Likely the best Vietnamese restaurant in this area. Broth is very well flavored and carries every dish. Given the seal of approval by my Viet parents. Pho comes out quickly, and different dishes have different cuts of meat (I chose 12 with the brisket and round steak). You also get vegetables with your order (bean sprout, basil (eating it definitely changes the flavor of the food), and jalapeño). Would recommend the pho here. Servers were nice and took our orders quickly as well, and interior of restaurant is clean and decorated with plants. There's even a little goldfish pond. read more

Ao Sen - Interior - Vietnamese Near Me - Albany, California

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Went here based on Google reviews since I was in the area and craving Vietnamese food. I believe the owners may be Vietnamese-Chinese, as the menu includes both languages. The pho was a bit off in terms of the broth-to-noodle ratio. I usually like to taste the broth first before getting a bite of everything, but as soon as I dipped my spoon in, I could already tell how many noodles were packed into the bowl. Once the noodles loosened up, there wasn't much soup left. The broth itself was darker, but not in the rich, deeply flavorful way. It tasted more like it had been seasoned heavily at the end with too much bouillon, fish sauce, or something similar, making it too salty without much aroma. The brisket was good, and I did enjoy the traditional toppings like tripe and tendon, but I probably wouldn't come back for the pho. The rice plate with lemongrass pork and shrimp was decent. I just wish there had been more scallion oil, and the salad didn't add much to the plate. Fresh tomatoes, cucumbers, and carrots would have gone a long way. read more

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Plenty of street parking right in front of the restaurant. There is a long ramp to enter the restaurant from the street side then a long divider inside the restaurant to get to the seats and staff, wonder if there is a reason for this detour. $11.95 nem nuong spring rolls (2 full rolls) This was really good and had the crunchy stick inside for texture. The second time I ordered it on another day though, the pickled veggies tasted a little "off". It is a bit pricey for a spring roll appetizer but at least the portion size is big. $17.45 #2 pho The meat was good quality, nothing too crazy about the portion size here. I thought the broth was light but didn't have deep flavor and the noodles were firm. I was very full after eating this and one of my two spring rolls. read more

We haven't been here in years but it's still delicious as last time. The service is friendly and we were immediately seated and placed our order. I ordered the "House Special " which is basically all meat and tripe also vegetables with a delicious broth. The place was busy since it was dinner time but our meal arrived quickly. The portion was generous and I ended up bringing some home to eat latet. read more

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Pretty delicious pho for this area. I highly recommend asking for the beef on the side so it doesn't get overcooked in the soup when they bring it out. The service is fast and the restaurant is pretty massive and spacious. The broth is flavorful and very cozy. With so many good pho places in the south bay, this is a great option when you're not in the south bay! read more

Ao Sen - Vietnamese Near Me - Albany, California

Ao Sen is probably my favorite pho/Vietnamese spot in the East Bay. I've been coming here since college and the service and quality of food has not changed. They have renovated the restaurant so it looks more modern with ample seating. We ordered 2 rice plates and 2 phos and both portions were generous and tasty. Would definitely recommend if you're in the area! read more

Ao Sen - Com Tam Tom, Suon - Vietnamese Near Me - Albany, California

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A torrential rainy day earlier....Gio & I first checked out a new Pho place on San Pablo south of here...menu didn't list all the different variations of beef one could customize your order with...so we returned here for the classics...Gio got fatty brisqet & tendon I opted for (the 1st time) 100% tendon....ah the joy of loads of translucent cartilaginous protein ...good for me ailing joints...along with the perfectly not too sweet broth and their one of a kind fried shallot condiment the only thing I wish is that they used their old ceramic rather than metal bowls but oh my oh my been a long hiatus & so good!! read more

The food was fine, a little on the salty side, but I was thrown off by the color since I've never had a Bun Bo Hue that wasn't entirely red. That said, the broth was salty but not that strong at the same time. I am very particular with my Vietnamese food so take this with a grain of salt. My friends did like their orders tho! The staff were friendly, service was quick with no wait, and there's plenty of seating. It's a nice little hidden gem in Albany, and I'd definitely come back to explore more of their menu. read more

Ao Sen - Bun Bo Hue - Vietnamese Near Me - Albany, California

If you're looking for traditional pho flavors, this is the spot! I've been coming here for over 5 years and have never left disappointed. I recently tried the fried egg rolls for the first time--10/10 TASTY! My go-to is the chicken pho, especially when I'm feeling under the weather. It's comforting, flavorful, and always hits the spot. The service here is top-tier--friendly, respectful, and consistent. The vibe is chill and casual, perfect for showing up in comfy clothes and enjoying some comfort food. Pro tip: Ask for their free hot jasmine tea Taste: 8/10 Service: 10/10 Portion Size: 10/10 Happy? Absolutely read more

Ao Sen - Vietnamese Near Me - Albany, California

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Came back and tried their bun bo hue. It's the first time seeing this light of a color; bun bo hue are usually pretty red. Flavorwise I got a lot of the lemongrass flavor but I felt the overall flavors was a bit lacking. There wasn't a whole lot of proteins either. I'd say it's still pretty serviceable. In fact it's actually pretty good for the area. read more

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It was cold and rainy, so soup was on our mind! I suggested we get pho and try Ao Sen. Both my friend and I had never been, despite living close, so we're excited to try it. We arrived on a weekday evening for dinner. The parking lot was busy, but the restaurant not so much. We were seated immediately and our order was taken relatively fast. The layout is quite spacious with lots of booth seats plus some smaller tables. Service was fine, your items were delivered and water refilled but you weren't checked on, it's self-service with the condiments and utensils on the table. I had the Pho Ga and my friend had the Seafood Noodle Soup. My pho had a light and clear broth. The chicken was fine but not tender, a bit tough. The noodles were okay but I found them to be short as if they were cut. The toppings were okay but they didn't give much. This area doesn't have many pho-specific restaurants, but I'd say it's decent if you're living nearby. The restaurant is located off San Pablo with a shared parking lot plus street parking. Glad we could try a new spot! read more

Ao Sen - Pho Ga - Vietnamese Near Me - Albany, California

My go-to local-ish Pho spot. They're quick to seat you and take your order. Food comes out fast and hot, service is friendly and attentive without hoovering. I enjoy their pho ga (chicken pho). Their fish sauce wings and spring rolls are also very good. Have yet to try any rice plates. read more

I can't believe after living in El Cerrito so long we finally visited Ao Sen over the break. What a huge space, and quite crowded for a Sunday afternoon. Service was quick and efficient, love that the staff brings out all meals on a cart. We ordered Vietnamese Egg Nog after glancing at the menu and wanted to experience/try something new. Tasted similar to an East Coast Egg cream, love the Perrier soda water add on. Essentially it's egg yolk, sweetened condensed milk, and soda water. Probably wouldn't order again, but hey, there's a first for everything. Also ordered Vietnamese Iced Coffee, egg rolls, chicken noodle soup, and a beef pho. For the chicken noodle soup I subbed egg noodles for an additional couple bucks and that was the winning ticket. Mixed with the broth, pulled white meat chicken, and a little hot sauce/hoisin, it was super yummy. My husband enjoyed his bowl and thought the meat was juicy/hearty. The chicken noodle soup was in my opinion the perfect fixture to feeling a bit under the weather ~ clean, simple, easy. My only qualms were that the egg rolls, although packed with flavor and all the pork/shrimp ground yumminess, were a bit excessively greasy (the kind of greasy where ya have to actually wipe your fingers on the napkin). Flavor was still there and maybe it was just our batch, but would try this spot again in future if we're feeling a pho trip, fasho :) I did love that they were playing Get Hard with Will Ferrell and Kevin Hart, and the small koi pond/waterfall next to the TV. Plenty of parking in back/street parking, reasonable price points, and located next to Ocean View if wanting a fun local brew stop before/after. read more

Ao Sen - Cha Gio- Egg Rolls (3) - Vietnamese Near Me - Albany, California

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The pho was the best I've had in a while. The broth was delicious and beefy. It perhaps has a bit of extra savoriness added, but it worked. The meet was good too. I'd be near perfect if the noodles hadn't been so broken up. Service was friendly. It's a pretty large restaurant with a comfortable interior. Good for a casual lunch read more

Delicious food and big restaurant interior almost like a diner with plenty of seating and a parking lot outside. Extremely fast service with attentive waiters. Never had pho in a metal bowl before. It's simple and easy to eat from. read more

Ao Sen - Nem nuong was delicious. My favorite and good amount. The presentation was a surprise. - Vietnamese Near Me - Albany, California

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Such a beautiful restaurant, with a large capacity to hold a bunch of people. They have a gorgeous wall of tropical plants like Monstera, Pothos, snake plants, etc. it was wonderful to admire the plants while waiting for the food. The service was pleasant, just not the fastest I've experienced. Not too slow, just a little noticeable that we were waiting for a while, but we went during a slow time so I'm sure they didn't have as many workers as normal. I got the rare steak pho, and it was great! This is actually my second time coming so it's definitely good enough to go back to. Great ratio of meat, white onion, and noodles. I didn't feel like it was lacking in anything. the broth was strong and flavorful, and the meat quality was good! Didn't seem like it had freezer burn or anything. read more

Ao Sen - Pho Tai - Vietnamese Near Me - Albany, California

My friends and I stopped by for dinner on a Sunday evening about an hour before they closed and the restaurant was pretty busy. We were promptly seated and our orders were taken shortly afterwards. Very attentive service. I ordered the extra large pho with a side of beef balls to share with my wife. While the bowl was large, I would recommend adding an extra side of noodles and meat if you plan on splitting. The key thing I'm looking for in a good pho broth is depth of flavor: the broth should have a bit of sweetness to balance the deep, savory beef base. While food was delivered quickly to our table, unfortunately, the bowl of pho fell short of my expectations. The broth was a little on the bland side and my noodles arrived overcooked, resulting in them being soggier than I normally prefer for pho noodles. One thing that helped out with the blandness of the broth was the house-made lemongrass chili sauce. This sauce had the consistency of XO sauce that you'd typically find at Chinese hotpot spots. The lemongrass flavor is bold and the sauce has a good amount of spice: it doesn't linger for too long, nor does it completely numb your palette to the point that you can't taste any other flavors. I would definitely recommend trying out the sauce on whatever you end up ordering. While the bowl of pho fell short, I felt like the grilled pork spring rolls were really good. I enjoyed how well the pork was seasoned and it had a nice bouncy texture to contrast the crunchiness of the fried wonton crisp and the fresh veggies. I owe it to Ao Sen to stop by again to try the pho when it's not an hour before closing. I suspect there's a possibility that because it was the end of the night, the chefs needed to stretch the remaining batch of the prepared pho broth to serve the last diners of the evening, resulting it it being more bland than usual. 3.5 rounding up to a 4. read more

Ao Sen - Vietnamese Near Me - Albany, California

Came around 12pm on a Monday and was sat pretty quickly. The place is really big, lots of seating! There is a parking lot on the side. I got pho and it hit the spot! Good solid flavors, overall a warm hearty meal for the cold weather. Not too salty and not bland, sits perfectly in the middle. My mom got the vermicelli with pork. There were many different textures and flavors that just blended so well. The noodles were soft, the meat was flavorful, and the veggies were crunchy. It also comes with 2 egg rolls which was good for sharing! read more

Ao Sen - Pho Dac Biet and Bun Cha Hanoi - Hanoi Style Charbroiled Pork Vermicelli - Vietnamese Near Me - Albany, California

Surprisingly the food was good! I am from OC and very picky about where I go to get pho and bun thit nuong cha gio! The pho broth has flavor and as good as phoholic in Westminster. The most important thing was they use no fish sauce and my daughter was able to eat it! It's hard for me to find a restaurant that she can eat at with all her food allergy. The grilled pork has a lot of flavor and marinated well. The restaurant was big and clean and staffs were friendly. read more

I was craving Asianfood and tried here.Service is very quick than expected.Ambiance is good. The interior is cute. read more

Ao Sen - Vietnamese Near Me - Albany, California

The ambiance and service are a cut above most Pho and Vietnamese noodle cafes. It's a comfortable place and roomy. Their servers are very pleasant. The food wasn't as good as I was hoping. Not bad, but not outstanding. read more

Ao Sen - Vietnamese Near Me - Albany, California

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This is my favorite Pho restaurant. Hands down! Short and sweet. They have gluten-free options. And a decent amount of parking. read more

Look. It's a type of comfort food at a good price with fast service. Not much else I want sometimes. Used to be a sizzlers and it still has the layout of a sizzlers. Something about that is kind of charming. When dining is so pricey these days that spots like this that aren't "dress up" go out or "fast food" are harder and harder to find. read more

I've been to the Oakland Pho Ao Sen and remember it being good so why not try their sister restaurant. For a group of 4 at 5:45 pm on a Friday evening there was no wait. Parking lot on the side and back that's connected to the Taco Bell. The service was fine and what you'd expect at most pho restaurants. As far as the pho, the #12 broth was lighter than usual in flavor. You do neeed to pay an extra $2 to upgrade regular to large bowl. If in the area and craving for pho, not a bad option. read more

Ao Sen - # 12 - Vietnamese Near Me - Albany, California

Need a fast and delicious lunch? Got a huge family to feed- try this place. I've been coming here for years and always come back because it's the best in the neighborhood. read more

Great pho! I love the in-house made hot sauce in the small round lidded container on each table. I think it's has lemon grass, onions, maybe black beans, and chili oil. Service is fast. One of the small problems is the pho cools off too fast. There is plenty of room. Great for large families.. read more

They have really good pho, my kid loves the environment specially the fountain with fish they have. People there are really nice and food comes out fast. read more

Very affordable and good quality pho! It's hard to find a good pho place that's under $15 near Berkeley, but my bowl was around $13 before tax and tip! The restaurant is large and has plenty of seats. It's not too busy either. read more

Ao Sen - #3 - Vietnamese Near Me - Albany, California

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I'm obsessed with this place! I'm really in to Vietnamese food and I've tried many Vietnamese restaurants and this is one of my all time favorites. read more

1.5/5 rounded up to 2 for the egg rolls and decent rare beef slices. Pho is bad. I was astonished to see that many reviews complimented the pho. Maybe I got a bad batch, but it tasted like powder flavored pho (you know like the instant pho in a cup?) The first flavor note, though, was that it tasted sweaty? I don't know how to describe it well, but it's that flavor that comes from cheap meat. Also, the broth was extremely salty, with barely any spice aftertastes. I couldn't taste any star anise, cinnamon, cloves, or anything else really! Usually, I feel refreshed after drinking the broth in pho, but after this meal, both my bf and I just kept chugging water all night because of how dry it made our mouths. - We both got Pho Tai (rare beef slices). Surprisingly, the rare beef slices were actually pretty good quality, and the noodles were cooked just right. It's just that broth- I don't know- something was just really off with it. My bf also got a side of meatballs $2.50. $12.95 Egg rolls were on point and this tasted freshly fried. Yummy meat filling. Mint leaves and lettuce were fresh as well. $8.95 Service is standard and efficient. It's a pretty large restaurant with tons of booths- not a ton of patrons on a weekday night, but they get a lot of takeout orders. Price is decent for the area, I just wish the pho broth was a lot better. Not sure if I'll be back, I have to try other Vietnamese places in the East Bay to compare, but of course, San Jose is where it's at for great Vietnamese food. read more

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Took Moms here for lunch on a Saturday afternoon. She was in the mood for soup as you know its been a lil chilly here in the bay area so we stopped in and grabbed lunch. Breakdown: I ordered the number #3 I believe. Moms ordered the rice plate with the short ribs. We had spring rolls for the table and we both had chai teas. The broth on the pho was traditional and it was very flavorful. Meat was tender and the rice noodles we perfect. Moms short ribs were also very flavorful. It was a big portion came with rice salad and soup. The spring rolls was also fresh and very good served with peanut sauce. Chai Tea was perfect not to sweet. I would come back here a million times over, Also food came out quick and it was busy in there. Sevice was good too. read more

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Pho is always so reliably good here; this is my go to Pho spot. Everyone is nice and restaurant is clean and spacious. Prices reasonable too. Ao sen is the best!!!! read more

Good food and service. My family and I have come here a couple times and been happy with the food. I ordered the number 2 pho which was good. We also shared the shrimp spring rolls and chicken wings. Also good. The place is spacious and can easily accommodate large parties. They also have a parking lot which is nice. Overall a great spot read more

It's the best around - always fragrant and consistent Clean and fresh veggies Not overly heavy on any spice - hate when ppl use black cardamom to stupidity. Kid friendly read more

Get the BBQ short ribs! They are super smoky delicious! The beef stew with egg noodles...*Chef's Kiss!

The phone #19 was amazing and Korean bbq rice plate was on point. Super friendly staff and service

Sent two orders of the pho ga to friends who are sick...they loved it and said "it hit the spot"!

Pho comes out really fast and really delicious! Always come back time to time and has plenty of seats and parking lot

Went there for lunch. Had the beef stew with egg noodles and the pork spring rolls. Delicious! Service was fast and accurate, even with all the lunchers. And enjoyed the music too. Will be back! read more

This is my family's go to Pho restaurant in the area. Food is always served piping hot and their broth is always so good. Their service is always pretty good, too. The staff is very friendly and there are a few waitstaff who always remember me, which is nice. Wait times for food is always quick and they give a nice assortment of garnishes. I usually get the beef pho with meatballs, but I realized I usually only eat one meatball because they're pretty hard to bite into. The last time I was there, I got the Pho Ga, the chicken pho and it was sooo delicious. Each time I go I also always get spring rolls and eggrolls - always consistent quality. My suggestion is don't go around lunch time because it'll be packed. I can't tell you how many times I've wanted pho on a Wednesday, only to remember that is one of the days they're closed The bathrooms are usually clean - I'm a stickler for a clean bathroom. The restaurant is for the most part, clean. The pop of greenery everywhere is a bonus because the plant mom in me likes to eat and admire the long Pothos trails and the nice big leaves on the Elephant Ears. However, I have noticed they have some issues with the building. Some of the paneling on the ceiling is missing - most likely from water damage from all those heavy rains. All in all, I will always come here for Pho. Great food! read more