Pho Paradise

I’m so sad this place is closed! This was my go-​to phở spot nearby. Time to search for the next!

The phở is okay over here. It really is hard to make a bowl of phở better than competitors because its just noodle soup. I feel like if you get the general idea right, you will get a generally warm perception. I ordered the Vietnamese coffee here and it came out really fancy. I love their coffee because it’s strong as sht!
What really stood out to me here were the eggrolls. They were one of the best eggrolls I’ve eaten at a Vietnamese restaurant. But that won’t be enough for me to come back. Seems like every place in Kearny Mesa has one aspect lacking. onward with my search!

Pretty good phở in the Convoy ‘hood and service is very attentive. While by no means a sports joint, there are two mounted flat screens that were showing Thursday Night Football. We need more sports bars with good Asian food… but I digress. The phở here is loaded with meats, I’m always partial to brisket, rare steak, and tripe. The bean curd wrapped shrimp paste was perfectly deep fried, but the filling tastes more like some kind of other meat (maybe pork?) than shrimp. This place as a definite hole in the wall vibe and parking can be challenging, as are most parking lots on Convoy. Try venturing out to the back.

Surprisingly, this new phở place is really good. The owners of this place are pretty brave opening up in an area where there’s so much competition. I’ve had a lot of phở in my life and the broth here is solid. It might be better than my go-to’s. The basil is very fresh. The staff is friendly. The place is open pretty late.
The restaurant is clean and well lit. The booth is comfortable, but is really tight.

No bad at all. The main reason why I like coming here is because it’s not packed. It satisfies the hunger and craving without the wait. The workers here are really nice, the Phở is okay for me but satisfying. We have gotten phở here several times and the noodles kind of stuck together. I have ordered their broken rice and its good. Perfectly cooked meat and rice. I really like the curry noodle soup. That’s good and a good choice when I want noodle soup.
Overall it’s not a bad a place. I gave it a four stars because I’m a fan. I just keep coming.

The phở is not good. Broth is bland, noodles are a bit stale.
But the egg rolls are delicious! Flavorful filling, perfectly crispy shell, and fresh contrast with mint and lettuce.
I’ve only been here for lunch, and it’s always empty. Parking can be challenging, but it’s better than most lots in this area.

I was bringing my grandparents out for lunch to the place next door when we saw this phở place had opened up. So we decided to give it a try.
It’s a pretty typical phở joint and definitely very clean with a decent presentation inside. I tasted the phở paradise broth and came to the conclusion that it’s above average. I think they put something extra in it… cloves? Not sure but I think it’s pretty good.
I got the chicken phở myself and was supremely disappointed. The rice noodles were slightly overlooked and the chicken was horrible — super dry and inedible. My grandma kept saying «old chicken» in Chinese.
A huge drawback at this place is the price. I expect phở to be around $ 6 – 7 since that’s how much it usually costs. But the normal sized phở paradise (order #1) here is close to $ 9 and it’s an extra dollar for a larger size. There is definitely variety here but that’s not saying much when there are so many other options in the area.
I’m thinking I would only ever come back here if they offered some sweet deals or discounts because right now I’d have no reason to come back.

Great food. This is alittle late but I went during there grand opening and I had a lot of attention and service was excellent. Food was great highly recommend.

I ordered phở with flank, brisket, and steak. Soup was on the oily side. I like the addition of saw-​leaf herb. Most SD places don’t seem to have it.
Compared to other phở joints, the bowl was a little small, the meats are fattier, and the cost is about $ 1 more than usual. The steak is really good, though. It’s tender and fresh.
I’d consider coming back if I had a phở craving and was in the area.

One of the few phở places on Convoy that opens til 10pm. After a night of drinking (what’s new?) we made our way to Phở Paradise. Located in the plaza with Tsuruhashi Japanese BBQ. This phở place had a «paradise» theme going on. Very cute.
The phở was decent. Not as flavorful as others, but then again my neck and chest wasn’t numb, so to my conclusion they didn’t use a lot of MSG. The phở was clear (as opposed to dark brown for some places). I got the small bowl of tripe and beef and I did finish it all. The beef was a bit tough, but we came towards closing.
Service was nice. I can see improvements if they improve their meat quality. Other than that, phở was decent.

I guess I’m just spoiled with all of the rest of the Vietnamese spots in SD because this was just real average. But then again I’m the idiot who ordered the shaken beef at a phở spot. Haha!
Anyways, one of my favorite Vietnamese dishes is the shaken beef and since I wasn’t feelin’ phở this evening, I decided to test the authenticity of this establishment. It was alright but not the best. The beef was extremely chewy and bland. Shaken beef is usually made with filet mignon, but this definitely was not. Phuong Trang definitely beats this spot.
Service was excellent unlike most Asian restaurants which was nice. Would I come back? Maybe, if I was in the area late night and starving.

This review is based on the fact that they forgot my shrimp in my «chargrilled shrimp and egg roll noodle» to-​go order. After calling and telling them, I was asked to come back. So I drove all the way back, and they gave me a tiny ramakin of 3 measley shrimp. I’m more pissed now than when I saw they forgot it in the first place

Working in the area and was craving phở cause of the weather and a post of pic from a friend’s IG. Honestly, I still have not found a good phở place in SD, especially being from the bay.
I came in ordering a large bowl of Phở chin, bau (well done and briskets), meat wise good quantity and decent quality but broth was a bit on the msg side. Plus the spice didnt pop… Little weak on that too.
I also order a cup of che ba mau, bad choice. Should’ve stuck to a soda.
Overall, service was quick, place was clean. But food was only so so. They charge for tea BTW. So if u don’t want it don’t order.
Will I come back? No. There’s better food in the same plaza (aka Sang Deuan, Thai and Laos food)

Excited to try this place seeing the reviews and how much I love Vietnamese food. Walk in to a pristine environment which is always a good sign. Average menu and I was a little disappointed they only had sriracha on the table and didn’t offer beer. Happy to see they offered bun bo hue and had to try their half order of egg rolls.
Nice lemon flavored water and decent sized TVs while you wait. The bun bo hue came out first. Rather have the appetizer first, but the bowl was presented very nicely. Lots of different meats with some nice oil bubbles in the broth. The herb plate was over flowing and hard to deal with. Everything was piled on top of each other so if you want to put a variety of herbs in, you have to dig and a lot fall off the plate.
The bun bo hue was delicious but hard to eat. There was too much meat in the soup with hardly any broth. The broth was the best part of their soup. Hard to get herbs in the broth and the noodles were super slippery. Pork blood stood out over many I’ve experienced in SD. Done perfectly with texture and that nice earthy taste that some times gets over done. Appreciated that they gave me 2 pieces of oxtail, but one didn’t even have any meat on it.
Egg rolls were very good too. Again, tough to eat. They didn’t give an extra dish so you have to wrap on top of the egg roll plate that was small and crowded. These are some of the better egg rolls around. I liked the stronger pepper flavor in them and how they were cooked perfectly. This place could easily be 5 stars if they make some small changes for the user experience. I’d like to see some chilli and other options on the table. Herb plates with less herbs and easier to access and more broth to accommodate the herbs or bigger plates and bowls.

For those of you who know me well, you know I am a big fan of bún and will take it over phở any day. So, when I new place like this opens, well there’s no doubt I must try their bún!
I ordered the Paradise Four Ingredients Bún with charred beef, chicken, pork, and an egg roll on top of some soft vermicelli noodles, ground up peanuts, fresh Romain lettuce, and some mint, sprouts, and carrots for $ 8.95
Highlights were the charred beef and pork. The both had great flavor with a nice smoky flavor form the charring and remained tender and moist. The chicken was good, but a little dry and not to mention they barley gave me any. I was quick top point out to them they should distribute and even amount of protein on the bún.
The egg roll was good. It had a crispy texture and came with a small amount of ground pork, plenty of glass noodles, and some vegetables. Its flavor was good and was nicely paired with the fish dipping sauce.
The veggies underneath were all fresh and tasty and the vermicelli noodles were perfectly cooked. I love adding a little soy sauce to them to give them that slippery texture and a little salty flavor.
Overall, I was a fan of this bún, with a little more tender chicken please. Service was pleasant and attentive.

So I’ve gone back to school. scary I know. Little did I know mesa college is ridiculously close to convoy. Awesome. I invite my mom to lunch/​dinner in a big break between my classes.
There are so many places that I want to try but I opt for a relatively new place by wings and things. Well reviewed and just a couple weeks old.
Me and my mom both know what we want when we get there but we still do a courtesy look off the menu. We order the spring rolls and two #1 specials.
So the spring rolls come out with a nice peanut sauce. Awesome. Now there were only two of them BUT they were each the size of a burrito. Therese spring rolls didn’t have just one shrimp wrapped into them BUT four of them. If this was any indication if things to come… and. It…was…
The various assortment of herbs limes bean Sprouts basil and a cilantro variety my mom nor myself had seen before we’re placed on a giant plate between us. Next the two huge bowls of «hot beef soup» (haha). Huge filed to the brim… One fellow reviewer says there was a new York deli sized amount of messy in there… and it was true. Also the tripe and tendon were the must flavorful and tender that ice ever had. Also the beef itself was very tender.
Overall experience ⁵⁄₅. My water was filed the whole time.

The guy here OPENED THE DOOR for me when he noticed I was sweating. That should tell you all you need to know about the customer service here. Awesome.
[p.s. I was sweating cuz I put all the Jalapeños offered in my phở. Nothing was wrong with the food… anyways, moving on.]
I got what I would anytime I go to a Vietnamese joint for the first time:
The #1 large Phở, everything on it.
And an order of spring rolls.
The spring rolls were good although I’ve had better… the Phở however was top-​notch and rivaled that of any other phở in the area, especially for the price. What sold it for me was the generous amounts of meat I found in my bowl. BOY was I happy to see a New York deli sandwiches worth of protein in my soup and it was all properly prepared and tasty, and the broth was great too. It was great soup on a misty San Diego night and I plan on coming back to try their other items I glanced over this time around.
[On my «would like to try» list are the steak cubes plate, all the curry dishes, the shrimp phở, the egg rolls, the thai tea, and the shredded pork on rice.
I’ll try to update this review when that time comes.]
My girlfriend got the chicken noodle soup and the chicken spring rolls and her favorite, the chicken fried rice. You can see her review [Nicole R.] for her thoughts on those items.
The staff was out of this world friendly, very attentive and helpful, even if there is a small language barrier. I managed to get an answer for my girlfriend regarding the nuoc cham and whether or not it had fish in it. Turns out yes it does… swordfish to be exact. I appreciated the man behind the counter coming to our table to help figure it out when the waiter wasn’t sure what we were asking exactly. Thank you for the free sodas and 20% off, we appreciate it! Wishing this new establishment all the success they can hope for.
One thing I «don’t get» is the painting of the horse … it’s kind of weird to me.

I found this place on Unilocal and saw that it recently opened. It was a cold night and perfect for a bowl of hot phở. For their opening week, they offered us free sodas and 20% off our meal. Even more of reason to try it out.
I ordered the chicken spring rolls, chicken fried rice, and chicken phở. Yikes, I know a lot of food but I wanted to sample several things. The spring rolls were made from dark chicken. I’m not so much a fan of dark meat but it had flavor. And boyfriend said the meat was juicy. I would probably ask for white meat next time personally. I really enjoyed the chicken phở (which mainly had white meat) and chicken fried rice. I would definitely order these items again.
Lastly, I wanted to mention the service was excellent. Its a family run business. They really went above and beyond to make sure we were happy.
Check it out. I really liked my dinner.

Awesome broth I like their clean taste. Best place to stop by after a good fishing day in sd!
Service was excellent and the staff is wonderful. Usually don’t leave reviews but this place really deserves it!

So clean, fresh tasty … I love the place and the very friendly customer service
We ordered many items as we are 6 and we shared it all, nothing came out as not excellant so I am for sure coming back …