Tim’s 4-star review:
This replaced the old Lotus Pho II very recently, and as soon as I found out it was open I was very excited and hopeful that Hà Nội Pho would be good - South Lake Tahoe desperately needs a good pho restaurant. I'm from Southeast Asia and lived in the Bay Area for 15 years, so had been spoiled for choices prior to moving to Tahoe.
Standard order for me to assess a pho place would be to get their combination pho dish - immediate impression is that it is significantly better than its predecessor! I'd say the noodle texture and broth flavour could be better, but then I noticed in other Yelp reviews that people had photos of a bone marrow add on. Had to get that, to get the full experience, and I thought it'd enhance the overall flavour of the meal.
The bone marrow exceeded expectations, the tendon, marrow and meat added a lot of flavour depth to the dish. Would definitely recommend that add on!
Looking forward to seeing this restaurant develop and grow. I'm optimistic that this is be in my rotation of restaurants going forward.