Koi Gardens Vietnamese Cuisine

Very good Pho and super nice owners!
Apr 7th, 2022

Love love love this gem of a restaurant. Family owned, and food is amazing (best yellow chicken curry I've found in town!) Best Vietnamese in Portland by far
Mar 30th, 2022

Great customer service. I enjoy the pho very much
Mar 27th, 2022

The spicy pork is absolutely the best
Mar 23rd, 2022

First things first. The Server is the best thing they have going and given how hard it is to get staff nowadays, that is no small benefit, Koi Gardens on first glance seemed a little boring. I didn't see any Koi, but maybe I was at the wrong table. If you're going to call it Koi Gardens, I want Koi. But of course as we know, places are not judged by a lack of charm, only by a lack of flavor. The Menu was pretty extensive which for some reason seems to be the case the further away from Vancouver or close-in Portland you go. Well, the menu was interesting and the server was welcoming and I was prepared to love the Pho. It came absolutely steaming, which is another great bonfire along coastal sea of Pho, guiding weary travelers into safe and savory ports. My first taste, that moment of expectation, trepidation, and mystery. As sacred as a first kiss, as clear and focused a moment as I can muster. Nothing casual here. Don't be on the phone, attention wandering in the clouds. It's going to tell you if you need hoisen or chili, whether you've stumbled into an old family recipe or whether you have been left treading water in a kiddy pool. What my first taste makes me think, is bland. In fact, it truly tastes like someone has watered down the broth. It's such a surprise I have to taste again. Not bad, no strange tastes, just watery. I don't get it. The Special has everything in there but the kitchen sink. From the shrimp to tripe and all the interesting stuff in between, There should be some body to this broth and there isn't. So I bite into a shrimp and it tastes fresh, but also like it was cooked in water. Then I dip into the broth and start rooting around like an old bear with its paw in a hollow tree looking for honey, but in this case, with a fork looking for noodles. Ah, another pet peeve. The noodles have been dumped in there in a mass and there is no noodle lift. I try and mix up the bowl, but the noodles resist this, and I find myself eating lots of broken short noodles. Please throw the noodles in there and swish them around a bit so they get loosened up before reaching the table. It was early in the day. Yard sales ended early leaving me in the area like a puppy without a home, like a treasure hunter in the burbs and Pho would be such a great way to cap the day, But Koi Garden did not bang the dinner bell. Perhaps the broth was still forming, maybe it's better later in the day. Too many great places around to come back here looking for culinary redemption. Either their's or mine. It was't bad, just not great.
Mar 26th, 2022