*Bleep* King 4 for your Vietnamese Noodle Fix in Davis

Be careful of how you say Pho King 4! If you say it wrong, you could get yourself into a bit of trouble! Pho King 4 is a Vietnamese restaurant across the street from the UC Davis campus. It's one of only a few places in town where you can find Vietnamese style food - specifically pho. If pho is what you want, then Pho King 4 is a place you'll have to consider going to.

Food -
The main item to order at Pho King 4 is the pho. If you're unfamiliar with what pho is... well... I suggest you find a good pho place and try it out! It's a Vietnamese noodle soup with white vermicelli noodles accompanied by different types of meats and veggies. The broth is clear and comes to you piping hot. A cold plate of jalepanos, sprouts, and mint comes alongside it for you to toss in if you so desire. Lots of flavors combine together to make pho a wonderful taste experience.

A good pho is full of flavor and character. Sadly, the pho at Pho King 4 is pretty average. It's fine for what it is, but if it's your first time trying pho, I would skip it and go elsewhere for a first experience. The broth here isn't full of flavor and everything is just a bit bland. I ended up adding a lot of sauces to my pho in order to make it have more flavor.

I can't say that the food here is horrible... it isn't! If you're in a dire mood for pho, Pho King 4 can scratch that itch for you. If you're a student, the restaurant is close enough that you can just walk on over from campus easily.

Pho King 4 also offers spring rolls, rice dishes, and some other Asian cuisine. To go with my order of pho I tried the pork spring rolls. Pork spring rolls should have an extremely savory BBQ'd taste. But just like the pho here, the flavor is on the lower end of the spectrum. I found myself smothering the spring roll in the sauce it came with in order to add some much needed flavor.

Service/Atmosphere - 
The restaurant has an older vibe to it - it's certainly not fancy or very nice. It's a bit dingy, but it's probably never going to change. So I guess you get what you get!

As for the service, I found it to be adequate. Pho King 4 was having some brisk business but they were attentive to us when we walked in and we were seated in a timely manner. Everything was prompt and there were no issues with customer service. It was good!

Price -
Prices at Pho King 4 are moderate. For around ten bucks you get a big bowl of pho. They also have a big sign in the front that says sandwiches for $4. I'd say that Pho King 4 is generally a good value if you're looking for a meal to fill you up.

Special Tips and Recommendations -
The toughest thing about Pho King 4 is actually getting to it. It's located on a street that doesn't allow cars and much of the parking around the restaurant is for residents with special permits only. If you're there on a weekend, I suggest parking on the street right next to UC Davis and then walking over to the restaurant.

Bottom Line - 
Pho King 4 is a no frills Vietnamese restaurant that delivers nice portions at decent prices. It's a good restaurant for students to visit and it's also one of the few Vietnamese restaurants in town.

Letter Grade

C

Careful how you say the name!

'Small' bowl of pho.

'Large' bowl of pho. There's XL as well but no 'medium' size.

Pork spring rolls and peanut sauce.