I really have to agree with all the details of the above review. They don't have the biggest variety of Vietnamese on their menu compared to all the ones on Kingsland road, yet everything that I've had at this place has always been tasty, delicious and reasonably priced. I'm addicted to the flavourful stock that they use for all the 'Pho' dishes, and it's especially warming on those cold days. I'm happy for others that they've now opened up a new branch in Oxford Circus somewhere. The emphasis on really fresh, good quality ingredients also seem to win over their customers as it almost always seems full of people whenever I arrive. They even have a small counter (fitting three people) if you ever find yourself dining there by yourself or just can't wait for one of their tables. read more

Went here for my birthday the other day, and had a great time. The food was, as usual, fantastic. I definitely recommend sharing some of the starters, especially the crepe and pork and lemongrass meatballs. I pretty much always have the pho, but ventured into new territory and tried a salad - the chicken papaya - and REALLY enjoyed it. It had really strong individual flavours, which is why I LOVE Vietnamese, and Pho. Can't beat it. read more

Awesome! I Love Pho Noodles. The food's fast, it's cheap and the service is great! The Bun Cha Gio Ga: lemongrass chicken is my favourite and I recommend it to everyone. Grab every sauce on the table and squirt it in. Delicious! Nice beer too. Conclusion: Go. Eat. Drink. Now. read more

The pho was delicious but not that authentic. Staff was really nice except for one (maybe he had a bad day). The price was good. Overall 4/5

Lemon Chicken Bun Noodles. That shall be the name of my first born. That will also be the last thing I eat before I die!

Popped in for some Pho for lunch! It was tasty and quick. Not super inspiring, but definitely had what it takes to warm me up on a winters day. read more

I guess i liked this place quite a lot, as i made quite an effort to get lunch from here. At that point of time i worked near St Paul's, and from there had to go to Smithfields and beyond that down St John's st to Pho was a good 15 minute walk. But it was worth the effort for a friday lunch during the recession ravaged (read no work) 2008. :) The pho here is very tasty ... and by tasty i mean hot and spicy. Available in various flavours (types of meat), it was quite a hit at my desk ... even the vegetarian version. The quantity was substantial. I would be surprised if a person with a normal appetite can finish off a full bowl for lunch. Tip (more to myself than to anybody else): Make sure you don't have a meeting in the afternoon, i usually end up spilling a substantial amount of the soup on my shirt :( The only drawback of this place is that it is very small and hence gets very very crowded for lunch. So unless you are there at the door before 12:30, you can expect a total turnaround time of 1hr +. read more

At Pho, the beef broth for the pho is a little single-noted, without the complexity of flavors I've had at most pho places in Westminster in Orange County, California (aka Little Saigon). However, it's the best I've had in London so far, and with generous serving sizes. Good service, nice casual decor. Would make a nice cute date spot, also just fine for eating alone. I live in the neighborhood, and would come back to fulfill my pho hankerings/hangover needs. read more

Have to say, this place is well advertised and well known as a great place to get Pho, hmmmm....I reckon Kingsland road is heaps better and cheaper. Pho is quite a westernised Vietnamese place, food did not have the heat or the lovely smell of fish sauce that I would expect from a Viet place. I like their table condiments & beer selection but can't say I'd rush there for Viet when there are heaps better places in London. Nice decor and friendly staff but, yeah, but no, but yeah but.....Na. read more

Wow pho, I just wanted to sit there all day and eat everything off the menu. The place is small and can seem a little cramped but get over it, as the food makes up for it. We ended up going for the Beef Bun. Such a great dish. Nice flavour combination, very refreshing and also different textures. So glad I went for that rather than their normal Phos. Staff very friendly and food is served super quick. Would go back in a heart beat. (Visit - 23/06/2015 Lunch) read more

A Saturday night treat, prior to a few beers and a slightly embarrassing dad dance at a 90's Indie club in Farringdon... So it didn't get off to the best of starts... there were a few places I'd like to spend more time at in Farringdon, and while Pho is good, very good, it's not St John (or Vinoteca) and so I was living up to my name before we got there, and very nearly had a rant when the Vole attempted to steer us into a random pizza joint. It's the kind of chain that you'd be happy seeing more of, and I'm very lucky to work just near one. The quality is usually fairly high, and that was handy, with two 'challenging' eaters (one who doesn't like spicy food, yeah, didn't figure that one out early enough, and the other a vegetarian who lives off cheese) to entertain... We went for a mixed set of starters, the summer rolls proved slightly pointless without any meat (seriously.. it's shredded lettuce and coriander in a soft rice wrapper), and the veggie spring rolls were crispy and slightly chewy on the outside, with a coating like a Macdonalds apple pie. But I'm a sucker for the special, and there were two to try that don't appear on the daytime menu. The slivers of tofu and mushroom in a sharing (sized) crepe snapped with unami, though the crepe had the texture (and oily touch) of a sheet of grilled cheese on the bottom of an oven tray (the veggie cheesehound was delighted). My main was another evening 'special', a slightly too soupy Cari Ga (chicken curry) served with rice and it wasn't great. A very creamy light sauce with way too much sugar and coconut for me (and way too little chilli heat)... I knew I should have stuck with their simple and clean Bun noodles. The others adored it, but I've definitely had better from them... read more

It's a chain, but they deserve success for serving consistently good, fresh and interesting food.

At the time of writing, Pho Farringdon is one in a chain of 6 Pho restaurants (Mostly London) and this particular one has been dishing out really decent Vietnamese food for many years now. I came to Pho Farringdon about 3 years ago and remembered it as one of the only places around Smithfield area where it was possible to get a decent bite on a Saturday night that didn't cost an arm and a leg, or that wasn't fully booked. It's an informal affair, with an interior that is small but pleasant. Since my visit years ago I have been to the Westfield branch which I must admit I don't find as good. The food somehow isn't as fresh tasting, and the service is well, non-existent. I returned again tonight to the Farringdon restaurant and remembered why I loved it so much at first. Absolutely brilliant service, really friendly and attentive. As for the food itself; the fresh Vietnamese spring rolls (the non-fried, see-through kind) were great, and their special recipe chilli dipping sauce called Nouc Cham was lovely a delicate taste but with some kick. I personally love the noodle soup with beef and meatballs, which comes with a side dish of garnishes for you to add to taste. (Chilli, beansprouts, lime, oriental basil, parsley create your own flavours by adding to the soup.) I was also pleasantly surprised by the delicious sorbets for dessert: you wouldn't think basil and strawberry went well together, but they do. And the small shot of Vietnamese iced coffee: sickly sweet and chocolatey. Lovely. It's a low key restaurant, and definitely not a place to take someone to impress them (try any number of other restaurants on Farringdon Road for that!) but if you need to grab a quick and delicious sit-down meal with great service and good prices, Pho is an excellent choice all round. read more

The pho at Pho is just OK. The broth was just not that flavorful and I was expecting smaller noodles and the beef was like a roast which I thought was unusual. But what they do really well is the bun noodles. We ordered them with chicken and it was really tasty. Also the fresh juices are nice. We tried the one with apple lime and mint and could go for that again. read more

Good food and a nice atmosphere even though some of the waitresses need more training...

The food was lovely. The stock for the Pho is very flavoursome and the meats were cooked to perfection. The starters are huge so beware if ordering a starter and a main! Most of the food was free of gluten, dairy and eggs - so it's great for those with these allergies. I can't wait to go again. This particular branch, however, loses a star for service. A family who came in after our party of two had their order taken and were served their meals before our table's order was even taken! read more

Soup - excelent!! this area is the best for nice places to eat and this is one of them. Service is very good, we had an italian waitress that did a great job and the food, for once, was REAL spicy. Very happy. read more

Pho has limited, short menu but whatever they serve they do it perfectly. Their noodle soup and the chicken papaya salad was amazingly done.

Not authentic and got our order wrong on the phone. The pho (which we didn't try) may perhaps be better.

Pho is rather disappointing. I won't use the word 'authentic' as this isn't it. I suppose if you're new to Vietnamese food, there's no harm in starting off here, as long as you doesn't leave here thinking that this represents Vietnamese cuisine. The bill came to £32 (with no alcohol) for two. read more

Hands down best pho in London. I eat here at least once a week. The Veggie summer rolls with peanut sauce are to die for and I love the chicken pho. So flavorful and food prices! read more

I don't think this place is anything special, it certainly isn't as good as some of the Vietnamese restaurants in East London. I found the Vietnamese pancakes very greasy and heavy, quite disappointing really. The noodles were nice and so was the soup but i thought the prices are too expensive. It wasn't great value for money but if you're catching up with friends and looking for somewhere quiet to eat then Pho is good for that as it doesn't seem to get very busy in the evenings. read more

I ate here around 2 months ago. I found the food quite bland and overpriced. The menu is also quite small. The service was good....but i don't see the fuss about the food. non of the people i was dining with were impressed by the food. read more

Arrived to teeth-jangling accompaniment of Chinese heavy metal, tasted the bog standard squid, which was warm, tried the rather dull spring rolls, had a beer, left. Friendly staff but this place is just another chain. read more

We had the beef pho. Disappointed. Soup was a bit bland. The noodle "pho" itself is hard, as opposed to soft and smooth. Not going back there again. Atmosphere is good, seems like a slightly exotic place to bring a first date to, if you don't care about good food. read more

First time experienced Vietnamese food and I must say I liked it very much. Staff was friendly and attentive, even though it was a busy lunch hour. Particularly appreciated the fact they looked after my vegetarian needs by replacing fish sauce with soya. Only thing I would say is that the premises were a bit too small, felt crowded. Overall good experience. read more

Friday night and the wait was 15 minutes. This is just the amount of time it would take to go someplace else and thus worth waiting it out, plus a server clearly tried to persuade a couple who had paid and were just chatting, to move on. The aroma coming out of the kitchen was tantalizing and by the time we were seated we had decided on our orders. He had the chicken broth w an egg and tofu with mushrooms while I opted for the spicy noodle soup w all the mushrooms and eko Choy, a cousin to bok Choy. We started w some rice paper glass noodles w prawns which came out promptly and were v tasty. Unfortunately the combo of being seated next to a drafty window and the long wait between app and main cost Pho a star. The mains were v tasty indeed and generously sized. The tofu was fried rather than soft but the noodles and enoki were amazing and the broth could do no wrong. V affordable price points for high quality eats. Can't wait to return for more. read more

can't belive they dare calling the restaurant 'Pho'. cause the so called Pho Tai I had for dinner was overcharged hot water with some ingredients, which tasted like nothing! I was told that their soup is ok, so I had no huge expectations, but that was ridiculous - shame on them! haven't tried anything else from their menu and sure will never do. read more

Truly the worst Vietnamese meal I've ever eaten. Last year I was lucky enough to work on a cookbook with experience in a professional Vietnamese kitchen in London this rather spoilt me. Eating Vietnamese food in London can often be reminiscent of eating Indian food here in the 1970s. So, why is the restaurant PHO so bad? The banh xeo was like a hard greasy taco shell, the nuoc cham tasted like red dish water. The Pho, and noodles, and curry were vapid, with meat that tasted as if it had been frazzled-black several hours ago - like bits of old shoe leather. All in all, truly appalling food. The range of beer was good and the Saigon beer was the tastiest item on the menu by far. The staff were professional, courteous and very friendly but he food was so bad I went home and cooked for myself. read more

i have been here quite a few times now, and it has definitely become one of my favourite restaurants. it's just so healthy, tasty, and fresh that i rarely think of a place i would rather eat. last night i had the 'bun bo hue', or the spicy brisket pho. it was to die for.. loads of coriander and chili - delicious. i washed it down with an ice cold beer - Halida. Perfect dinner. read more

i had a wicked night here with my girlfriends last week. we shared a few starters to begin with - summer rolls, spring rolls, meatballs, a crepeall yummy. we all had pho (noodle soup) for mains - amazing, which could have been precarious before going out, but the girls working suited us all up with bibs, and all our dresses were spotless for champagne induced dancing later. fantastic little place! read more