Pho 84
Category: Vietnamese [Edit]
Neighborhood: Uptown354 17th St
(between Franklin St & Webster St)
Oakland, CA 94612 (510) 832-1338
- Hours:
Mon-Fri 11:00 a.m.-2:30 p.m.
Mon-Fri 5:00 p.m.-9:00 p.m.
Sat 12:00 p.m.-9:00 p.m.
Sun 5:00 p.m.-9:00 p.m. - Price Range: $$
- Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
- Parking: Street
- Attire: Casual
- Good for Groups: Yes
- Good for Kids: Yes
- Takes Reservations: No
- Delivers: No
- Take-out: Yes
- Waiter Service: Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
- Outdoor Seating: No
- Good for: Lunch, Dinner
- Alcohol: Beer & Wine Only
97 reviews
Neighborhood: North Oakland
"Really good asian fushiony food. I got the filet mignon steak with salad, and the salad is so good by itself i think i liked it better…" read more »
188 Reviews for Pho 84
Pho bowls are great - never disappointing. But the real reason I love this place: LYCHEE SHAKES! Seriously. I'm sad they raised the prices, but I'd still come here any day!
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Most everything I've had here was tasty, particularly the vegetarian curry, imperial rolls, and rock cod. But I haven't tried their beef pho yet because I'm so white that the thought of eating beef tendon totally grosses me out.
Not truly Vietnamese food, but delicious nonetheless. Start with the imperial rolls (fried) and the shrimp rolls. The peanut sauce that goes with the shrimp rolls is wonderful. From there, try No. 52 chicken with Japanese eggplant, and No. 40 shrimp with curry or from the appetizer section but order as an entree: the sauteed prawns. Warning, the sauteed prawns are shell-on, so put your chopsticks down and get to work. You'll be glad you did, the flavorful sauce is amazing. Note on the service, one reviewer recently noted the "extraordinary bitch" working there, and it is true. She's just bad for trade, dry as cornflakes, all that. FYI, like some of the dishes, she is not Vietnamese. But whatever you do, go anyway, forget about the Pho, and try some of the innovative dishes -- you'll be glad you did.
warning: authentic vietnamese person reviewing partially unauthentic vietnamese restaurant.
So i've eaten here a handful of times now and i think i can now make a pretty fair judgment.
first thought: Good god there are a lot of white people here. I shouldnt feel like a minority in a vietnamese restaurant.
all other thoughts following that:
ok the pho is good. but they use white meat (WTF it should be mostly dark meat - explains all the caucasians - they love that white meat)
Hu tieu - NOT authentic. it's just pho with a bunch of other veggies in it. What it should be is the really skinny rice noodles and a totally different broth altogether. (that was a disappointing night)
Beef salad - really good and spicy... traditionally it does not have beef, more commonly we use chicken.
this place is really clean and has a nice ambiance, the food is pretty good quality although not super traditional (just look around you) but it is FREAKIN EXPENSIVE. if it were cheaper (as it should be) i'd probably go there more often.
A woman I work with always raves about the clay pot Pho 84 serves only on Fridays. She kept saying we should go sometime.
This woman is actually one of 8 people I directly supervise, and so, inspired by my own generous manager treating a bunch of people she directly supervises to a lunch earlier in the week, decided to bring my whole team here on a Friday.
So convincing was the clay pot afficionado that everyone seated closest to her (and of course the clay pot afficionado herself) ordered the clay pot. We ended up with 5 clay pots at our table. The other dishes looked good, too, but as KayJay mentioned in her review, that rice did look pretty unnaturally yellow. Maybe it was just tumeric?
Anyway, the clay pot ($12) did not disappoint. It was full of shrimp, chicken, vegetables, and sauce over white (not yellow) rice.
Taking my team to lunch also gave me a good chance to connect with them on a nice personal level that isn't always possible in an office. Funny, my manager had expressed the same sentiment earlier in the week when she took the bunch of us to lunch.
The clay pot afficionado gushed that the lunch was the highlight of her whole month. As delicious as the clay pot was, I know she has eaten the clay pot on many a prior occasion, so I like to think her enthusiasm was sparked by something more than just the food.
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I haven't tried many rice dishes but all the pho bowls have been consistently good. Very filling, comforting when having a cold, and light enough not to feel overstuffed. The shrimp rolls are great as well.
Service is not the friendliest in terms of beaming with constant smiles but efficient and fast.
Probably the fanciest Vietnamese restaurant I've ever been to. Prices are elevated to match the atmosphere. Food was tasty, but pricey.
Fine vermicelli was good. They give you lettuce to wrap up the meat and vermicelli in. I left satisfied, but not stuffed.
Romantic place for a date.
I don't think i've ever gotten anything but the #8 with Pork. (Vermicelli bowl with BBQ pork and imperial rolls) but that's because I stick to something good when I find it.
I've been there about 10 times in the past 2 years and I haven't been disappointed yet.
Great food and service, they keep my water and jasmine tea full. It's usually pretty busy for dinner, but you can usually get in with a 10 min wait. Parking in the evening is pretty easy in the area.
We've been coming here since before they redecorated and jacked up the prices on their menu. We still come here regardless.
The fresh spring rolls are always delectable. The mango or lychee shakes are also a fave.
We have not been disappointed by anything we've ordered, but a consistent favorite of mine is the chicken over a bed of spinach.
For a nice, clean Vietnamese dining experience, this place should be on your short list if in the downtown Oakland area.
Hey, I am loving this cool new update feature. I can blab on AGAIN about on old review, AND I have a NEW 500 word limit. (Yeah, I know what you're thinking. Bite me.)
Anyway. I still love Pho 84, but I am knocking them down a star. We went for dinner there last night after our oldest daughter's high school graduation ceremony. While she went off to party with her friends and do god knows what, we took our littlest here to drown our poignancy in pho and wine.
All the servers in there are very pleasant and helpful and nice EXCEPT this one young, thin, tall severe looking girl who waited on us last night. What an extraordinary bitch!
Me: We are having trouble deciding on a second dish. What do you recommend?
Extraordinary Bitch: (Sigh...) You just have to choose something.
Later, my wife, before food arrives: Excuse me, our daughter is very hungry. Would you mind bringing out some rice for her?
EB: (Just an evil nasty horrible glare. And of course, she brought nothing.)
Wow. I have never run in to a nastier waitperson. I hope it was just a very bad day, and she is not like this all the time.
I'll use the old delete feature if she's nicer next time.
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1 Previous Review: Show all »
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01/26/2008
Thanks to you, my fellow yelpetarians, I have been meaning to try Pho 84 for a long time. I got my… Read more »
i love the eggplant and the vegetarian dish with the rice noodles!
this is where i go when i feel like i have a few extra bucks to spend on lunch or when the job is paying. ;)
My boyfriend and I have heard good things about this resturant and had checked out the reviews before we went - expecting something good. But once we got there it was such a disappointment - one of the worse Pho resturnat we have ever tried. First off the tables were dirty, the air smelled like a fish market, the chopsticks were wraped in a napkin which was uncessary and lame, service was like what my boyfriend called it like having a bad flight attendant where the waitress was never around and not friendly with no smile. Food was extremely bland - must be the worse Pho I ever tasted... iit was served warm NOT hot - Price was just a bit over priced for what you get - which was food with no taste. Our server who was this Tall, skinny, bitch who never smiles and felt like a DMV admin was serving us. DO NOT GO THERE!! BAD! VERY BAD!!!
The Pho' bowls are sad, so said that this is not even close to being authentic. Very little noodles, 1 meatball cut four ways, and the price was awful. For the price I would expect and X-Large bowl with meat until I was dead!
Dood, the one and only reason why I would ever go there is because I was too lazy to go to a real Pho' Place and it is right around the corner from my work.
It would never be the place I would recommend on the weekends.
The Bahn hoi tom nuong, which are marinated grilled prawns over vermicelli is supposedly delicious. This place is also near BART!
The name of this place can be deceiving. At first, I thought Pho 84 would be like the typical pho restaurants that serve primarily pho and somehow manage to slip away from health/sanitation inspectors, BUT Pho 84 is actually something of the opposite (lots of other options for dishes and nice decor/atmosphere compared to pho restaurants).
My absolute favorite is their specialty marinated chicken sauteed w/ oinions over a bed of spinach and lemon pepper dipping sauce. One bite of the chicken tantalizes your taste buds to ask for bite after bite. Dip it into the sauce, top it off with a bowl of their Special Rice instead of white rice, and you'll forget your name!
I tried a few of their other dishes (seafood noodle soup, lemon grass chicken, clay pot rice) and they are mediocre. Overall, I would just come here for the specialty chicken dish for lunch. Tip: It gets busy during lunch. Come early during lunch time to ensure a good metered parking spot nearby and no wait in line. Pho 84, I don't like pho or the smell of it, but I just wish you were closer to me!
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I love the food here... ok, correction, I love #28 with catfish. This dish is spicy, saucy and just so yummy with rice! If I came here more often, I would probably try some of the other items on the menu, but being the creature of habit that I am, I just can't get past this catfish.
Ok, on occasion, I've had the shrimp with eggplant, which is made with this sweet and spicy sauce. And also the regular beef pho. The flavor is mild yet amazing. The shrimp rolls and imperial rolls are good as well!
This place is nicer than your standard vietnamese restaurant, also pricier, but well worth the fabulous flavors. There is always a wait at lunch, so you either need to get there early or get there late.
In the two-bites-to-food-poisoning lunch scene that is downtown Oakland, Pho 84 shines like a reassuring beacon of cleanliness, respectability, and flavor.
Its entry area does not scream Health Code Violations! as do many other nearby establishments---it more screams We Shop at Ikea. Do You Like Our New Lamp Shades?
Out in the real world, Pho 84 might not fare so well, but in the real world it is not---it's in downtown OakLAND!! (*westSIDE accent*)--so it's always packed.
My co-worker and I call ahead and order take-out Pho and then eat it back in the office. They package all the veggies and cilantro and other condiments separately, so you make up the whole thing at your desk.
Nice work, Pho 84, but farewell to you and all Vietnamese food once I get the hell outta Oakland.
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The rice here is so delicious.
i used to live right around the corner and this place is always packed. i like the pho and the pork chop special (only Tuesdays, i think). it's not my fave (Ao Sen!) but it is darn good and the decor is cute. i usually do take out to avoid the crowd but have been for dinner and it was a nice setting for a reasonable price.
There were only 2 pho selections?!? Waaahhhh? Why is it called "Pho 84" if I only get TWO choices for pho??????
The pho didn't taste that great either, it was too bland for my taste. I guess the rice dish that my bf ordered was good but the portion is kind of small.
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i never expect restaurants to be so fancy. i felt like i was on vacation. i wanted everything on the vegetarian menu, and the vietnamese curry was actually delicious (tasted like thai).
the spring rolls were good but i could have gotten the same thing for $1.99 further downtown. at $10-12 entrees, (and thats just meatless ones) i'm so glad a friend and i shared. i'll never go back again, but only because its so expensive.
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Excellent, tasty, delicious food with a menu full of variety. Oh, I'll be back.
I've been going to this place for a couple years now and the food is great. The place is on the smaller side and can get busy on any given night, so it's best to arrive as early as you can stand. I'd also recommend going with a group of people just so you can go family style and try a bunch of dishes. I highly recommend the shrimp with vermicelli noodles in a curry sauce, it is pure heaven. They also have a really good dish that's chicken with eggplant. Finally, if you come on a Fri or Sat (I believe), they offer some clay pot dishes that are to die for. I'm not a huge fan of pho (essentially broth with veggies and noodles in it), and I haven't tried it here, but you don't come to this place for pho...the other food on the menu is WAY too good to just eat pho (no offense to anyone that loves pho).
We went last night. Food was good again. They completely redid the restaurant since the last time I was there. New floor, tables, chairs, paint, decor. But the food and menu are the same....with a significant boost in price. The #20, which used to be$7, is now $12. We DID find out that they are building a sister restaurant out in Walnut Creek. That should do REALLY well!! I ordered an iced coffee that I never got, but it wasn't on the bill either, so I didn't say anything. Maybe she didn't hear me. Plus, the owner recognized me and bought me a beer.... who can complain??
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I've only gone to Pho 84 one time when I lived in downtown Oakland, but it was some of the best Vietnamese food I have had. I ordered these chicken kebabs with peanut sauce that were incredibly flavorful. It came along with a very tasty salad as well. I can't remember very much else about the place. It was fairly crowded but I did go on a weekend night; had to wait outside for over 30 minutes. The wait was definitely worth it though, and I will definitely try it again...maybe for lunch.
This place has yet to disappoint. The squid stuffed with chicken is spicy and extremely rich and something I dream of. The spring rolls are the best in the area. I honestly can't think of anything that I have had here that is just so-so, and I have never had anything bad. The flavors are a bit heavy handed at times, but they do it in such a way that works. This is not your typical Vietnamese.
I used to come here quite a bit until I moved out of the immediate area 3 years ago. I still make it back periodically, and each time that I do I am a bit leery that it will have changed. They have updated the dining room, prices have increased and a few of the dishes have toned down on size and they were using basil vs cilantro as a garnish, but otherwise the food has the same signature taste.
Don't be fooled by the name, Pho 84 is no pho restaurant. I was actually a little disappointed because I was looking forward to slurping some noodles on this particularly dreary evening last week.
I did try the Vietnamese coffee a try and it packed a punch. So much punch, in fact, that I was up until 3 a.m.
Overall, Pho 84 is a good place to check out, but I didn't get that authentic Vietnamese feel to it. Maybe because it was a bit on the fancy side and prices weren't usual ultra-cheap like so many other Vietnamese places. For example, the Vietnamese coffee was $3.50 and you can usually find it for $1.50.
If you're looking for a more upscale Vietnamese experience, this is the place.
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Usually, when I go to a Pho joint I order Pho. I was a disappointed to discover I couldn't order Pho #84...as it didn't exist! WTF?
So instead, I order the BBQ beef vermicelli bowl. The fresh greens and marinated beef with fish sauce was yummy! Mmmmm... price is a bit steep, the food quality & presentation was worth it. On certain days there are 'special' items, I think Thursday is Clay Plot.
Oh, I avoid this joint during lunch hours as it pack and busy like Tera Reid bra. There's a 10-15 minute wait.
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This used to be one of our regular spots. I love the tofu with coconut milk and vermicelli dish.
However, they raised their prices significantly in the past 2 years- like by 25%! We had lunch there, and my husband's usual dish of grilled chicken over rice with spring rolls was 12 bucks! The dish is good, but not worth the price.
We're sad, because I guess we have to move on.
While the food is quite delicious, the prices are a little steep for what you get, and if you try to go at lunch, there is a significant wait (~15-30 minutes).
For my coworkers' standing Wednesday lunch date, we visited Pho 84. Knowing that they get quite busy during the proper lunch hour (being in downtown Oakland and close to many businesses and government buildings), we deliberately stayed away until a little after 1pm. This turned out to work out well: when we arrived, the place was still near capacity, but we were seated immediately.
For some time, I harbored a dislike for anything "untraditional" in my food, which included tendon and tripe in pho. That wasn't very clever of me. A couple of years ago, I made a conscious decision to "broaden my horizons", i.e., try eating something that was perfectly normal outside of my little bubble.
Today, I finally got around to revisiting pho. Along with the broth and typical thinly sliced beef, my pho had un-extraordinary meatballs and tripe. Throw in some bean sprouts and squeezed lemon juice, and I'm good to go. I would have preferred my meat to be on the rare side, but the tendon was good-- tender, not too gelatinous, and depending on the piece, with mild to upfront flavor, never forceful. (Thanks to Andrew C., who pointed out that what I was eating was tendon, not tripe; Pho 84 apparently doesn't have tripe available!)
Pho is, to the best of my knowledge, not supposed to be inherently spicy, and mine certainly wasn't. But I wanted something hot. Amazing what a few jalapeno slices and some hot sauce will do. My sinuses! They were clear! (At least, for the next five minutes...) My eyes, they're tearing a little. No outbreak of sweat, though... I'm not that much of a wuss. I think I overdid the hot sauce, though, as I couldn't finish the broth.
In addition, I had their Vietnamese coffee with condensed milk. It took the entire meal for enough coffee to drip to fill two-thirds of the cup, so when I finally got to drink the stuff, it was very sweet and a little thick. That, however, was enough to help kill the heat in my mouth..., perhaps regretfully. I would have liked to add my own milk to taste, or have got more coffee through the drip mechanism before having to get out the door and back to work.
Ultimately, there wasn't anything special about this pho. It's perfectly fine, but I'm certain that there's better stuff out there. I wouldn't balk at returning at an off-peak hour, but I'd like to revisit a few other places first.
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Pho 84 is delicious, and that's all there is to it. I've been a number of times. We always get the spicy beef salad as an appetizer but otherwise switch it up. Last night I had the claypot, , which is available only Friday and Saturday and it was amazing. Why?
1) Fresh, quality ingredients. The green beans taste like green beans, the zucchini tastes like zucchini, the shrimp aren't fishy, the beef is lean.
2) Skillful preparation. You'll never get soggy rice or dry chicken.
3) Style. They has it.
They could charge more for the food they make, but it's pretty reasonable. It does get loud in there but you'll likely be eating so diligently that you won't want to talk anyway. Service is okay... and they bring you Andes mints with your check. Yes!
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very good Vietnamese food. I was worried we'd never get a table when there were so many people waiting on tables that there was no room to stand, but the friendly waitstaff said 20 minutes and I think it was less. 4 of us ate family-style and the 4 tofu-based dishes i tried were excellent. The dry curry was a little more sour, and i suppose more authentic, than you get other places but i liked it. All the different vegetables were equally soft in it and I know how hard that is to accomplish.
Though the food was a little bit more expensive than I usually go for, it was well worth the price.
Big portion, and so clean, even the broth is clear of oils!
Big pieces of lean meat surprisingly bath to medium and became chewy during the meal, dammit. The food is light and fresh, and taste like good health food instead of the oily-clog-your-arteries Asian foods.
My dripped coffee didn't mixed well with condense milk and the water my friend asked came after meal. My friend and I came out of the restaurant and wonder where the heck did we just been to? Fake-a-Pho!
I absolutely love the food at the authentic Vietnamese restaurant. It is delicious, fresh & reasonably priced. The owners work hard to make sure the quality is consistent. While the service is abrupt, it is curteous. One time, I accidentally ordered two dishes with the exact same sauces but different meats and veggies. I let the owner know that it would be helpful to hear from the server that this is what I would be receiveing, and perhaps suggest something else that would compliment the one sauce rather than getting two dishes with the same sauce. The owner was receptive and kind and had a dish sent over that complimented the sauce free of charge.
Everyone that is in love with Le Cheval should try Pho 84, for the Pho as well as other dishes, as they are made in smaller quantities with love. Besides, Le Cheval puts onions on everything--like a filler vegetable!
I don't get it. I came here with the husband back when he was the boyfriend and we got two chicken dishes and didn't really want to finish them. So why is this place so popular???
The best thing about this place: it's on a nice fairly quiet, tree-lined street downtown.
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Wanted to come here for an early lunch some months ago, but the line was absurdly long. When I made it here for dinner recently it wasn't nearly as crowded, though it was after 8 p.m. by then. Having eaten enough meat that day, I ordered from the vegetarian section: #59, "Dau Hu Xao Lan", tofu sauteed in curry sauce, $9.50. The taste of the dish was that of your standard creamy coconut milk concoction, with decent heat. What made it interesting were the textural contrasts between the tofu, the onion, the vermicelli, and what most menus euphemistically call "black mushrooms". Like ferris wheels or the Shins, recommended if you're in the mood for something exciting but not heartstopping.
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I like the non-Pho items here better than the Pho since I prefer Pho-Ga (made with chicken broth) and they do not have that.
Their combo plates with special rice (yum) and spring roll and a choice of grilled meat is my favorite thing to get. They have a few vegetarian options too. There can be a wait at peak times - so I try to avoid noon and six pm.
A great experience. Had the eggplant and tofu which was exceptional. The spring rolls were great as well. It seems like the sauce bases are really great here, which makes the experience wonderful. More expensive though.
Talk about a orgasm in your mouth! If you need a quick fix go here!
Start with the jasmine tea..
Then try the imperial rolls as an appetizer.Each bite filled with sensational flavor. The rolls came with a yummy spicy fish dipping sauce accompanied with fresh pickled vegetables.
Then get the #14 with spicy BBQ chicken and prawns with vermicelli noodles, which included more crisp vegetables.
You will even have a snack for later because the portions are decent sizes for what you pay for.
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