Neilson L.
Yelp
"Sometimes we create our own heartbreaks through expectation."
This is the best quote I could've used to describe the experience here at Pho Sing Sing. Food was mediocre at BEST, service was ok, hygiene is awful, and value was terrible.
The short and sweet:
Go ANYWHERE else for Pho in Las Vegas, and it will be better. For the sake of your stomach, your wallet, and your tolerance to restaurant hygiene, do not come here. I cannot recommend any other Pho place in Las Vegas, but still, it will be better than Pho Sing Sing.
In the beautiful city of Las Vegas, good Pho is very, very hard to find. Actually, still haven't found good Pho in Las Vegas. Pho from the west coast in areas such as San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Gabriel with busting Asian culture and people have AMAZING Pho which will spoil anybody.
Pho Sing Sing is located in a strip mall off Sahara and Rainbow right behind a Turkish Food restaurant. Upon entering, you notice a sign that says, "No credit or debit cards". USUALLY, that's a sign that the food is going to be good, as restaurants that don't accept electronic payments are old-fashioned. Upon entry, the lady inside waves you to sit down wherever you like, and hands you a menu.
The menu has some crazy prices for what you get. For (4) egg rolls it costs $9.99. A "normal" sized combination Pho was $13.99. An order of Lemongrass chicken and rice was also $13.99. A quick comparison of price is at Sidestreet Pho and Grill, a combination Pho around the same size is $11.99, Lemongrass chicken was $10.99, and (4) egg rolls are $6.99.
Then the hygiene...oh boy. Trust me when I say I usually tolerate hygiene to a certain extent if the food is amazing. That was not the case here at Pho Sing Sing. Before coming here and reading other reviews, I thought it was an exaggeration, but it was not.
Hygiene and sanitation concerns:
#1. The male server would pick up dishes after customers leave, put away the dirty dishes, then dip his hands into a red sanitary bucket, and wipe his hands with a towel.
#2. The male server would take the same towel he dried his hands with, dip it into the same red sanitary bucket, and wipe down tables with the towel.
#3. At no time did the red sanitary bucket ever have its contents emptied. HOPEFULLY, the male server washed his hands in the back prior to serving customers.
#4. Finally, upon receiving chopsticks and a spoon, what looks like a greasy noodle from a previous customer fell onto my hand.
Do note, I've been to some places in the past where the food wasn't kept in amazing condition as the restaurants were old-fashioned, but at least the utensils were clean!
Now for the food itself, there isn't much good to say.
The egg rolls were small, and somehow very dry. The Nuoc Cham dipping sauce was just lightly sweet with no acidity and did not help the egg rolls. The male server came by and told us how to eat it by putting an egg roll into lettuce, carrot, and cucumber. That was nice of him but did not improve the dish a whole lot.
The worst offender was the lemongrass chicken. The chicken thigh meat was 30% grizzle, and what was edible just tasted like burnt chicken. There was no flavor to the meat, no flavor to the char, and no lemongrass flavor. It felt like what soul there was in the chicken just flew off, and became sadness in a solid form.
The Pho was OK. The soup base was not terrible but was lacking soul somehow, lacking a solid foundation. The annoying part was the severe lack of noodles. It seems at most there was half a pack of rice noodles at the most inside the soup. The meatballs were mediocre, there were maybe two pieces of flank and brisket, and 4 pieces of thinly sliced steak. Very meh.
Overall, do yourself a favor and go anywhere. Avoid the show of questionable hygiene that might make you sick depending on your tolerance. I tried my best to enjoy the food here, but too many factors including hygiene prevented that. You can find much better Pho elsewhere in Las Vegas, at least in comparison to Pho Sing Sing.
