Pho Real
166 Fumin Lu,
Jing An
near Julu Lu
富民路166号
近巨鹿路
5403-8110
Price Y100-Y199 per couple
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- City Weekend says
This pho spot serves up the usual range of Vietnamese dishes in a trendy atmosphere (and with some great '90's hip-hop in the background too). The small but bright space fills up regularly, both during lunch and dinner. Be sure to try the chicken bun; it's one of the best in town.
- Contributor Description
It doesn't have a very conspicuos shop front, sort of half sunken into the basement, but interior decor is simple yet warm. Foodwise, the Pho are top notch. Starters, the Vietnamese spring rolls and rice wraps are delicate, but well stuffed with tasty ingredients. I recommend the Half Raw Beef Brisket and Beef Ball Pho, the soup base is delicious and should be all but consumed with each bowl of Pho, unlike other MSG based soups. Other main courses are limited as I guess that they want to specialise in their Pho. Desserts are also recommended like the Cocomut cakes and also Creme Brulee. Do take a Vietnamese style coffee afterwards, as it's distilled whilst you wait!
Reviews
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Pho Real or Pho Jokes?
My friend introduced me to Pho Real last week. Had to say, I've already heard mixed reviews from my friends about this place but since I've been slacking on my reviews on City Weekend, I thought I give it a try.
I walked in about 6:00pm. The place was already busy. There was suppose to be 3 of us and for some reason they refuse used a 2 tables because all of 3 us weren't there yet. They actually lost a few customers by refusing to seat them in a 2 table spot because all their friends hadn't arrived as well. Interesting.
The food was not even close to any of the viet places in the city. Honestly. I would even say that a 26 RMB bowl of Pho Yummy pho is better then a Pho Real's 60 RMB bowl.
Very weird music they were playing as well. They had it on satellite radio, it was like I was at a nightclub while eating and talking to my friends. I was lucky I wasn't wearing a white shirt, because bobbing your head while slurping on pho noodles is bound to cause an accident.
That's my 2 fen!
The place is busy and looks promising. We sat down and looked at the menu and came to our surprise that they are charging deep for the Pho noodle. Anyway, we came and order their Pho and coffee.
The Pho soup is full of MSG favour and taste nothing as authentic as the one I ate in Vietnam. Beef quality is so so and the only worth mention is their coffee which taste OK.
Price is deep for this Pho place. 2 of us spent more than Rmb200.
For this kind of food back home (Chicago), it cost less than US$15 for 2 .
This place is OK if it is not overpriced!!!
I went here once and liked it so much I went back a second time. Place is pretty small so you usually need reservations. And when you do call make sure to tell them not to give you the bar-seats which are not at the bar but by the staircase. It is awkward and uncomfortable. (You are eating at foot-level of people coming in and out). The food was pretty good and I didn't find it to be too expensive. The staff was a bit weird about seating though, they act like they are waiting for OBAMA to walk in or something. And both times I went there, first waiter didn't speak mandarin and spoke to us in english and second time, the guy spoke to me in mandarin and no english, strange staff...
appreciate the good effort for raising the bar in shanghai for pho - while its still not as good as places outside of china, i find that its a nice product while in shanghai that can satiate my craving - however, i hope management can provide better beef in the soup going forward
Big thanks for staying open on my lady's birthday, been meaning to write this awhile and I very appreciate it
Nice decor, comfortable setting and overall had a good experience here. The set lunch was reasonable, service was fast, efficient and the pho was good. The best pho I've ever had is in Melbourne (the Vietnamese community there dishes up the real thing with top quality beef) and compared to that, the pho here is pretty OK. Stock was tasty (but perhaps too much msg as I was thirsty all afternoon after finishing all the soup!). Overall, I had a good meal and will definitely go back there. Will try having dinner instead the next time.
Tried this place based on the award it won on That's SH, totally umipressed. What I liked about the place.
- Spring Rolls
- Mint Chocolate Ice Cream
What I didn't like about the place 1.Pho tastes more like noodle then Pho 2 Ice Coffee is watered down 3 Over priced pho at 138 RMB for a USDA Angus Pho...are you really PHO REAL??? 4 Service is terrible (with an attitude). Starts to take plates away when we clearly have food left inside, feel pressured to leave as soon as food is finished. 5. Worst of all- Both my wife and myself got a stomachache and diarrhea right after and for the next 24 hrs.
My recommendation is to stay away, still searching for the Real PHO in shanghai...
The Pho was good, if not much like Pho - more of a fusion Pho. The meat was a really high quality and the broth was savory, would have liked more basil and sprouts, but that's always a short coming of Pho outside of Vietnam. The biggest problem with this place is its popularity, there is always a wait and the staff doesn't seem to know how to handle it, we were seated and then had people who were standing waiting for tables ordering food before we had a chance to place our order. The atmosphere is nice and modern compared to most other Pho restaurants in Shanghai, but get there before you're hungry. I've gotta ask if a bowl of soup is worth more than 40 RMB.
We visited Pho Real for dinner and left with mixed emotions (to put it mildly). The main problem was the service, the food was actually quite ok - Pho was nothing special, but the spring rolls were amazing and I would definitely go back for that. The atmosphere was all in all good and the place is nicely done up (or down). But back to the service: 2 of us arrived before 6pm, therefore the place was empty. Completely empty. We informed the staff there will be 3 of us, at which point they told us to sit down at the table for 2. I obviously thought they misunderstood me, so I repeated “我们是三位” - there will be 3 of us. To which the staff replied they understand, but the place gets very busy so they have to sit us at a table for 2. Mind you, the place is still COMPLETELY EMPTY, we are still the only people there, and they have only ONE reservation for the evening. At this point my friend demands to talk to the manager, who apparently is not present. Since a table for 4 is empty (like all other tables) and not reserved we have a sit down. The staff is not happy. While waiting for our friend, we are checking the menu, after a couple of minutes one of the staff comes over and asks us when our friend is coming, because the place gets very busy and there is only 2 of us and we are not sitting at a table for 2. Side note: we are still the only guest there and at this point we are ready to walk out. While we are discussing the situation with the staff, our friend walks in, we get down to business and order the food. During the next 45 minutes we are there, the place does slowly fill up, but never to a point where there is not more available seats. So, perplexed as I was then, I remain to this day. Really, what was all that about? Why ruin a perfectly good tasting spring roll by a staff that clearly has issues with managing a small restaurant?
This in not about soup. Just had the spring rolls and the Bah mi chicken sandwhich. Food is presented in an attractive way by attentive and kind staff. Spring rolls were one of the better ones I recently had in Shanghai, accompanied by some fresh herbs. The sandwich is ok, too much mayonaise, and not any familiar Vietnamese taste. Could be any any chicken lettuce mayo sandwich. Not bad. But certainly no reason to order again. cheers
I paid a visit to the tiny restaurant on Friday night and was extremely impressed. I had the Vietnamese sandwich for my main and it was to-die-for. The crusty baguette with chicken and fresh vegetables was extremely filling and delicious. It came with a beef broth which is served to dunk the sandwich in. It was amazing. I can see myself eating this a lot when the weather starts to cool down...
The food is okay, but the service in this restaurant is just terrible! Don't ever go there with a baby in a stroller. Understand that there is not much space, but the staff makes you feel like you are not welcome at all. In the end we were blocking one seat with our bassinet. The staff was openly complaining that we are blocking seats for other potential customers (even though these customers were not even there). We will never go to this restaurant again. Especially one of the female staff members was extremely unfriendly.
I was here for the set lunch. It was weird that when the restaurant was full, the owner asked us to go outside and stand to wait for a table (even though it was raining and they were already cleaning up the table for us to seat at).
The place itself looks nice, but the food wasn't so great. They didn't use real pho noodle, the soup tasted like nothing but MSG to me. The appetizer was infused with grease...definitely not worth it at the price of 48RMB. I would rather go to the little chinese fried dumpling place next door, for 8RMB, I get my tummy full and satisfied.
cool design...great food....yeah, a bit pricey, but overall worth the deal if you are really in the mood for Vietnamese.
Don't expect real pho here. At best it's a mediocre attempt at imitating good pho. The soup lacks real flavor, the pho noodle not the right consistency, the meat tough to chew. For the tiny portion offered, the price is way too high - Y48 for a small bowl, which is much more expensive than one would pay in California, one of the best places for pho in the world.
The place is nice. Loved the decor - small but very well thought out - good job! Food is just OK. I was expecting "real" pho, like the name of the establishment. However, I find the pho broth to be too light, comparing to pho I had else where like in Vietnam, HK, etc. Thus, I find price is a bit high for the quality received. I still like the place though. Hope next time when I go back, I'll get 'REAL' pho.
Good environment, but the prices are outrageous. Niurou lamian from your friendly local Hui dealer are cheaper and are surely served with less MSG in their soup. Disappointing.