Golden Lotus

This place is SPOTLESS. The food is elevated, also. If I could eat here, everyday I totally would. Their phở has more meat in it than usual, so you feel like you’re getting a deal! Haha. I always leave completely satisfied and HAPPY. I’ve only had the Phở (steak, and dac biet) and spring rolls.
People there are friendly and the tables have enough room between them to feel like a restaurant and not a food factory. I prefer this place over Turtle Tower because the food feels more homemade.
One day, when I can afford to live in the TL (teehee), I will spend my evenings here, looking out the window, pretending I’m Keri Russell in Felicity and this is the time of my life. slurpslurpslurp

The best Phở in town. We go EVERYWHERE in this city tracking down the place with the tastiest steak phở. We haven’t had reason to keep searching since going to Golden Lotus. This place is amazing, and the staff is wonderful.

I tried the Bun Bo Hue because it seemed a lot of people ordered this here. The Bun Bo hue broth was mediocre (I am Vietnamese), but the portion was huge.
Also the server, Han, was pretty cute.

The spring rolls (fresh shrimp and pork) are so crisp and refreshing. The mint is just right. We stop in once a week for an order.
Friendly, fast, affordable.

I like this place so much that I will go out of my way to eat here!
The food is always consistent and delicicous. Service is always on point!

Having tried about a dozen phở spots in the ‘loin, I expected more of the same from Golden Lotus but I was wrong. The herbs are fresher and most importantly, they have the best version of the wide, flat noodles. Not many places offer this northern Vietnamese-​style!

I came here with some co-​workers for lunch and they were able to accommodate the 7 of us in their back dining room. They were great at bringing waters and teas for everyone and took everyone’s orders promptly.
However, there were a few things that went wrong during our dining experience.
1. Firstly, we all ordered at the same time. Half of us ordered dry vermicelli and rice dishes and the other half ordered phở soup noodles. One of our coworkers got his order of phở noodles within the first 5 minutes of ordering, but the rest of us got our food at least 10 minutes afterwards. Which was strange… because you would think that the phở noodles would all come out first around the same time, but it was very sporadic. My co-​worker that got his food first said his soup came out lukewarm too. So it left us all wondering whether or not he got a messed up order from a different party…
2. Another friend from my group ordered the 5 spice chicken phở. However, when she got her chicken all her chicken pieces were pink on the inside (like abnormally pink) AND she said it did not taste like chicken. Some of us were wondering if it was duck. It was bad enough that they served her under cooked chicken but it would be even worse if they had served here some mystery meat that wasn’t chicken. Perhaps the chicken had freezer burn and therefore was extremely pink? She told the waitress and the waitress apologized and brought it in for the kitchen to re-​cook. When the order of chicken was re-​done, most of the chicken was cooked this time, except a few end pieces were STILL pink. She pointed it out to the waitress again because she wanted the kitchen know they kept giving her pink chicken. To have to send uncooked meat back to the kitchen twice is pretty terrible. Again, I am unsure as to why the chicken was that color (it was dark pink– close to red in color) but they should not have been serving it. I think they should have taken it off the bill but they never offered.
With those two things in mind, I ordered the dry vermicelli noodles with vegetables (egg, shiitake mushrooms and sprouts) and vegetarian imperial rolls. The overall dish was alright. Not the best. The noodles tasted like they were frozen and not heated back up all the way since they were slightly hard and not chewy. The Imperial rolls were good.
I personally would not choose to come back here. You have plenty of other good/​decent Vietnamese restaurants in the area to choose from. I would be cautious ordering their chicken!

I have visited them on numerous occasions and enjoy their food. Recently however I think it is true that they are going overboard with the MSG and I am not even one of those picky neurotic Cali Phonies.
Ordered some phở and spring rolls to go. Everything was fresh and tasty. I like that the meat they use for the phở is marbled it was very good.
Unfortunately after eating my tongue had a weird tingling going and again I am not your typical picky San Francisco food neurotic.
Hours and hours later my tongue still had that weird thing going on.
I eat Vietnamese food approximately four times a week and that was a first for me.
If someone from the restaurant is reading this you guys do not need to go that heavy on the MSG. Your food is good and the ingredients are fresh lighten up thank you

Every Time I have my nails done, always crave for Phở, don’t know why. Not every day but only on that day ;)
I have my favorite I casually went however; they closed today and I cannot not have one. I went to Lee’s Sandwiches to get me something to forget the sweet tasty touch of raw beef on Phở soup. Not helping! Then I noticed an opened one and decided to give them a try.
Very clean, a small place and not many customers in that afternoon so staff was quite attentive. Noodle brought out fast. Smell delicious and hot.
I would say that the Phở broth is not one of the best I have had BUT the size is incredible. So fulfilling. I had an extra broth with special cow’s parts and the broth tasted so good?! I assumed it came from the same pot (?) then it must have been my fault for mixing too much Hoishin sauce in Phở noodle?!?
Good price, awesome size. And they even have ‘tit canh’ Oh my Gosh!!!

Got Phở (vegetarian and beef) and a rice dish.
Service was very friendly and prompt and the ingredients tasted fairly fresh.
Why the one star review?
All four people in my party got really severe headaches later from the gratuitous amount of MSG included in every dish. I would recommend avoiding this place, especially if you are sensitive to MSG or easily get headaches.

We tried to go to Turtle Tower initially, but they’re closed on Sunday’s. Then we tried Phở 2000, but it’s cash only. So let’s just say Golden Lotus wasn’t our first choice (or second), however we were pleasantly surprised!
The phở here is fresh, tasty and affordable. I particularly really like the fresh wide noodles they serve with their phở. (You can request thinner noodles if you want, I believe.) Service was also really good as well.
I’d definitely come back if I’m ever in the area!

Much better than Ha Nam Ninh many times over. Their floors are not slippery from grease, their staff aren’t rude like hell and they actually come to the table and refill drinks.
Their staff is on the slow side. We came here for lunch and everywhere else was packed. The food was very decent just the time between coming and leaving makes an hour lunch not enough.

They’ve definitely improved! I don’t know if there’s been a change in ownership or just recipe tweaking but whatever is going on is working for me.
Recently had phở and ordered a large. First of all, my eyes were bigger than my stomach. They don’t play around. It is huge. You know how most places just give you more broth but the same amount of noodles? Not here! Hellaaaaa noodles!
I almost always ask for my steak on the side. Menu said they use wagyu (this was new to me) and the steak is pretty tender and has nice marbling of fat.
Couldn’t finish my bowl because I drank most the soup. It was pretty good! Broth has improved.

Got Bun Bo Hue and it was not good. It was literally phở broth with chili oil in it. The only things they changed were the noodles and meats to go along with it. Seriously, if you’re going to offer bun bo hue, at least make it right. The broth I had contained zero fish sauce, shrimp paste or lemon grass. Instead, It was just star anise and cinammon, both of which are NOT found in bun bo hue. Google the recipe and you’ll see that I’m right. For $ 10 this was the biggest rip off ever. Half way through I just gave up and got me a banh mi next door instead.
I should have known though, the staff are clearly viet/​chinese. There were maybe 3 other asian people in the restaurant. Most people got rice dishes or dry bun.
My advice is to NOT come here frankly and go to one of the other phở spots instead.

I was craving phở 2000 but it was closed! This place was the closest and it was a very bad substitute.
Broth was too salty and oily. Noodles were mushy and gross. It was the thick kind which I did not like.
Service was nice and food came in timely manner.

Ordered the chicken phở. Nothing spectacular. The chicken had the skin still on it, which I’m sure gives it more flavor, but I prefer without. They only provided one little plate of toppings for two people so we asked for more, but they never came. The broth wasn’t as flavorful or aromatic as I expected, more of a boiled chicken flavor.
Also had an order of egg rolls that were the saving point of the meal.
Service: sub par; every request aggrevated the situation. As noted above, had to request an additional topping plate several times. One of the orders was incorrect and we were charged for their error, had to request the bill after they had cleared the table and didn’t think to provide it on their own.

Food: I ordered the bun rieu which is probably the worst bun rieu I’ve had at a restaurant. Both the broth and the meat lacked flavor. Though I did like the addition of cha lua (pork roll slices) in the soup. ²⁄₅
Service: Fair. Our waiter was neither friendly or rude. ³⁄₅
Final Thoughts: I would come back to try other dishes but I do not recommend the bun rieu.

Come here for the phở ga. The regular phở, not the best but definitely edible. Ask for their onions in vinegar and you’ll enjoy your meal. They also have fresh chilis; just have to ask for it.

Weekday, 6 PM — Takeout
It’s too bad that a lot of the great Vietnamese places around the Tenderloin close so early — I think only about a third stay open for dinner service. So, if you wait until dinner time, your selection will be limited. 2 entrees and an appetizer ran between $ 25 – 30. We got takeout, and I didn’t have any complaints about the amount of time we waited for the food. The interior of the restaurant is what it is — they’ve done the best they could with what they got.
2. BANH CUON THIT NUONG — This was a great appetizer to start us off — rice rolls with grilled pork and a variety of vegetables, which were crisp and crunchy throughout. They didn’t skimp on the amout of meat, and the rice roll had a great texture. The only negative was the dipping liquid — I would have much preferred peanut sauce here. I guess it’s just a preference, but I didn’t enjoy the sweet/​sour liquid that came with it.
14. PHO TAIBO VIEN — This phở was not the best I’ve had, but also not the worst. Probably worse than average — the salty/​sour level was more than I would have liked. Good amount of meat, and the beef balls were tasty. The noodles were cooked well (and packed in a separate container), and they gave a lot of vegetables.
43. BUN TAU HU CHAY — Vegetarian dish — the lemongrass tofu and shittake mushrooms were cooked a bit more than I would have liked, and was a little bland overall. Full sauce action needed to enjoy this one.
I didn’t really experience anything spectacular, and if I have this amazing phở that I read about, I’ll update my review accordingly. Will try to come out during the lunch hour to expand my selection a bit.

Craving my favorite Vietnamese noodle soup, my friend and I decided to come here for lunch. The restaurant doesn’t look the cleanest, but I’ve learned the best Vietnamese restaurants are those that look rundown. I ordered a bowl of bun rieu and somehow the waitress convinced my friend and I to order their lemongrass beef rice rolls.
The rice rolls were surprising very good and they came with fish sauce on the side. The only thing I didn’t like was how much they charged for 2 rolls. Then, our bun rieus came out and it looked really promising. I grew up eating the bun rieu that my family occasionally made, so I had high standards when it comes to bun rieu. Unfortunately, I was disappointed. The soup lacked the flavor that makes this noodle soup so addicting.
Overall the service was great. If I were to come here again, I would try their phở or vermicelli noodles.