Pho Tai

I really wanted to like this place but after eating here a few times find the food very mediocre. I just had their Teriyaki, perhaps the worst ever. The chicken is dry like shoe leather. The staff seems nice enough.

Now that Saigon Jades is gone, all that’s left for phở in this area is Phở Tai. That’s kind of a disappointment because this place does not live up to all the phở restaurants around it. There is surely a lot of competition, but Phở Tai comes off as rather bland by comparison. The broth is virtually tasteless, which ruins the whole experience. It’s nice how you can order a combo with a fried roll, spring roll, or gyoza in addition to the bowl of noodle soup, but that doesn’t really save the meal. I’d rather go somewhere else with main courses that aren’t tasteless. On the bright side, twelve dollars after tax is a fair price.

I’ll give this place 3 stars as I’ve yet to try more items on their menu. I was here just to have a quick snack so I did not order a full meal and just had their calamari and mango bubble tea. I thought the calamari was good, but be warned — it might be a bit salty for one’s tastebuds. Loved the mango bubble tea. The women’s restroom-​floor could use a bit of cleaning as it felt like stepping on glue. Service was great; no complaints there. Would I go back again? Yes, just to give a full review for a full meal.

Decent phở (not the best I’ve had) and priced a little higher than other phở restaurants.

I have been here 3 times so far. Will keep coming back. The menu has a lot of options, they have bubble tea, and the service is a little better than other phở places I’ve been to.

The Phở Vietnamese Noodle Soup– Steak and Brisket is spot on! At $ 8.45 only for a regular size.

The sandwiches and the noodle salad bowl are my favorite! So inexpensive, fresh, and delicious!

Clean facility. They provided quick service, as do many other phở places. Taste was mediocre. Bubble tea was not good at all. Server did come to check on me multiple times throughout my meal. Price is decent especially for Downtown Kirkland.

Often come here for lunch, service always great, friendly korean ahjumma and oppas, phở, teriyaki, and gyoza and everything are fantastic, around $ 8 – 12 meal, might be hard to find parking since it’s in downtown kirkland, but overall is great.

Quite possibly the worst bubble tea I’ve ever had. I ordered the black milk tea, and the tapioca pearls were plasticky and crumbly in texture. The tea was sickly sweet and otherwise horrible tasting. I rarely find things so inedible that I can’t eat them, but this went straight to the garbage can. I’m sorry I wasted 5 dollars. The rest of the food served there might be decent, though I will probably never return to this restaurant.

Food was tasty, but overshadowed by the rude service and less than clean surroundings. A few gems:
I was told typically they charge to divide a soup into two separate bowls, huh? Does it cost more to wash two bowls?
Also, no one ever came back to our table with the bill. I had to get up and pay for our meals.
Finally, when I asked for take out containers, they couldn’t give me a bag.
I think I’ll give it a pass next time.

I’ve been here around 5 times now and haven’t had a bad experience yet. Vermicelli bowl good, phở good, servers always very nice, not sure why they don’t have a higher rating.

Food can be found better just about anywhere else.
Service was terrible and servers were rude.
Not very clean.
Prices are more than most Asian restaurants.
Cool variety of foods, hope another place can pull it off someday.

The food is OK and the service is very basic. Prices are reasonable.
The overall experience is 3 star, but if you are in the area, it is a nice place to sit and watch the dog walkers go by.

My experience here was fine. 3 stars for me is pretty much average. I had a bahn mi. The veggies didn’t seem to be pickled, so it was a bit on the bland side.
My wife had a noodle bowl which she didn’t like, but I thought it was ok. Again, sort of average.
Likely won’t be back again. 1: my wife didn’t like it. 2: if I want bahn mi in that area I would rather go to Plume.

Every time I walk by, PhoTai is fairly full.
First time eating here today. Excellent service… quick, but ‘hot off the grill’ …homemade.
Ordered one Spring Roll, #31 Chicken Salad w/​side of Peanut Sauce & Thai Iced Tea. All delish. Enough food for ‘left overs’ ;)
Family café ambiance… def a ‘go to’ when in Kirkland!
Hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

We have only lived in Kirkland for one week and have been to Phở Tai twice already. This restaurant is really family-​friendly. The wait staff is very kind and patient towards kids. The serving size of the broth and noodles is plentiful, but they could be a bit more generous with the fresh vegetables and herbs. The broth is light, meaning not too heavy or full of MSG like other places. I think I’d make it my go-​to phở place if they had sate sauce (if you have not had this deliciousness in phở, you are missing out!). Their rice noodle dishes (bun) are really top notch — lots and lots of fresh veggies. I wish their spring rolls were better, the rice paper was torn and mushy.

Finally a phở place in Kirkland that I can count on!!! There is almost no wait every time I’ve visited and the servers are always friendly and look like they really enjoy being there.
The first visit I ordered a shrimp spring roll: SUPER affordable at $ 2.50 but I wish there was more than two little shrimpies in it.
I also ordered their broiled curry chicken plate and the chicken was OUT OF THIS WORLD. So tender, not overdone or tough and I gobbled down every bit. It came with a salad and rice (the rice was slightly sticky and tasty too!!!)
My boyfriend had a Thai iced tea and the yakisoba which was amazing also!!!
The second visit I had the same spring roll and a small brisket phở. The broth was just a tad bland (nothing a little siracha and hoisen sauce can’t fix) but the abundance of basil and sprouts they provided were greatly appreciated. They put so much meat in there and it was perfectly done!!! Easy to pull apart and just melt-​in-​your-​mouth tasty.
I will keep coming back!!!

We came here for lunch the other day and split a banh mi and a chicken phở with a coconut juice. It was reasonably busy with the lunch rush but we got a seat (it seems that lots of the orders are «to go» so there’ll just be people milling about by the door).
The banh mi was okay; I thought it was a little on the dry side but he seemed to like it. The bread had a nice texture with a crunchy crust, and was soft to pick up the sauce on the sandwich. The veggies were fresh and crunchy, but I think the pork could have been a little less dry.
We order the regular size phở. The bowl that came out was bigger than my head. We didn’t get the plate with the «phở accessories» (bean sprouts, basil, lemon etc.) right away, but the waiter came back with it on his next round, maybe a minute or two later. I would have liked a bit more lemon to go with it. The chicken was tender and not too fatty, and the soup was tasty. Maybe more noodles would have been good, but tastewise it was not too bad at all.
The coconut juice was tasty and refreshing, and the glass came with bits of coconut flesh in it. I don’t know if they just had super insanely sweet coconuts that day, or the juice was supplemented by more coconut flavoring. Either way, I liked it.
Service-​wise, we didn’t have any trouble at all, even though they were a bit busy. There was also a table next to us with a woman teaching her son how to make rice paper rolls, and one of the staff came out to show them how to do it. It was very cute.
For the amount of food we got for such a reasonable price, I’d come back again. I think they also have vegetarian broth now.

I was a big fan of Kirkland Phở but found the food here noticeably better. No question the service at Kirkland Phở (up kind behind the U-​Haul on 85^th) is better — Phở Tai is average at best.
Specifically the Bahn Mi meat seems less greasy here. The phở tai broth is similar but I prefer the noodles they use at Phở Tai.
Kirkland Phở has some personality to it, this place is just another place. I didn’t mean this to be about another restaurant but I’m using it as a yardstick.