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Don't get it twisted.
Chooch (what we tend to call it) is the best restaurant in Chinatown.
Kept it under raps for years, but I'm pretty sure everyone knows about it now.
Pho, water spinach and fried spring rolls. Eat them.
Durian Shake and Avacodo Shake. Drink them.
My friends and I came here for tonight's dinner and started off with the obvious must haves: a Mexican Margarita and a Singapore Sling. They served us the Margarita with two Sapporo's instead. My friend asked about the Sling and the waiter simply shook his head "no..." Puzzled, we began to feast on our 19 appetizers: garlic shrimp, Chinese greens, Vietnamese sausage, summer rolls, Papaya steak salad washed down with a steaming bowl of delicious pho.
As we slurped the last bit down, and patted our bellies good night, the Sling arrived. It tasted like someone had liquefied orange Starburts and blended them in a boot. But what can you expect from a cocktail menu where all drinks are $4 and club soba is listed in the beer section?
1. Pho Xe Lua, or CHOO CHOO for the more experienced crowd, is a tiny hole in the wall with a great big neon sign in the shape of a train that is impossible to miss.
2. Their Pho is delicious! I don't eat beef but I always can find a tasty (and huge) pho-style soup in their 500+ item menu, and it's accompanied by super fresh limes, cilantro and tons of cinnamon basil.
3. They have the best Chinese, Vietnamese and Japanese beers for the cheapest in town! And they have martinis for $4.95. Pretty priceless and hard to beat if you ask me. Bring your friends!
What can I tell you?
So, I'm eating here with my girlfriend last night- something we do often. We ordered spring rolls, shrimp rolls, a bitchin appetizer with rare beef slices topped with french fried onions, with a lime spiked fish sauce.
She wasn't very hungry so she didn't order pho. I, however, ordered the pho tai bo vien. Now, The waiter spent at least about a minute with me, teaching me how to say pho tai bo vien properly. Cool. He's really into his job, and very attentive. One might even say that I may have felt a bit special.
A half hour later, we realized that I might not get my pho. Our appetizers were delivered. But no pho. I looked for my waiter throughout that time span and saw him sitting in the back. He then went into the kitchen, or back room, or whatever, and never came back out.
So what I'm basically trying to say is that the waiter forgot my pho, then he disappeared, so I didn't get my pho. Are you following me here? I went out to eat pho, and didn't get my pho. At a pho joint.
But, despite all of that, those appetizers (and a couple rum flooded jackfruit shakes) were so good, and they made me so happy, that nothing else that happened that night matters.
That tells you alot about a place. Five stars, still. If I could add a star I would.
Go here, people.
Not the best pho around- that distinction belongs to Pho75- but a very close second, in my opinion.… Read more »
Best Thai seafood noodle soup I 've had for the lowest price. Absolutely the most delicious broth complimented by ...non-intrusive and efficient service. Hands down the best bargain in town. LOVE IT!
Great menu and bar, in terms of balancing creativity and tradition. Only cons: they don't do delivery and it can get a bit noisy-the place is always packed. Don't go: let me have it for myself:-).
Choo choo...!!
If you want a tour of Vietnam in your mouth, this is the place to go. From their Pho dishes, to their oc xào xot (hot pepper and lemon grass sate escargot) dish, to their soft shell crab melt-in-your-mouth love affair, everything is a must try!
While living in Philadelphia for six years, this was my place to go when I'm home sick for my mommy's home cooking. Not only are the dishes authentic, but the prices are very reasonable, and extremely affordable. You're probably thinking, "prices are affordable? Does this mean that the dishes are small in size?" NOPE. For the prices, the portions are large, and fulfilling.
The decor of this place is more homely than anything else, their main concern is food, so there's no fuss in the decorations. The service is quick (except during their peak time, when you have to wait for a table), they want to get you in, have you stuff your face, and get you out the door, they do this without making you feel rushed, or being pushy.
If you're sick, and if you're an Andrew Zimmern, try their Chao Long, or innards rice porridge. If you can get pass the innards, you will enjoy this delish, make-you-feel-a-million times better dish. This was always my dish when I was feeling down or when I was sick.
Basically, if you're in Philadelphia, and if you can only have one meal, do dinner, and go to Pho Xe Lua! You will NOT be disappointed and your wallet will still love you.
My mouth is watering just writing this review... LOVE LOVE LOVE!
Very good Thai restaurant at a really great bargain. The Pho is some of the best I've had in the city and the dinner plates are great too. Try the beef briscuit pho with meat balls...fantastic.
You get some great dinner combos at a very cheap price.
The service is usually a bit unfriendly, but I've never felt unwelcome or out of place.
It's not a BYO, but they have cheap Tsing Lao beer and some good cocktails if you're interested.
I'm used to being served pho quickly without any intervention in regards to waiter-service. That's fine, I know what I'm doing with this pile of immersed food. Just hand me my bowl and I'll take care of myself, no need to ask me how my meal was or how I'm doing. However, I do always want a glass of never ending ice-water as soon as I take a seat. Pho's a long, hot, and salty journey and I'd like to make it through. Most places you have to ask for ice water and ask again once it's empty. That's why I like Pho Xe Lua, you get the water and they'll leave you alone otherwise.
Pho here is above average, the noodles have some resiliency to the bite and the broth is aromatic. And when you ask for tripe, they really give it to you. Man, I love tripe. I've also had the bun bo hue, a spicy Central-Vietnamese bowl of soup. It was on-point. Reddish, hot oil slicked surfaced and out of this world lemongrass-spicy notes. Chopped pigs feet (which is key to the dish). Don't be scurred by that, I think everyone should try out bun bo hue if you like pho. I don't think the soup is getting its just due being overshadowed by its monolithic northern brethren. So if you would like to try bun bo hue, go here first to give it a proper start.
There's also live tanks filled with lobsters, dungeness crabs, fish and such. I wonder if I can get seafood pho and have them dunk a lobster in my bowl. Mmm... opulence.
Noodles are eatable, but not good enough to get more stars.
I ordered beef Pho and beef was overcooked, soup base not favor enough, its cheap and serve with big bowl, just not that impressed of their food a lot.
Restaurant have two floors, very old style atmosphere, I've experienced a better one in Chicago.
This is the cheapest Vietnamese joint in town. Their seemingly endless menu offers everything you'd find at the fancier places (at about half the price) and far more, including numerous Thai dishes.
The service is fast, the food is delicious. Nuff said.
My husband works near Chinatown and for ages I've been listening to him rave about the $5.95 bowl of seafood noodle soup he gets for lunch at the Viet-Thai restaurant every Friday. Finally got to test it out myself last weekend and it is just amazing! The soup comes in a big bowl and is served with a plate of bean sprouts, herbs and slices of lime. He puts all the stuff in the bowl and squeezes in the lime... eating is a bit of a challenge but it seemed best to use a combination of the spoon plus chopsticks for fishing out the noodles and fish. There was a variety of seafood in this dish, shrimp, squid, mussels and something that looked like slices of fish cake. While we tried some other things on the menu, I have to say this soup was the best thing we had!
This place doesn't have much atmosphere, but hey, its cheap. Beer is $3 a bottle. This place is a bargain.
Most of the people around us seemed to be ordering some kind of soup...probably the pho that I saw on the menu. I also saw quite a few people eating snails. They have some unusual stuff on the menu like frog legs. I'm sure we'll be back to try other things, but for now I'll recommend that seafood soup!
(FYI the seafood soup is number 126 on the menu).
I LOVE PHILLY PHO! I so miss my hometown Viet food!
We used to frequent every weekend, and sometimes thrice a week! This place is so good, cheap, dingy, but oh so good!
Nothing beats the Pho broth here, I don't know why, must be the dirty Philly tap, but whatever it is I definitely recommend!
Stuffed grape leaves are awesome! and so are the typical apps (Shrimp Rolls and such!).
Great for groups too, so if you have a big party no worries they have a second floor seating area. Very casual and cheap, I highly recommend!
Delicious and cheap, my friends and I all know this place as "The choo choo train restaurant."
I was first introduced to this place by my chinese (now ex) girlfriend and her family a few years ago, and it has since become my favorite destination for inexpensive asian cuisine. The restaurant isn't especially well lit, or even impeccably clean for that matter - but I love it regardless of it's lack of ambience. The food is that good!
BTW - Is there a proper way to eat shrimp paste wrapped around sugar cane? I've just been eating it like a drumstick.... but I always hide a little when I do, and feel like a tourist in my own city.
Before yesterday, I would have given this place 3, maybe even 4, stars. The pho and rice dishes here is decent.
However yesterday, I tried to test the "Thai" claim of the restaurant. I ordered the vegetarian pad thai. I only ate a couple of fork-fuls and I had to stop eating. The noodle was thin and dry. They used pre-packaged fried tofu, which explained the bland-ness and the dry-ness of the tofu. The flavoring...I don't even know what they were trying to go for with the flavoring. All I know is that it was not the usual flavor of pad thai.
If you have to come here (for the cheap prices and its convenient location in Chinatown), stick to the Vietnamese dishes.
With Miss Saigon in Jersey City as a benchmark for average Vietnamese food, I am starting to lean towards it being the best I have ever had. Not being from Philly and not researching Asian food for this trip really had me at a disadvantage. Most of my food adventures in Philly are sandwich based, so fortunately I had yelp to fall back on. Sometimes it's a gamble with yelp, but more times than not, I'll find that gem. Since I had researched on yelp mobile, this was the most reviewed restaurant in downtown Chinatown that wasn't Chinese.
We ordered plenty, Pad Thai, Beef over rice with poached egg, stew over rice, fried fish. Pad Thai came out of the gate first, like a bolt it took off. The future looked good. Then I got my beef over rice, it came to slow pace. Stew over rice, a sudden halt. Not good and drops to the bottom of my Vietnamese list. The beef was bland and the poached egg? Just didn't get that. I'll stick to cheesesteaks when I am in Philly.
Bad yelp reference.
Came yesterday with my boyfriend and 2 friends and I left somewhat disappointed. I ordered some green mussel appetizer and a bowl of vegetable noodle soup. The mussel appetizer came out and it was dry and overcooked. You could clearly tell that they mussels were simply steamed and then had a chili-tomato sauce poured over it. Unflavorful and dry.
The noodle soup I had specified to be vegetarian, but yet it still came out in a beef broth. It wasn't until we spoke to somebody higher-up (the servers are hispanic and don't seem to understand English) came out and offered to remake it. I said that it was alright, they didn't have to, but the boyfriend insisted on it. So they made me another one but it was just unflavorful and anyway, by that time everyone had finished eating.. at the very least, they do put a whole lot of vegetables on there unlike other vegetable noodle soups I've had elsewhere. Yet I guess in a noodle soup, it really is the broth that makes all the difference, and this one was simply just soy sauce in water (and that is what the chef said). I can understand if they don't specialize in vegetable noodle soup, but if you're going to offer it, at least make it decently. Otherwise, don't offer one..
Still, I do appreciate that the chef (or, whoever that was) remade it for me. It's the effort that counts, I guess.
It was my first time here, and it wasn't the worst place I've gone to. It's just that everything else I sampled here off my boyfriend's order like the salt baked squid was just normal like any other place in Chinatown too. So, that coupled with a wrong order and an unappetizing starter gives it just 2 stars. I won't hurry to come back here anytime soon.
I have been going here for almost 8 years. It is consistently good. No Frills, large portions, very fast and priced great. I am a creature of habit and pretty much order the same thing (#107 add beef balls) almost every time. It is always piping hot,flavorful and always plenty of beef balls, tendon, tripe and brisket. The spring rolls are very good also. You can tell they are fried to order, unlike another well know vietnamese spot on 11th street. The service isnt anything to write home about but that never bothers me. They have the strongest, sweetend iced vietnamese coffee in town. Its a must after dinner. While there are plenty of great PHO spots in the city, this is my go to everytime I am craving soup. I love the computer screens all over the walls displaying certain house specialties. The only strange thing to me is they are closed on Weds.
Climb aboard the Phooooo Train! With the Pho train you pretty much get what you pay for. The Pho definitely isn't the best that you'll find. But it's inexpensive enough to make it just above sub par. and you can't go wrong with the fact that it hooks up cheap drinks with frilly umbrellas (or can you?).
It does dish out an interesting assortment of milkshakes (jackfruit!). And it hooks up a great assortment of soups and pad Thai's. But there are just factors like service, and consistent quality that makes it just fall short of being on the the better Pho institutions of Philly.
I actually still love this place...probably because it's so dam cheap lol.
However comparing food wise, it's not all that compared to other restaurants.
Like their sweet and sour soup (either chicken fish or seafood) does not taste like Nam Phoung's soup (which is WAY better!).
The Pad thai...taste nothing like the authentic pad thai...cuz they cook it with ketchup lol.
However the BEST dishes thats most popular that I LOVE! is the raw beef - you def gotta try it with the viet sauce, its so goood! but only if you like raw stuff (aka sushi lover).
The fried squid is THE BEST here! i love it! so crunchy and flavorful! lol
Thai tea is yummy! Fast service too. there's plenty of them around lol.
They have an upstairs and downstairs, but sometimes there's a wait if it gets too crowded. mostly on the weekends. And because of the small space, they usually sit you next to someone...moving the table about 2 inches away from yours..lol..
This is definitely the spot for good cheap food. :D
Oh pho train, I'm so MAD at you! My dining companion wanted pho but I didn't because i felt like it was too hot out for soup.
I had some deluxe vermicelli and it was the nastiest thing I've ever eaten in my life. Gross enough to make me knock this place down a star. The noodles were overdone, and the fried chunks of meat on top just tasted disgusting.
I like the pho here, but I'm not going here again unless it's for pho.
I think I need a Vietnamese Person to explain why this place has a big neon train out front.
The…
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I've been coming to this place for years. My Vietnamese college roommate introduced me to pho at this place circa 1996. And while the friendship has come and gone, my love of pho has only gotten stronger.
This place is almost like a cafeteria. It's always packed, there's always a flow of people in and out, and the food comes out fast and hot. It's a little divey--but then again you're in Chinatown. If I walked into a swanky pho place in Chinatown, I would immediately walk out because that's not normal. The goi cuon is very good. The pho is above average (you can taste lots of star anise) but a touch on the too-salty side. The vermicelli dishes are average.
Back when I was a Vietnamese food newbie, I would have unhesitatingly given this place 5 stars. But now that my Vietnamese palate has become a bit more sophisticated (thanks to the Denver, CO Vietnamese food scene--what UP Federal Boulevard woot woot!) this place gets 3 stars.
I've been coming this place for years since I moved to Philly from Jersey.
Among those Pho restaurants I've tried, this is the best. and super cheap, Once in a while, the flavor would be different, but understandable.
I do know how hard it is to keep the same flavor everyday.
I always get 102 & 206 for my wife and myself. And we always leave satisfied.
The raw beef (marinated in line juice and served with dry/fried onions, peanuts, basil and fish sauce) is one of my favorite dishes EVER. And I know spring rolls taste the same (if delicious) everywhere, but theirs are really something else. Pho is good/fine, I've had better, and same with the salty dry fried shrimp with head (well cooked, but a bit bland last time I had them). The grape leaves are excellent. Good, friendly no nonsense service, pretty cheap Chinatown prices.
Kinda nasty environment even for a pho place, but holy hell the bowls are HUGE and the summer rolls are HUGE! Everything in this place is mamoth. Great place to go if you're hungry.
I felt a bit uncomfortable a few times when I went there...is there such thing as a vietnamese mafia?:-)
Definately one to check out though, don't miss..BRING YOUR APPETITE!
Best place in Philly for vietnamese food. Never been disappointed. The food is alsways fresh and I also call it the choo choo restaurant.
This is one of my favorite Chinatown destinations--it's cheap and delicious!
I always order the Tom Yum soup (perfect if you're craving hot and sour--esp. in the wintertime), the raw flank steak (served with fresh cilantro, crispy shallots/garlic, crushed peanuts, and a chili vinaigrette), and usually a whole steamed striped bass with ginger and scallions--and for around $20 a whole, fresh fish is a super bargain. And an avocado shake for dessert! YUM!!!
And let's get to the good part: C H E A P A L C O H O L. Awesome.
Beers are under $3, mixed drinks are under $5. But that's everywhere in Chinatown pretty much.
Any minuses would be that it takes a long time to get a check or refills sometimes, and I think it closes pretty early--like 10pm?
The chu chu train!
Great soup but most of the stuff on flat plates that I've had there has been pretty generic. Their raw beef covered in peanuts is pretty good for all the raw beef & peanut enthusiasts out there and their shrimp balls on sugarcane are also good.
The waiters are great (love that tall, skinny old guy) but if you order booze you may have to explain what whiskey is and how it's served.
Also a friend of mine ordered something with beef balls there, and we were pretty sure that they were actually beef testicles. He made himself vomit from shame in the parking lot, so I would stay away from anything called beef ball in that place.
If you want a place with no-frills, but cheap and tasty Vietnamese food, with efficient service, this is the place to go. The grilled sirloin beef cubes (don't know the dish's actual name) and the beef wrapped in grape leaf appetizer have been consistently good. Although the pho is not the best I've had, it is tasty and comes in huge bowls. The grilled chicken on rice is very good too. Generally, I've found their vegetable dishes good. If you're a little adventurous, try their fried frog legs.
It's also nice that the waitstaff is generally nice and efficient.
Every time, I've never been disappointed with the speed and size of the bowls of large special pho here. Plenty of meat added, hot, and quick service, there's always the thin reedy waiter that takes my order with speed (extra large #1 please) and there almost always has a good garlic water spinach available, too.
One of my favorite places in Philadelphia, even after 8 years of eating here. Fills up fast, but a second floor helps! Just remember to clean your glass.
I really like this place. They're a little "brisk" when it comes to service, but their food makes up for it. Good portion size, good quality, good value. Will definitely repeat!
I think you have to know what to order, so for those that gave it low ratings, try ordering something else next time. I had some BBQ thing with this egg side dish that was yummy....I don't know what was in it, but it had egg and some other stuff.
Decent pho for center city, with a high variety menu (enough options to satisfy even a group of vegetarians). I third the recommendation for Washington Ave pho if you can get out there with a car, but the choochoo train is a reasonable substitute. I also recommend the beef with chinese broccoli (this was an I'll have what they're having moment). Full range of the icy milkshake drinks (mango, yellow bean, etc) and licensed to boot. Spare atmosphere, efficient speedy service.
Not wheelchair accessible.
When looking to grab some pho in the city, this is always my first choice. The chicken is always tender - not rubbery or chewy like the pho joint much closer to my house. Definitely a no frills atmosphere, and the Thai food is not quite as good, but you will never leave hungry.
And $2.50 Sapporo - not bad, either.
If you want the best Pho in Philly Chinatown, check out Pho Xe Lua (or the train/choo choo place). Not only is it one of the best in Philly, it also gives the most generous portion of Pho (vietnamese noodles), it's not that expensive, and service is super fast. They also have some good smoothies, like the strawberry or mango smoothie, along with other flavors. Their rice entrees are also pretty good, but their trademark dish is the pho. I've also had their thai coconut chicken soup... very awesome. I recommend this place for anyone who wants some fast cheap food in Chinatown.
Note: they close on Wednesdays.
I'm not trying to hate, but I think this place is a little too hyped up. I've been to "the train" a couple times now for pho and thought it was good, but not great. The portion is generous, but my husband and I both agreed we got more beef and noodles over at Pho 75. That's where I'll be when I get my next pho craving.
The cold spring rolls were a disappointment. The shrimp roll had barely any shrimp and the pork roll was dry and hard to swallow. I also ordered a lemon soda and it had no fiz! Weird. I haven't given the Thai dishes a chance yet, but maybe they'll change my mind about this place.
holy pho bang, batman this place is disgustingly addicting. the pho was amazing, the noodle was almost perfect and the broth is MSG free goodness. i love this place with a passion...too bad i don't live around here or i'd be here all the time. I LOVE IT!
This is my favorite stop in Chinatown. They're open late, they're dirt cheap, and the menu makes you want to be daring (for newbies to Pho like me).
Honestly, what I like about Pho Xe Lua too, is it's atmosphere. Whatever time of day, this place is packed. Eaters are lively, friendly, and it's just a great example of Philadelphia at its best.
Parking is growing more impossible by the month, so this is a better catch if you live within walking distance. But there is no way I like to end a stressful week, then heading here for some pho and appetizers. No other place in Philly makes me say, "I'll have what she's having," like this spot.
P.S. the neon train in the window will be mine if I ever win the lotto.
This place is perhaps below average for the selection of Vietnamese food that you find in Philly. The portions were okay so were the prices. However, you can definitely find much better food in South Philly.
Agree with Chris L.'s Review. I usually can inhale the whole bowl of pho easily, but the portion here is quite generous, I actually couldn't finish! Both the soup and the noodle are great!
You should also try their Vietnamese coffee! I'm so wired now!
I have been to Philadephia Chinatown so many times before, but I didn't try this places. I read the reviews about this restaurant last week. And last Sunday, I ate there!
Their Pho is awesome! My husband and I both ordered extra large special pho, and it costs $6.5 each. This thing was HUGE! This was the biggest XL Pho that I ever had. The broth was so delicious, and lots of different meat in side. They gave us much more basil and bean sprout than any other places I've ever been. I really liked it. I love lots of fresh basil and sprout in my soup.
We had their Shrimp rolls too. They are larger than the ones I had before too. So even I do have big stomache, this time, I tried my best finished all the solid stuff in my pho. And this was my first time that I had lots of broth left.
I will definitely go back there again! I will go there tomorrow again, exciting!
The Train should be categorized as the best spot for Pho in Chinatown, as it does fall a bit short versus other restaurants in South Philly. The portions are a bit smaller and the broth is on the oily side. With that said, they do offer a decent bowl of soup and you won't be disappointed. You can head next door for Bubble Tea afterwards.
The main issue is parking for those of us who don't live in the city. Why fight for parking in Chinatown when you can drive up Washington and park in a lot for free.
Neighborhood: Chinatown
Category: Vietnamese
Neighborhood: Chinatown
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Neighborhood: Chinatown
Category: Thai
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Category: Vietnamese
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