Pho Ban Mai

Went for dinner last Saturday when we had cravings for phở. We didn’t wait too long for a table even though there were a number of family waiting for tables when we got there. Ordered large phở bowl with rare steak, tendon, tripe, flank and a bowl with only rare steak and an order of egg rolls. The orders came quick. This could be my next go-​to phở place besides Lucky Seafood Restaurant.

Their bun bo hue is surprisingly tasty for a phở place. Their nem nuong cuon tastes like brodards to me without the hassle of OC. I’ve also had good calamari and other stuff here. The only thing that is not outstanding is the phở ironically, typical broth and average phở.

I went today for dinner, the music is really nice, the waitress nice. Lot of asian people, so is a good place for a real asian food. I had spring rolls and phở with seafood. The spring rolls were awesome!!! And the food was pretty good!
The only thing is that I dont really like soups, and phở is a soup, so next time I will try other thing!
I recomend the spring rolls for sure!
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I’ve not experienced much Vietnamese food. My boyfriend took me here the other night, and I’m glad he did. Upon his recommendation, I had the B11 (vermicelli noodles with lettuce, bean sprouts, etc.). The combination of the grilled shrimp that it came with and the fish sauce was so flavorful.
We came at a time when it wasn’t so busy, so we had quick service. The waitress was very friendly as was the gentleman who brought us our food. I’m glad I gave this place a try!

Really authentic viet food! I had the bun bo hue and it was very flavorful with big portions! The bowl didn’t come in a small so I’m about to explode I would definitely come back for the rice or phở –1 star only for mixing up my party’s order a little (granted we have like 15 people)

So much for getting soup for my sick self! DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME OR MONEY HERE. The service tonight was the ABSOLUTE WORST and they weren’t even busy! The staff was paying attention to every other patron except my husband and me. Is it because we are each of different races?! After being ignored for ten minutes by 4 different servers pacing up and down the isle, the idiot server doesn’t even stop at our table, he continues walking off and says «one sec!»
I was so upset and couldn’t help but sit and complain since they were lagging so bad. I couldn’t believe how rude he was to me! The whole process of taking my f****ING money took forever! I left a «tip» on the table: my «2 cents».

Since coming to San Diego, I haven’t had any good phở until coming to Phở Ban Mai. The environment of the establishment is cozy and not too cramped. It’s decently lit and the service is good.
I ordered the P6 large and it surpassed my expectations, setting the bar for good phở here in SD. The phở noodles were consistent, and the soup was savory. The meat was on point as well.
I’m taking off a star only because one of the waiters got our order mixed up, but other than that, I’d totally come back, and maybe even bring more friends along!

With excellent recommendations from my Vietnamese coworkers, a group of us came out and tried out their authentic Vietnamese cuisine. My friends took good care of us by ordering a Vietnamese feast! Before the food came out, the impression of this restaurant was very good. It’s very clean and spacious with lots of tables. You can tell this is definitely an authentic restaurant by seeing a very packed restaurant. The waiter quickly came to us and placed orders for us. We started out with their SALT PEPPER CHICKEN WINGS IN BUTTER, which is considered one of their famous and specialty dishes here! Compared to Phuong Trang, which is another popular Vietnamese restaurant, I love the wings here a lot more! The wings were crispy and well coated with salt and pepper. The flavors were much better here. However, the wings slightly felt warm and not hot right out of fryer. Despite that, I still loved their wings! The best in San Diego for sure! We moved quickly to the next dish, BANH BEO, which is steamed rice cake with dried shrimp, scallion, fried shallots, fish sauce and chili. Amazing! This is one of those traditional Vietnamese dishes that are rare to see in stores. The rice cake was soft and seasoned perfectly with dried shrimp and fried shallots. Along with the fish sauce, this dish is definitely one of the «must-​try»! Next one up was their famous, PORK PASTE SPRING ROLLS. This was my first time trying this type of Vietnamese spring rolls and I was impressed. Normally, I am not a huge fan of Vietnamese spring rolls because the flavor was fairly expected and mild. This pork paste spring rolls were not like what I expected. The pork paste was flavorful along with the fried eggroll skin inside to give its crunchy texture. Furthermore, instead of normal peanuts or fish sauce, their special dipping sauce for this type of spring rolls was very good. This menu started out blowing me away even before the main dish.
Moving on to other special dishes here. First is my favorite Vietnamese beef noodle soup, called BUN BO HUE. I loved the rice vermicelli noodles instead of the clear noodles in phở because they last longer in the soup without falling apart. The noodles also coated the noodle soup well for complete flavors when you eat them. Their soup flavor was excellent too! I just can’t have enough of this noodle soup! Another specialty dish is BANH XEO, which is the «sizzling cake» fried Vietnamese style pancake stuffed with pork, shrimp, bean sprouts. This was my first time knowing this Vietnamese dish and I am again happily pleased with its flavor and cooking skills. The pancake was crispy on both sides even after added all the ingredients. The flavor mostly came out of the pancake and the fillings along with vegetables that you roll them up.
By this point, I was full to the top of my stomach. We have couple more dishes and my friend also tried out their dessert. Overall, amazing place! I never explored Vietnamese cuisine like this before and I am totally a fan of their food! I recommend you to come out and try authentic Vietnamese food that is more than just phở.

First time here, last time here. Came here alone at 2:30pm w/​moderate crowd. I was seated in the corner & I really had to fight to get decent service. It was NOT busy. I ordered fresh spring rolls w/​shrimp & requested «no pork». My appetizer came w/​2 shrimp in each spring roll AND PORK ($ 4.99 for 3 rolls). Okay so now I’m getting annoyed. Normally I will happily throw down on some spring rolls w/​peanut sauce. One of my favorites! I ate one and left 2 whole rolls. The peanut sauce had runny consistency & was wayy too sweet.
Despite all the negatives, I still was hopeful for my bbq pork sandwich (banh mi) bc that is truly what hooked me on Vietnamese food. This place really let me down. The sandwich came on a really great french roll and the meat was okay– nothing special at all. The vegetables tasted very plain (I prefer when they are pickled) and overall there was no Pop! To it.
Overall, received really poor service and the food was so lackluster that I didn’t even take it for a homeless person. Hey, homeless people deserve good food, too! I came here once but I will not be returning.

Location:
It is in the same complex as the boiling crab and tea station
Décor:
Doesn’t have a lot of seating, but has some booth seating with some table and chair seating as well. It is a little dim inside.
Food & Drinks:
I have ordered the #1 combo here and the rice combo here. Both were really good and I have been impressed with the quality and taste. This place gives a different feel then phở ca dao and definitely has a different taste. It may be small, but I can’t decide which is better. I do prefer the rice combo here as it felt more flavorful. I will definitely be back to try more of the other dishes and compare.
Happy Phở eating my friends!

5 Stars for their Bun Rieu! For a semi chilly night the Bun Rieu was so delicious — hearty, will with minced crab cake, tomatoes, and tofu. The minced crab cake was light, airy and very flavorful. Lots of it too. The broth was flavorful and slightly tangy from the tomatoes. Just perfect! I also had the Vietnamese ice coffee (café sua da) as well which was pretty good.
My friend had the Seafood Phở and said it was the best in SD she had so far. «So far» being 3 months but I believe she has a refined palate and a phở enthusiast like me.
Overall, the food was very delicious. I thought service was great as well. We had a few special requests and/​or customized orders. They were patient and did their best to accommodate us. Enjoi!

Good Vietnamese food here-​The best seafood phở I’ve had so far: good broth, fresh herbs (no brown can be found on basil leaves), lots of seafood stuff with good sized large shrimps. Large bowl for $ 9. My friend had bun rieu (crab cake soup) and killed it in a minute… Great dish also. We also had the banh xeo (crepes with bean sprouts inside), that was crunchy and delicious.
It’s a busy place with a little bit of a wait for Saturday dinner, but we got in. Service was decent, and not unfriendly, like a typical fast paced Vietnamese
Restaurant. A little out of the way on Mira Mesa. Parking is easy, within a bigger plaza.
Overall, food was good and fresh, but will likely stay more local next time. I’ll certainly return for lunch or dinner…

This Phở restaurant is a little bit more «fancy» than others around. Nice style booths, hanging lights, etc, therefore the price is a BIT higher than say Phở Ca Dao, around the corner.
This is a popular place for lunch time work folks in the Mira Mesa area so expect to wait a bit between 12pm-​1pm. We waited maybe 10 minutes when we came in around 12:30 today. By 1pm, however, many tables had opened up.
I usually get the Phở Tai (P13) (phở with slices of rare steak)…which I recommend getting rare instead of well-​done. For you gross-​out-​by-​raw-​meat people, you have to get this (rare) …unless you like your meat chewy. The red meat will cook in the hot broth to produce a nice medium to well slices of meat.
For first timers, I suggest putting in the bean sprouts, tearing up the basil leaves to extract more flavor and season it with sriacha and oyster sauce (the dark bottle) to taste.
I like that they bring a basket of chopsticks, forks, napkins and soup spoons. Something for everyone!
Broth here is pretty good, though for me a bit on the saltier side.
The tofu + vegetable phở was pretty good today. It is cooked in a chicken broth, I would suggest that the vegetables be cooked just a touch more. It was a bit on the raw side for me.
Service is attentive, but don’t expect them to be on point or to have one server. They all work together, so if you need something just flag them down or go up to the front desk and ask away. Toodles, noodles.

This is the ONLY place in San Diego that I know of to get NEM NUONG SPRING ROLLS! Thats right, you heard me, now you don’t have to drive all the way to brodards to get your fix. #dateggrollcrunch Albiet I still think Brodards does the dish justice, Phở Ban Mai is a close second and I’ll take it any day due to the convenience factor.
As far as the other menu items I would say this is a pretty solid vietnamese spot. I am a fan of their all of their broken rice dishes, particularly the one with egg roll and bbq pork. Phở is not as good as Phở Cali or Phở Cadao but still decent ! Service has always been great every time I’ve been here.

This is for sure my phở shop! I go here so often the workers all know me by first name which is kind of a nice feeling.
I come here for their Phở Dac Biet (Phở Special), there is something in that broth that really cures all hangovers, and sicknesses!
When I’m not craving phở I would typically order their dry fat noodle combination plate or their banh xeo (vietnamese pancake) which comes with a generous portion of of veggies to wrap the vietnamese pancake in and dip with nuoc mam, «fish sauce».
The drinks I typically order over and over from here are as follows, café sua da, fresh squeeze orange juice and young fresh coconut juice.
Pretty cool and well kept restaurant!

Date of visit: 10/​28/​2015
Scotty was craving phở, so she picked Phở Ban Mai to go to. I was excited to go in person after my lackluster Peach experience because delivery is only as good as fast as you can get it. The parking lot is pretty spacious if you avoid the main thoroughfares. Upon entering, the restaurant was pretty quiet with about half of their tables full. It got a little more crowded when we left. There are some dishes served on hot sizzling plates that smelled delicious, but when we got out for phở, there is phở to be had.
Iced Milk Coffee with Tapioca — AKA Vietnamese coffee with lots of small ice chunks and sub par boba. I can get over the boba, really I can, but what really irked me was that this drink was mostly ice, which would also be fine, BUT the ice was super small and super packed that it made it extremely difficult to drink. Like, «I see 5 more balls of boba, but I’m not going to bother,» difficult. I know that the milk coffee is super concentrated, so just don’t fill up the glass all the way. I know I’d be okay with a half cup of a drink that I could actually drink than a full cup of ice that makes it difficult to drink.
Egg Rolls — Piping hot and delicious. These were pretty standard for Vietnamese egg rolls and even had lettuce and fish sauce to wrap it in. This was a good starter.
Phở with Rare Steak — This was just okay. The broth was nice and warm, but it felt like it was lacking something. I added my usual condiments — lime, oyster sauce, chili sauce, and basil, but it still was lackluster compared to other phở places. The steak also became too chewy too quickly, so it wasn’t really appetizing to eat.
Overall Phở Ban Mai is okay. I have other Vietnamese places that I prefer, but if you’re looking for a fancier ambiance this is the place to go. I really enjoyed their egg rolls, but will definitely have to try a different dish next time I come back.

LOVE Phở Ban Mai’s crêpe!
It’s huuuuge!, crispy, flavorful.
with pork and shrimp.
Served with fresh veggies for wrapping.
We also tried their
Phở dac biet — deliiiishhh
Bun Bo hue
Eggrolls
Service is fast and friendly.
Parking — big lot :)
Mmmmm… *burp*

Venue: Typical restaurant booths, tables, ok service.
Order: Got A4 (Pork spring rolls with fish sauce), C2 (Grilled pork combo), D2 (Jelly Lentil dessert drink), S2 (Crispy fried egg noodles), Lychee No Boba.
Review: A4 and D2 were tasty. nothing special. D2 was interesting not sure if I will try it again. C2 was good — they had this shredded dried pork thing which I wasn’t too keen on. Good portions. Did not leave hungry. Friend ordered S2 and Lychee drink. He liked the egg noodle but hated the lychee drink because it tasted artificial and too sweet.
Bathroom: Clean
Conclusion: Will go here again. Cheapish decent food. Good for groups.

This time, we I went with a couple of my dearest guys after my son;s dentist appointment. We had Noodle only soup, Chix Phở, Chix with steamed rice and vegetables and summer rolls with peanut sauce!
Yum. I love their peanut sauce. The summer rolls are filled with fried tofu and rice noodle, and carrot and are so soft and warm, they literally melt in your mouth. The soup broth is nice and flavorful, not too salty either. Served with a ton of basil, bean sprouts and jalapenos. The chix in our Phở tasted a little like paper. I actually thought I took a bite of napkin by accident :(I know. Not good. The chix in the chix and vegetable dish was great, So flavorful, it tasted a bit like bbq chix. Very reasonable prices also. The noodle soup was about 6 $, for 3 summer rolls, $ 5, Chix lunch was @ $ 7 and the Chix Phở large was only $ 8. Very busy at lunch but the 4 of us were still seated in about 10 mins. Our server was efficient and attentive.

If you’re a fan of Brodard (known for their nem nuong) up in Garden Grove then you’ll definitely enjoy Phở Ban Mai!
We came here on a Saturday afternoon and got seated right away. Upon entering, you’ll notice that this isn’t your typical no-​frills phở joint with the waiter immediately asking «ready to order?» the instant you sit down. When an Asian joint has top notch service and decent décor, there are times when I question the authenticity of the place. But it was packed out with Viet people inside so I knew this place had to be bomb.
One starter you must order is their nem nuong! Yes, it is up to par with Brodard as I mentioned in the beginning. It is nice and crispy and you won’t have to make the trek up to OC.
Another must order is their banh beo, which is served the original way! They serve each individual rice cake in its own small sized plate unlike other spots which will just have it stacked upon one another, making the rice cake soggy and inconsistent in texture.
Their BBH is quite good too! The broth is just right. It isn’t overly sweet nor has a ton of MSG. There are only a handful of places that make it well in SD.
If you happen to be in the area, give this place a shot if you’re craving for some Viet grub.