Pho Pasteur Restaurant

Restaurant goers, BECAREFUL! If you get on the owner's bad side, she will make a special soup for you (aka tossed with her own SPIT). I had an unfortunate encounter with her where I suggested that she should hire more people, after waiting for 5 minutes without a waiter in sight. She got obviously upset. After I went to the bar to get my order put in right away, I heard the owner say couple of times to the other waiters that she was going to make a special soup for a so-and-so customer. I wondered to myself what that was. To my shock, minutes later, she herself came back with my food and urged me to try her special sauce. The sauce was bubbly, visibly having been spit upon. Of course, I took my purse and ran. This is a disgusting place. Eat at your own risk! more

For some reason, Pho Pasteur never feels like a chain to me. Perhaps it's because each location really is unique (the decor isn't the same, and even the menus aren't quite the same). This place is really big. Although the ambience is nothing special (it's a bit sterile), it's a comfortable place to dine. It can get very crowded and the service can get a bit slow, but they are always working hard. The one thing you can count on with this chain is the quality of the food. It is consistently good. I don't like cilantro, and all the locations are willing to make my pho without it (and they never get it wrong). This is great on cold winter's night when you need a nice, big hot bowl of soup. more

Pho Pasteur is one of those chains that does everything well. I love their cellophane noodles and every time I eat here, I am satisfied. They have the freshest ingredients and best noodles. I am a sucker for noodle dishes. And I love their peanut sauce. This is a great location just around the corner from the center of Needham. The staff are friendly and the atmosphere is nice. I recommend if you like Vietnamese to try Pho Pasteur at any one of their many locations in and around Boston. more

Pho Pasteur is now a chain of Vietnamese Soup Restaurants. It started with a location in China Town, blossomed in Alston Brighton and now has locations in Needham, Cambridge and elsewhere. Today's focus is on the Needham (Western Suburbs) location. The beef ball Pho, big bowl is delicious. This beef stock can be served with white or yellow noodles. The variants include beef balls, beef flank, and other parts of beef. The restaurant has modified it's menu from the Boston and Allston locations to not include tripe and tendon. I hope at some juncture as suburbanites get braver, that these two standards return to the menu. Check out the appetizers---shrimp on sugar cane, quail, spring rolls (real ones not those fried for USA citizens ones) are available. Oh and the Pho (soup) comes with a heaping side plate of sprouts and mint sprig, not to mention the top of the soup is covered in a kind of basil. Let's just say you don't want soup, there are plenty of Vermicelli (white rice noodle) plates to choose from. Usually there is a small spread of chopped nuts and a pork version that tastes good. Let's say you just don't even feel like eating Vietnamese cuisine, well this Needham location has a sushi bar with a variety of sushi to try. I always recommend Uni (when it's fresh). This is raw Sea Urchin. The setting is nice. It's almost a box car like set up. Booths running in a long thin row the length of the restaurant. Pleasant clean bathrooms and for warm weather, and unique for Massachusetts, is a set of outdoor tables in a little terrace. One can almost pretend they are not in Needham. more