Wayside Noodles Vietnamese Restaurant

Amongst a row of restaurants near the big AMC movie theater in Natomas you'll find Wayside Noodles. To be honest, I had no idea this was a Vietnamese restaurant until I took a closer look at their sign. The name sounds more like they'd serve some sort of quick American pasta. Anyways, this is definitely a place you can order pho. And wow, I've had pho for the 2nd time in a week! That's definitely rare for me!

Food -
The menu at Wayside Noodles is pretty extensive with many, many items. There are a lot of appetizers, rice dishes, and different types of soups. But since this place has noodles in its name, I was going to try their pho.

The pho here at Wayside Noodles is good. Not great, but it definitely can hit the spot. The pho was presented well and the meat that was inside was left a little rare so that it could finish cooking in the hot broth. I felt that the pho had a good, fresh feel and taste to it. Honestly, I wasn't expecting too much as the Yelp ratings for this restaurant were on the lower side of things, but I would happily come here for pho any time!

The disappointment came with the other two items I ordered. I'm a big fan of Asian crispy salt and pepper tofu. A good version of this dish has a nice crisp outer shell with smooth tofu on the inside. The salt and pepper should make every bite explode in your mouth. That wasn't the case with this dish. The tofu was mushy and had a strange texture. It was more chewy than anything with a bland taste. I ended up just leaving this appetizer 95% unfinished.

My other item as a simple glass of Coke. As many know, my biggest vice in life is Coca Cola. I just love the stuff, but if it loses its fizziness, I'm not a happy camper. Well, the Coke here was very syrupy and lifeless. I was done after a couple of sips.

Service/Atmosphere - 
I came for lunch and the restaurant had a nice, bright atmosphere. Nothing really stands out about the restaurant itself, but it is relatively pleasant to eat in. The highlight of my trip to Wayside Noodles was the cashier/waitress. She was very nice and made sure to make my dining experience a pleasant one.

Price -
Prices here won't break the bank, but I'd say some of the appetizers are a bit on the pricey side. The tofu dish that I disliked was $7! I'd say that's a big high, but overall for the pho it's pretty moderate.

Special Tips and Recommendations -
If you would like a drink such as milk tea, I'd definitely skip the ones they have here and walk down a little bit to the boba tea place. You'll get a much better drink there.

Bottom Line - 
I enjoyed the pho, but just about everything else except for the service here left me wanting more from it. I'd say that Wayside Noodles is a pretty average Vietnamese restaurant that locals can visit if they really want to get a bowl of pho.

Letter Grade

C

Wayside Noodles is kind of an interesting name for a Vietnamese place.

The menu of items you can order is quite extensive.

Finish cooking the meat inside the hot soup broth.

This fried tofu needs some improvement.

*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.

Vegan Vietnamese Food

I'm not one to go for vegan food, but my curiosity (and some really good reviews) made me want to check out Chay Corner inside Lazi Cow in Davis for some vegan Vietnamese food. I had to see if it was as good as people said it was. I have to say that I was surprised at how flavorful the food we ordered was. I was genuinely impressed!

Food -
Chay Corner offers up a small menu of vegan Vietnamese cuisine. There are appetizers, banh mis, noodles, and rice dishes, and drinks. On this visit I tried the five spice fried tofu, grilled goodness banh mi, and the pho. I also ordered a drink, but it was the Lazi Cow version rather than the Chay Corner vegan version of the drink.

Since appetizers come first, I'll start with that. The five spice fried tofu was excellent. The tofu cubes had a light fry to them and were covered with the five spice mix. I found myself enjoying the flavor of the spice mix quite a bit. It was pronounced, but certainly not overpowering. The tofu also came out piping hot and fresh. I love it when you know the food is prepared right to order.

The tofu came out pretty quickly, but the main order of pho and the banh mi took about twenty to twenty five minutes to get to the table. It was a little longer than I expected given that the restaurant wasn't at full capacity during our visit. In any case, I was very pleased with the food that came out.

The banh mi was large and reminded me of a subway sandwich. It came filled with the vegan 'meat' as well as traditional banh mi veggies. The 'meat' was surprisingly flavorful and juicy. It substituted extremely well for the real thing. Of course you can tell it isn't real meat, but it was enjoyable and I liked it!

The pho noodles were great as well. It came with the same 'meat' that the banh mi had. I tried the pho after giving the banh mi a try. The 'meat's' texture seemed a little different. I'm not sure if it was because it was sitting for a while before consuming or if it was because it was in broth - in any case, though it was the same, it definitely had a different feel than what it had in the banh mi. Overall I really enjoyed the pho - but more for the noodles and broth that were spot on.

Service/Atmosphere - 
The atmosphere at Lazi Cow is very unique. It has a casual vibe with some unique decorations inside. The main people who come would be college students, and I believe it fits in with that demographic. There is an actual swing inside the restaurant! You won't see that very often!

Though the main items came out slower than I would have liked, I never felt that the staff at Chay Corner were negligent. In fact, the staff was very friendly and accommodating. We needed various things during our meal and the staff happily got us what we requested.

Price -
The vegan aspect of Chay Corner is what causes the price of the items to be higher than most. The banh mi sandwiches are nine dollars with the pho being eleven. That's quite pricey, but given that they are vegan, I think the cost of the food is justifiable. Vegan items are more difficult and costly to make, so there will certainly be a higher price for the food.

Special Tips and Recommendations -
Come for the Vietnamese food, but also try Lazi Cow's menu while you're here. There are a ton of things on the Lazi Cow menu such as milk teas and desserts. If you aren't vegan but have vegan friends, Lazi Cow is the perfect place to go as they can accommodate both preferences!

Bottom Line - 
Tasty vegan Vietnamese food is here! Even if you're not a vegan, the food at Chay Corner is worth checking out. The food tastes excellent with good Vietnamese flavors in each dish. It's a surprising place to eat so come and check it out!

Letter Grade

A-

Five spice crispy tofu appetizer.

Pho with the vegan 'meat'.

The noodles have authentic texture and the broth is flavored nicely.

Pretty hefty banh mi sandwich.