Chef Papa

"My favorite Pho place. Delicious food, bit more expensive compared to other pho places, but it's worth it. I love their signature pho, house special banmi sandwich. For appetizers, summer roll is my favorite."

"[FOLLOW-UP REPLY IN RESPONSE TO RESTAURANT'S REPLY BELOW]: I appreciate your detailed response to my review. I want to clarify that my intention was not to insinuate any form of discrimination but rather to share my observations upon entering the establishment as the front-of-house staff I usually encounter in Vietnamese restaurants in NYC tend to be Vietnamese. It was not a statement about discriminatory hiring practices. On top of that, thank you for informing me about what the typical Bún Bò Huế dish entails. I am also aware of this and the reason why I mentioned it was to set expectations for those who may not be familiar with its strong mắm (fish sauce) flavor and that it might differ from other "Americanized" versions as a result. It wasn't a critique rather an effort to provide helpful information. Of course, everyone has different preferences and is free to express their opinions accordingly hence why I provided a personal anecdote. I also want to specify that my comment about the taste was not referring to the BBH but to the summer rolls which I had previously emphasized in my review in parentheses, since it carried unique ingredients like mangos that as I've stated, aren't usually found in traditional summer rolls. Hopefully, this clarifies any confusion and provides a clearer understanding of the review I left. Thanks for the recommendation. If I find myself in the area again, I may consider trying phở on my next visit. ---------------------- Visited this restaurant a few months back as we were recommended Viet food here. I initially spoke in Viet to gauge if the workers were Vietnamese, but unfortunately they were not. The owners are Vietnamese I believe. For lunch for my entire party, I ordered some sandwiches (the House Special Sandwiches, Chicken Sandwiches, etc. were ~$10-$11 each), the Summer Rolls (~$11), the bowls of Bún Bò Huế (~$15 each) and Vietnamese coffees (~$4 each). Unfortunately, the sandwiches were not much of a standout and the summer rolls contained certain crunchy vegetables that aren't typically found in traditional summer rolls. As for the BBH, it had an overwhelming amount of mắm in the broth, making it incredibly strong. As I am Viet myself, I am familiar with the taste and was able to eat it though I prefer the mắm at a minimal amount or just not at all. However, those unfamiliar with the taste might find it a bit challenging. In my opinion, this restaurant seemingly caters to the Korean tastes of the Korean community. It didn't provide the authentic Vietnamese taste I was hoping for (especially with regards to the summer rolls). Overall, the experience fell short of my expectations and it's highly unlikely that I'll be returning. As a side note, there is a surcharge for those using a credit card to pay."

"Expensive for the area, but wanted to give it a try. The Pho Signature was $14.75, Bun Bo Hue was $15.50, and Classic Banh Mi was $11. The Pho broth was very clean but lacked a strong beef flavor. My issue with this was the portion size as it was tiny and had a total of 3 pieces of beef, 1 beef ball, and 1 tendon. The Banh Mi was extremely salty. The best thing was definitely the Bun Bo Hue, I’d come back only for this. It was slightly spicy, but the broth had a great depth of flavor. Overall 4.0/5."

"On my quest to find the best pho place in NY, I decided to try Chef Papa a try. My first impression was good. They had positive reviews and the welcoming staff seemed very kind. For this visit I ordered the Signature Pho with the summer roll. As for the summer roll, it was little different than what I was used to. It had lettuce, vermicelli noodles, mango, cucumbers, carrot and shrimp. Even with so much ingredients, the roll didn’t have much taste to it. I was used to the rolls where your able to taste all the distinct flavors of what was included. As far as the main dish, the pho was good. The broth was on the better end of the majority of the Vietnamese restaurants. Except something about the broth didn’t taste as deep as I was looking for. Couldn’t put my finger on it but it almost tasted like the broth taste was enhanced by MSG. Not 100% sure but it had the slight sweetness i identify with MSG use. Something to note: they surcharge 3% if it’s not cash and they also encourage tips to be cash."