Falansai

It's very rarely that I have a craving for a particular restaurant but Falansai is definitely one of the few that I crave. Shaken beef is amazing. Subtle , flavorful and so so tender. The eggplant is good and the shrimp and okra are tasty. It's also has a lovely backyard with a small fish pond that I love

Had several great meals there, all take out, mix of vegetarian and pork bahn mi sandwiches, during lunch and weekday dinner hours, all were excellent. I took my wife and sister-in law there for dinner on a saturday night and the service and food were sub par. The waitress was inexperienced and over worked, forgot my drink order, brought the wrong pho order, forgot all of the sauces for the pho and had to be asked twice for just about everything. The pork belly was ok, and the eggplant was barely edible, not cooked nearly enough. It was a huge disappointment! So I guess I would recommend not going there on a Saturday night and sticking to the vegetarian dishes or pork bahn mi. Was a huge let down!

Pho, like most other noodle soups, is heavily, if not solely defined by the quality of its broth. Noodles, meats and other accompaniments should be fully considered, but it is the broth that truly makes any noodle soup great.

As a first-timer at Falansai I ordered the pho bo. I was excited to find that they offered a variety of different pho with regional flavors and variations, but first I wanted to try their regular beef soup to really see what it was all about.

The broth here, which serves as the backbone for many of their other soups, was not impressive. It was murky in appearance and not clear as pho broth should be. Possibly from the bottom of the pot? It did not have a strong beef flavor either. Perhaps they were short on beef bones that day. The other spices were also late to the party. Important flavors such as coriander and anise were dim amongst a much more intense onion flavor. The broth was also not nearly salty enough, though this may simply be my own personal preference. I know the restaurant states that they do not use MSG in their pho, which I think is great, and I'm sure this reduced the saltiness and savory flavor of the broth considerably. However, a bit more salt or fish sauce would have been appropriate. Pho is supposed to be salty. Generally, pho broth is salty enough to begin with, yet many people still choose to add in globs of hoisen, sriracha, and fish sauce. It is certainly possible that the flavor of the broth has been adjusted to appease local palettes, which may also explain the lack of chilis on the garnish plate. But then again, I've had plenty of pho at 'non-local' spots that have been much better.

Additionally, there was not nearly enough broth in my bowl to begin with. There's a reason those bowls are so big. You've gotta fill those things up the way they were meant to. If I'm going to pay $11 or more for noodle soup I want a BIG ASS bowl of soup. To me, enjoying pho is a holistic experience. It's about having an intimidatingly large bowl of soup in front of you, slowly slurping delicious, boiling hot broth for the first 5 minutes, then completely filling your belly with salty, beefy goodness while contemplating towards the end whether or not you can or even should finish the rest. Of course, you always do finish. It's your duty.

I will say that the meat in the soup was very good. The flank was served rare (actually) and tasted very fresh. There was brisket as well which was very good, tender and beefy.

The service was good and the food came out in a hurry. They also had 33 lager from Vietnam, which was cool. Most other Vietnamese places don't even have that.

Anyways, maybe today's broth was a fluke. Next time, more beef bones, more spice, more salt/fish sauce, and MORE BROTH! I'm excited to try some of the other items with my next visit, which seem to be getting more praise anyways, so that may change my opinion later on. But I'm first and foremost a sucker for good pho.

Keep Away. Horrible stale food served here. Watchout for hair, i found a few in my food.

10/11/2015: Owner@Falansai I find this response from you offensive whether the review is posted by someone with beard or not should not matter . The food that day was horrible and being busy is no excuse for it.I went to your restaurant because of good rating only to find the food of very low quality and inedible. Keep away keep away....

Hidden gem. Soulful Vietnamese Cuisine - devoid of lazy clichés. Be prepared to eat thoughtful food, get unobtrusive service, see the owner cooking or serving or chatting with neighbors. Must have dishes: chicken pho, crab & glass noodles, green beans, ginger chicken, lotus roots. In the summer, sit in garden near lily pad filled fountain. Run/Jump/Skip, don't walk, to Falansai.