added bean sprouts after a little while they never became fully soft. The meat is tender and their was plenty but there were a lot of globs of fat on a few of them so that was disappointing. The brother overall was okay but not too tasty and portably just as unique as chicken noodle soup.
Overall, if you’re looking for phở in Newport, the noodles themselves are good and not too pricey (a bit more than those in Westminster), try this out and see for yourself! It’s not bad at all, but not the best.

If you have to get you phở craving satisfied this place is pretty awesome, however if you are a phở conocuier this place will fall short of your expectations. Service is friendly and fast however the phở could be better. My main gripe is the freshness of the vinegar onions I ordered and the flavor of the soup it self was a little lackluster. Also, the fried wontons were a little on the well done side. Overall still a pretty good place to grab phở and I will definitely return:-)

This is my go to phở spot. Food is always good. Service can be slow but with how busy they usually are that is expected. Don’t go here during any rush times or there will be a wait. Filet mignon phở or the wonton soup are both awesome. Can’t beat it on a cold or sick day.

Customer comes in 10 mins after. Waiter says to them behind us you can sit where you like. Thankfully the customers had enough etiquette and responded, «O, these guys were ahead of us.» That put a little smile on my face. Will be awhile before I visit this place.

Good food and cozy place. The service is fine. Perfect place for having lunch or dinner with a few friends. They also have a couple tables outside.

Great service, very friendly, and priced right. Get the pork, it’s amazing.

Excellent phở. Richer broth than most other phở restaurants. Nice people.

Good phở. However don’t bother calling in your order if you are ordering it to go. You wait just as long calling it in as you do if you just order and wait. I called my order in 20 minutes ago. 2 plain phở bowls, and I am still standing waiting to pick it up

Start off with some shrimp or pork spring rolls.
Followed by their delicious filet mignon phở.
There hands down. Phở Lantern is so delicious, on a rainy day or a hot day… seating is limited its a hit or miss if there is a wait!

Only when you can not find a restaurant that is open late, and you are staving…
There was not a single Vietnamese customer.
There is reason why. This is going to our «NO» list

Very disappointed! with a huge menu describing lots of fabulous Phở ingredients it was simply a taste tease. The promise of Tendons and Tripe. Came sliced thinner than laboratory slides? I was so excited to have Phở nearby, going back to Little Saigon for the real deal.

Liked the Phở, I got different shrimp then what I ordered and a slight language barrier thing going on. Will update when I try it again, now that I have a numbered menu I think ordering over the phone will be much easier.

Its always good when them employees eat the same food the customers are. The food was okay, Id come back again. The people there are very polite :) thanks guys.

I’ve only been here once, but had an awesome brunch here.
FOOD: I had the vegan phở and my friend had the chicken curry, I believe. He enjoyed his plate and I definitely enjoyed my giant bowl of phở. The veggies were great and the tofu was perfect! It was amazing.
SERVICE: They were quick and knowledgeable of the menu. Often times I run into restaurants that have no idea what vegan means or if they even offer veg-​friendly food.
PRICE: Price was the low-​medium side. Something like $ 10/​person.
I don’t hang in the area very often, but I’ll definitely be back!

Great food, but the rice was hard and over cooked or maybe it was the bottom of the barrel. :(but the phở and lemon grass chicken tastes good.
PS… Don’t try to call for take out after 630pm. Line is always busy, and I’m beginning to think they unplug the phone purposely to avoid being over worked? I just know I called from 630−710pm and kept getting busy signal. My phone log shows 50 attempts lol. Anyhow, needless to say we walked in and was seated promptly. While we were waiting for our food I attempted to call again, and it was still busy signal I looked around and no one was on the phone, I even noticed the handset was docked… then again they may have a second phone in the kitchen? Haha. Just find it funny.

The Thai iced tea and phở is so good! Compared to places I go back home in San Diego, this place put way more meat and noodles in the bowl. I wish I lived closer so I could come back more often!!!

Positive? Absolutely incredible food — seriously my favorite Vietnamese food in the OC. The flavors are unique and wonderful. I could eat here weekly.
Negative? If you don’t order a popular dish you will have to wait for your food. This means it is made as you order — which is great! The bad part is that you’ll have to wait while you watch every other person in the restaurant eat.
Bottom line? Be patient. The food is worth it, but don’t come hangry. And don’t expect good costlier service. It doesn’t exist here.

This place’s phở is always satisfying and always delicious. My only complaint is that sometimes the service is a little off, sometimes the waiters are rude (maybe just one older man in particular. He tends to get my order wrong often then becomes angry with me when I tell him). Other than that, declicious and authentic food!

Best calamari I have ever had!
I’ve been here 3 times and every time I’ve gotten slam thing different and I’ve never been disappointed.

I have had an ok experience at this place up until today. This evening was HORRENDOUS!
I am extremely disappointed and offended by their food and service.
The noodle in my soup was wacky. It tasted as if they left it out in the air after half assedly
cooking it.
So I complained to the server about the noodle. Guess what? He was staring at me and
mumbled something in Vietnamese… Are you fuckin serious? Yes, the old bold guy with the
glasses…
I am never going back… SInce I am busy with the final exams, my review is short.

The last time we came back here, customer service was pretty average and we were seated uncomfortably close to the people next to us (like bumping shoulders). I understand that space is limited but come on.
Still delicious and affordable phở though, which matters most.

I was craving phở but didn’t feel like venturing up to Bolsa. However, taking into account that they were fairly busy, 40 minutes is still way too long to wait for one carry-​out order of phở. Most of the components are already prepped, so it’s mostly a matter of packing. They also didn’t include any cilantro, bean sprouts, hoisin sauce, chili sauce, etc.
It would have been faster to drive to Westminster.

So I’ve been here a couple of times because the food and the service were not bad until tonight; first, we accidentally spilled water on the table which also spilled on the floor. Or waiter quickly cleaned and dried up the table but never the floor. Then, my friend ordered phở which apparently they forgot to prepare so we had to ask for it three times. They offered a 15% discount for the inconvenience but when the bill came they had conveniently forgotten to include the discount the total so we had to remind them of that.
Overall the food is still good here but they need to hire more waiters because having only one running around like a chicken with its head cutoff is no way to run a restaurant. He forgets things which is understandable.
Customer service is critical for any business. If you continue this extremely poor service people will simply choose another restaurant, which there are plenty around.

First meal back from our vacation… and we needed the food of our people!
We really wanted a fat bowl of soup, and in Newport, it was a little difficult to find a good phở place to try out. Living in Santa Ana, great phở is a quick drive down the street, so I was a little hesitant to try out Lantern, given there aren’t many Vietnamese restaurants in the area. But it turned out to be a great go-​to place. It has been added to our mental list!
My beau got the large phở tai (#33) and I ordered their hu tieu dac biet, or house special rice noodle soup. Both did not disappoint our bellies or our palates.
He ordered a large bowl, and it had a lot of meat! I was pleasantly surprised. And the plate of bean sprouts, basil and lime was fresh and plentiful.
I ordered a small bowl, but it was very filling, especially after slurping up the tasty broth. My noodles came with squid, chicken breast, char siu slices and plenty of romaine lettuce. I added in some hoisin, but the broth didn’t need it. Flavorful without being too salty and full of body. I was very satisfied with this bowl and now know where I can get my soup fix!
We shared a silent few moments while we enjoyed our food, paid and left. The service was excellent for a Vietnamese restaurant, something we aren’t accustomed to at Vietnamese establishments. It was about $ 8 per bowl, a bit higher than traditional phở restaurants, but you are paying for a better experience and location.
Will definitely come by again.

Bomb place for phở and coffee. Can’t say I’ve had anything else, but that’s because every time I come and take a look at the menu, I just fall back on that phở filet mignon! I mean, it’s only $ 0.30 more than the phở tai, so why not, right? Gets me every time.
My sis and mom usually get the chicken phở and pad Thai, respectively, and they always have good things to say. In all their food, they really don’t skimp when it comes to meat, which is really attractive in my book, especially since the quality is there too.
I can’t really complain price-​wise either, everything is pretty reasonable.

It’s a hidden gem!
Came here for dinner with my cousin for some catch-​up time. The restaurant is hidden in a small shopping center and you would not think that it is not there because it is so small and intimate. Anyway, this place can get crowded on Fridays and Saturdays, but on Sundays, it is fairly easy to get a table for 2! I got the lemon grass beef plate and my cousin got a vegetable phở dish, which was super spicy! Yikes! My mouth is on fire! The lemon grass beef was juicy and the beef was tender. The beef is sliced thinly and cooked very well. The lemon totally complimented the beef. Oh and the rice was fluffy! We spilt the spring rolls and the peanut sauce was spicy and sweet! The meal was divine and totally delicious! I think I was more surprised by the prices after our meal. The prices are low, but the food is very good quality! I will need to come here more often!

Beef with vegetable (extra beef) is great. Shrimp and pork spring rolls I also suggest. Shrimp pad Thai was great as well. Friendly service and great phở.