Xinh Xinh

BBH with clear noodles

Maybe I’m just a bit too dense, but it’s very rare that I get a bowl of phở and go «Oh yeah, this was definitely the most optimal meal choice I could have made.» Or maybe I’m just spoiled by Le’s phở. But between Xinh Xinh and Phở Pasteur, I think the 3 Star/“A-OK” rating just about sums it all up.
To get into the deets:
It was near empty when my group of 3 arrived for a Friday lunch. I like the quiet though. Sometimes the Hustle and Bustle of a restaurant can distract too much from the food (looking at you, Phở Pasteur). We got the squab to start out which was quite delicious and would highly recommend. We then got our phở’s and they were… fine. Maybe I walked in with too high of expectations, but that smallest taste of enlightenment I like to get out of every meal just wasn’t there.
We also had to request another tray of veggies as they clearly did not know that we intended to mean business.
I consider phở to be serious business, and maybe I’m alone in that, but it is this business that I will continue to shop around until I find that right phostablishment.

It’s been a long while since my first dine in and I was hoping for a much improved experience. Quality of the food was MUCH better, but quality of service still needs a bit of help. I had the cha gao/​fried Vietnamese rolls. Tasty, but there was more roll than filling. The Phở Tai Nam was also tastier and not too greasy. Their regular is everybody else’s small, but it’s priced a little less and I didn’t find the portion lacking. Though the sides (bean sprouts & basil) was a tad skimpy, but then again any more wouldn’t fit in the bowl!
Walking in I was greeted warmly, but the exchanges went downhill from there. I asked for some Thai fresh peppers and was told there isn’t any. I’m wondering if this is a trend towards not catering to these small requests, since this wasn’t the only place to state this. Though this surprises me since the cost is in cents rather than dollars. Everybody that served me I said thank you to, with a smile, and I got back nada.
Did see the server ask for a tip when the customer was about to leave. This is also a new trend. A tip is for extra service beyond the expected, a lot of servers demand tips now as part of the dining out experience. As long as I’ve had a pleasant meal, I’ll leave a tip, but it shouldn’t be demanded of customers!

I had the pork vermicielli (a dish I’ve never had before) and it was really good. I am a fan of the sauce and vegetables that they used in the dish. I need to come back again to try more items off of the menu.
I kinda like the really casual ambiance and service. Its a cheap place so I got what I expected.

I don’t get the hype…
Ambience/​Service: small hole-​in-​the-​wall shop with seating for maybe 15 – 20. Came late on a weekday night and while 2 – 3 tables had no people, they were still dirty. Couldn’t tell how long it had been that way but the two servers looked overworked and tired. Nevertheless, I got my food reasonably expeditiously. I noticed that a couple of guys came in about 20 mins before close and was told they were closed. Honestly I just think the two servers were exhausted. Service: 2 stars
Food: I read about the vegetarian options and how people were raving about them. I decided to go with the traditional Vietnamese hot and sour soup with vermicelli, small size. It came in a serving bowl with a heat source underneath it. I’m not convinced this was anything more than for show. It was ok, and not spicy on the least. I had to add quite a bit of sambal olek hot sauce, but when I did, the soup was drastically better. The soup had celery and some other vegetable that was more toothy. There was fried tofu, tomatoes, and a ton of bean sprouts (probably too much). In hindsight, I wish I ordered the veggie phở. I left a little hungry, actually. Perhaps an app would have completed the meal but that would make the meal particularly expensive for phở. Food: 3 stars.
This is a borderline 2 – 3 star for me. The food is ok but the service just didn’t make it an enjoyable experience.

This place has rules:
1. Checks split in half only
2. No paper in toilet
2. Will not seat incomplete parties
3. Many more!
The food: extra MSG, skimpy on napkins, and the staff got my order wrong. Will head to Phở Pasteur next time.

Xinh Xinh, the small little Vietnamese restaurant that could.
Not bad for lunch or dinner, not super busy and hectic as Phở Pasteur, but also better than Phở Hoa.
Phở was good, vermicelli noodles on the other hand disappointed me during one of my visits since I felt that it wasn’t as filling… or I just had a big appetite that night.

I think the good reviews of this place must not have anything to do with the phở or the stringent rules. They are likely remnants of the days of old.
Some quick tidbits:
— $ 5 minimum spent per person at the table
— $ 10 credit card minimum
— Checks split in half at the max
The phở:
Definitely noodle heavy. There’s like five pounds of noodles in the bowl with 4 pieces of meat and other random cow particles mixed in. The flavor is good and the meat is great, but the portions are meager compared to their next door neighbor Phở Pasteur.
The service:
Nice folks, attentive and available.
The verdict:
Probably only come here if Phở Pasteur is too busy.

I have been to Xinh Xinh numerous times now, not because the food is amazing or anything, but the durian shakes always take me back there (i know, stinky asian fruit, gross!), but seriously if you are into durian shakes I think its pretty good here.
Spring rolls (the ones made with rice paper and not fried): I really dont understand why people order spring rolls. There is usually not enough shrimp/​pork, too much vermicelli/​lettuce. Totally not worth the money. Its super simple to make at home too.
Phở: The phở is ok here. I think with any phở in chinatown it never comes out pipping hot, which is really one of the hallmarks of a great phở. I mean who wants noodle soup that’s lukewarm? The broth is ok, nothing to rave about here. The only place I found with good clean broth is in philly… but I digress.
Hu Tieu Nam Vang/​bo vien: This dish is probably going to be foreign to a lot of people, since phở is the pinnacle of vietnamese cuisine. Its a soup dish with clear broth. I personally think it has a lighter broth than phở, so this is what I will usually order. The noodles are the same rice noodles used in phở. If you order Nam Vang version, it comes with imitation crab meat, some fish balls, pieces of asian «ham», some shrimp, basically seafood. The broth is good, but it needs a little bit more fish sauce to bump up its flavor profile.
Bun bo nuong cha gio (grilled beef and eggrolls with vermicelli noodles): the problem isnt the beef or the eggrolls. The diluted fish sauce (nuoc mam) is too sweet. Definitely not how Vietnamese people make it at home. A good nuoc mam is supposed to have a hint of sweetness, saltiness, sourness, and spiciness all at once, not just one dimensional sweetness.
Com Suon (grilled pork with steamed rice): Again. fish sauce isnt good. In a rice dish that basically requires you to dump this special fish sauce on, if the fish sauce just isnt that great, it makes the dish itself blahhh. Although, I have to give it to Xinh Xinh on the authentic rice dish experience. Usually in Vietnam, when there’s a rice dish ordered, soup comes with it free of charge. This is probably the only place in chinatown that brings you a small bowl of soup to accompanied your rice dish.
Overall its ok. Go if you want some noodle soups to warm you up. if you are picky about your nuoc mam like me (since I’m Vietnamese), you can still go, but avoid any dishes that require you to dump this sweet concoction on top! (although if you like sweet sauces, you might like it!)

I came here for hangover remedies. It served healthy noodles and I could revitalize myself.

As the saying goes, «You fool me once, shame on you. You fool me twice, shame on me.»
So it’s been several weeks since my last visit to this place so I decided to give it another chance. This time again, I came with the same friend who was told he couldn’t sit in the restaurant unless he ordered at least $ 5 worth of food (even though the other 3 of us were dining here).
I got another order of their fried rice since I remembered it being really good last time. My friend decided to order the beef and broccoli.
When we went to order, we told the lady what we wanted and she asked, «Brown rice or white rice»? My friend asked for white. We then handed her our card and noticed she charged $ 27.50 dollars (for 2 entrees that were supposed to be under $ 20).
A little confused, we asked why we were charged $ 7+ more dollars. The lady then proceeded to explain that the white rice was an additional $ 3. When one pays $ 13 for a broccoli and beef entrée, rice is expected to come along with it, no? And, the way she asked whether he wanted white or brown rice made it sound like it was included.
Still a little confused, we asked what the other $ 4.50 was for. Once again, the lady tells us that for every take-​out item, they charge $ 1.50. $ 1.50??? For take out??? Who does that!!! She charged my friend TWO take out fees (1 for broccoli+beef and 1 for the rice!) Absolutely absurd and poor business practice. Sure, you might make decent food but scamming customers with poor business ethics is just plain wrong.
By the way, the chicken in my fried rice tasted like it was a day old. Also, my friend’s beef and broccoli had FOUR pieces of beef and 30 pieces of broccoli. I guess they weren’t expecting us back anyways. I hate you.

I visited here a couple of times and my experience here has been very pleasant. Please keep in mind its not the most clean place to eat in but what do you expect from a restaurant in Chinatown?
I really like their phở. Noodle is very well cooked, soup is intense, and they give you a pretty good amount of food. If you really want to enhance your phở experience, ask for their «house special hot sauce/​oil» on the side. This is a good way to control how spicy you want your soup to be. Please keep in mind that it is very spicy. I’m Korean so when I mean spicy, I really mean spicy. But try putting a little bit in your soup and if you can just get that right amount of hot sauce mixed, man it will rock your world. Trust me and give it a try.
I also tried their quail appetizer and I must say it was very delicious. It has that weird distinct smell/​taste but they did a really good job blocking that out.
Definitely a place to try if you are in the area!

Xinh Xinh seems to be one of the higher quality phở restaurants in Chinatown. The rare beef phở (XL) is delicious. One of the downsides here is that the size differential between regular and XL is not meaningful, but the price is. Though, let’s keep in mind that at the end of the day, it’s still only a couple of bucks. At other places nearby, you can upgrade to a larger bowl with extra noodles for $ 0.50-$ 75 more.
I was pleasantly surprised to see fresh spring rolls with the choice of bbq meat! Most places only have boiled shrimp which I’m not a big fan of. Try their spring rolls too. They definitely don’t disappoint.

First of all, trust me when I say that I’m not a huge fan of phở. I’m really not. But this place was impressibly good. To the point where I think I might crave it in the near future. This is rare! I never ever crave phở! But you know what? Next time I have a little too much to drink on a Friday night, I feel like I’ll be dreaming of some Xinh Xinh in my belly.
Okay. Let me get to the point: the FOOD
I got the phở with rare beef, tendons, flank, and trite. I basically chose the one I thought would have the most stuff HAHA — I was hungry, okay? Well the portion was bigger than I could eat, but man. the broth. was insane. i dont think ive ever tasted phở with such delicious broth. It was deep, flavorful, and most importantly — CLEAN. The noodles were great, the trite and flank were also great, but I would have liked a little more beef in mine haha — I’ll get the one with just beef next time I guess.
This place lost a point because of two reasons: the water they served us was lukewarm… with no ice… a huge turnoff.
and a second HUGE reason. It was SO HOT INSIDE. Do they not have AC? If theyre serving HOT soups, then omg at least put the AC on… I was SWEATING the phở I was eating! ahah
TLDR: one of the BEST phở I’ve ever had, but there was no AC and I was basically sweating out the phở I was eating.

Not sure what all the hype is about, but for me the Phở Dac Biet was lacking. For a vietnamese place, the phở was small, broth lacked flavor, and left me wanting more. Sure, the service was really friendly and the place was clean enough, but the phở just didn’t do it for me.
A friend ordered the plate where you essentially rolled your own spring rolls. It was his first time making his own food and enjoyed the experience. I have to say, the grilled shrimp was nicely cooked and the ingredients were all really fresh so that was a plus.
Still on the hunt for delicious phở in Chinatown…

I’m tempted to write a two word review: Phở Sate.
I live and breathe (and sometimes dream) Vietnamnese food. The phở sate here is enough to occupy my food thoughts for at least 75% of the time since we first made our acquaintance. The thought of that ultra-​spicy (a degree rarely found in restaurants in the US) boiling-​hot tomato-​based broth, and the lemon-​zested rare beef slices slightly dipped and cooked with that broth really interferes with my work day concentration. It feels like I’m getting plentiful of veggies served in the utmost flavorful broth of them all and my taste buds are definitely spoiled by the tender texture of the thinly sliced rare-​rare beef. For under $ 8, I would come back for this (rarely found) dish anyday and everyday.
They also serve beyond the regular phở menu — bun rieu, bun bo hue, bo kho, etc. The service is friendly, fast and awesome. Though the XL size is really only slightly larger than the small and definitely not the train size.

Not bad. Just okay.
There’s a minimum of $ 5 per person.
They didn’t have the egg soda I wanted because apparently there’s only one guy who mixes it and he wasn’t there. So I got bubble tea instead, which was okay.
Phở is okay, but adding one beef ball costs $ 2.

Phở! Phở! Phở!
I really enjoy phở so I was pretty excited coming here. I ordered a pretty typical phở with beef and flank, along with an order of pork and shrimp spring rolls. Ok, the spring rolls were honestly mediocre at best. They were packed really loosely and were too fat for consumption. They didn’t taste too bad, but I think the peanut sauce (aka mah favorite sauce in dah world) really saved it. Plus they were like 5 bucks! Which is really expensive when compared to what I’m used to get in Texas. The phở itself was pretty good! The regular size was enough to get me really phở-​ll (lol phở pun). Taste wise, it was decent, although the broth was pretty bland. My friend ordered an extra large and it was really massive, so be prepared.
In all, xihn xihn is a decent phở place with pretty lackluster phở. If I could give it 3.5 stars then I would. I enjoyed the place for its serving size and service, I was ok with its taste, but is wished they would improve on their spring rolls :(hashtag phở.

Disappointing. Bowls are significantly smaller, soup dishes tasted nothing close to what they were supposed to and their pork was awfully overcooked.
Portion sizes wouldn’t be a problem if the prices matched its size, but they serve your noodles in a kid’s sized bowl at prices higher than what’d you’d pay for a large anywhere else!
The Bun Bo Hue tasted bizarre. Not really sure how to describe it because it tasted nothing close to any bun bo hue I’ve had before. Avoid!
I ordered the Bun Rieu. It was decent, but not as satisfying as the one’s I’ve had elsewhere. There was a good amount of tender pork and I got one piece of shrimp.
The Phở was nothing special. They’re definitely less generous with their meat.
My friend’s vermicilli dish with pork was disappointing. The pork was overcooked and shriveled. My other friend ordered this dish here before and said it looked nothing like that so maybe there was a different chef? Hope so because I haven’t found many places with Bun Rieu here!

Just plain delicious. The phở broth was so well seasoned that it barely needed any accompaniments other than a squirt of sriracha and some lime. A welcome change from some of the hot grease flavored water that tries to pass as broth in other restaurants.
I loved my grilled pork vermicelli bowl with crispy spring roll. Steaming hot, topped with fresh cilantro, julienned cucumbers and carrots, and cabbage — SO unbelievably tasty.
The restaurant was packed but service was impeccable (so friendly!) and we were in and out, fed and happy, within 45 minutes.
Excellent.

Un resto viet dans le quartier chinois mais servi par des viet, c’est agréable! Comme à l’habitude des restos viet le prix est très raisonnable, 8 $ pour un Phở, qui en plus est très bon!
Seul petit hic, les nems né sont pas super… pour une spécialité viet, j’étais déçue!