I came across this wonderful little Vietnamese restaurant when I was walking the Turtle Bay neighborhood for my blog, “MywalkinManhattan.com” and was looking for a reasonable meal that evening. I was pleasantly surprised. The food and service were very good and the I had a nice time talking to other guests.
The space for the restaurant is quite tight and it is a long narrow space done in all woods along the walls and in the seating. The kitchen is in the front as you walk in but you can’t see where the cooking is being done. As I walked in at 5:00pm, I must have thrown the staff off as they were eating their lunch when I walked through the door. It was funny because not even five minutes later two other parties followed me into the restaurant.
The inside of Pho 2 at 273 Eighth Avenue
The service was very pleasant and the food came out in a timely basis. I started the meal with the pork filled Spring Rolls ($6.00) which were filled with well spiced ground pork and fresh vegetables and cooked to a golden brown. They had a nice crunch with every bite and with the accompanying sauce plus some hot sauce really brought out the flavor of the pork. A little different from their Chinese counterparts.
The Pho 6 Spring Rolls a very crisp and golden brown
They are so good
The crispy Spring Rolls were served with lettuce and Ginger sauce
The Spring Rolls were crisp and light made sweeter by the Ginger Sauce
For the main meal, I had the Vermicelli Noodles with Grilled Shrimp ($10.00). Most of the time I avoid grilled anything in restaurants because it always tastes dry. Not here as the shrimp was grilled to perfection. The outside was nicely marked but the inside was moist and sweet. The noodles were smooth and cooked to tenderness that were topped with fresh greens and carrots which made the dish sweet and crunchy with the ginger sauce that was served on the side.
Their Vermicelli Noodle dishes are delicious
The Rice Noodles with Grilled Shrimp are delicious
The menu also contains lots of different items from Banh Mi sandwiches to Rice Dishes, Vietnamese Tacos and Pho Noodle Soups, so there is a lot to choose from.
The whole meal was enjoyable from the food to the service to the ladies and their little baby sitting next to me that I talked to through my meal. It is a very engaging restaurant with good quality food, nice size portions, friendly service and very fair prices.
It is nice to discover these little neighborhood gems.
*Author’s Note: the restaurant closed during the COVID-19 pandemic but Pho 5 is in Murray Hill and Pho 4 is in the Garment District to enjoy.
The Pho 2:
Pho 2 at 273 Eighth Avenue
I really miss the Pho 6 but recently discovered that there is a branch of the restaurant around the corner from where I work on Eighth Avenue and I decided to try it for lunch. I was very impressed by this branch as well.
The Classic Banh Mi Special Sandwich
I had a Banh Mi Special sandwich, which is ham, sliced pork, pate, cilantro, carrots, daikon, and lettuce on a toasted baguette. The sandwich was excellent. All the meats were so fresh and the vegetables were so crispy.
The Banh Mi Special sandwich was delicious
The baguette was toasted perfectly and the sandwich was nicely accompanied by both Plum Sauce and Hot Sauce that you could add on top from the bottles on the table. The sandwich was really reasonable at $9.00.
The Classic Banh Mi sandwich is excellent at Pho 2
The service was quick and very pleasant. The food came out quickly. The quality of the food is excellent.
The inside of the restaurant is bright and cheery.
The next time I ate at the Chelsea branch, I wanted to try a different sandwich and choose the Grilled Chicken and it was delicious. Thinly sliced pieces of grilled chicken marinated and perfectly grilled with lots of fresh vegetables on top on a chewy role is excellent.
The Grilled Chicken sandwich.
The food here is always consistent and fresh.
The chicken sandwich is wonderful.
I always enjoy eating here.
The Grilled Chicken sandwich was excellent.
Yum!
I recently returned to have dinner with a friend at Pho 2 and we each ordered a Bahn Mi sandwich and two types of Spring rolls. The food as usual was excellent.
She had the Classic sandwich with pork and pate and I had the Beef which is a combination of flank steak and rib. It was excellent. The thinly sliced meat complimented the crisp vegetables.
The beef was so tender and the vegetables very crisp.
The sandwich was a great combination of flavors.
Along with our sandwiches, we order both the Pork Spring Rolls and the Duck Spring Rolls. Both were so well cooked and seasoned. The Pork Spring Rolls were served with a Ginger Sauce and the Duck Spring Rolls served with a Hot Chili sauce.
The perfect dinner: A Beef Bahn Mi and Pork Spring Rolls
The delicious Spring Rolls wrapped in lettuce and then dipped in sweet sauce
The Duck Spring Rolls are loaded with sweet thinly sliced Duck meat.
The Duck Spring Rolls with the hot chili sauce
The Duck was so sweet and rich with the chili sauce to accompany it.
We ordered the Fresh Spring Rolls on our next trip which had delicious marinaded pork
I never realized how good these were until I tried them
A new item that they are featuring were a Soft Tacos with pork, chicken and shrimp. We tried the Pork and Chicken versions and tucked into the soft taco shells and a little plum sauce, these were delicious.
The Grilled Pork Tacos
The Grilled Beef Tacos
The Beef Tacos were just amazing
The Tacos were served two per portion and made the perfect start to our meal.
The food is truly excellent here.
The Pho Maiden Lane:
I was staying overnight in Lower Manhattan and right across the street from my hotel was Pho Maiden Lane so I wanted to try this one as well. I never realized that this was a small chain in Manhattan.
The Pho Maiden Lane at 3 Maiden Lane in Lower Manhattan
This time I tried the Grilled Pork Bahn Mi with a Coke and it was the perfect sized dinner. The pork was so nicely marinaded in a soy and hoisin sauce. The taste was so amazing with the fresh vegetables and crisp bread.
The food was excellent again and the service was attentive and friendly. I will be back again in the future.
The fresh bread and well cooked and spiced meat really does make a difference
The meat is well spiced
It is a well designed restaurant for the space
I had the Vietnamese Noodles with Shrimp and their noodles were just as good as the other branches.
The Noodles are really good
The Pork Spring Rolls here are perfectly fried and filled with a wonderful spiced pork mixture and were delicious.
The Pork Spring Rolls are wonderful here
The Spring Rolls are excellent
Yum!
After dinner I walked around Lower Manhattan and the views are amazing.
I came across this wonderful little Vietnamese restaurant when I was walking the Turtle Bay neighborhood for my blog, “MywalkinManhattan.com” and was looking for a reasonable meal that evening. I was pleasantly surprised. The food and service were very good and the I had a nice time talking to other guests.
The space for the restaurant is quite tight and it is a long narrow space done in all woods along the walls and in the seating. The kitchen is in the front as you walk in but you can’t see where the cooking is being done. As I walked in at 5:00pm, I must have thrown the staff off as they were eating their lunch when I walked through the door. It was funny because not…
mywalkinmanhattan 