Pho Lotus - Anchorage

We tried out this place and we were seated once we entered the place. We had four different staff come to our table and at first we were like service seemed fast here as they showed attention to us. This quickly vanished as more customers were seated. Halfway through our dinner we no longer were being attended to. Other tables were getting waters refilled but not our table. A simple water refill was not provided and we had to walk up to find someone for basic service. The lady who dropped our ticket had poor customer service and had noticeable stress or pressure from having a lot of people there. Our first visit was a fail.

I visited this restaurant for the first time a week or so ago, and I just have to say wow! The service is great, they're so kind and joke around with you. The ambiance itself is cool, lots of things to spot and look at. Now the food! It is gorgeous, honestly; some of the best Thai food I've had in a long time.

Food is so flavorful and delicious! We ordered the fried rice and they let us have no veggies in it. The gyoza and egg rolls were excellent. The 4 stars only is because the pho noodles they use are not the long traditional ones but they're still good.

Takeout order I used their easy ordering system on their website to do a pickup order. I purchased the pad Thai, gyoza and Thai tea Everything was delicious except the chicken. The chicken was tough and seemed well...old. Not spoiled, but a few days in the fridge after being cooked old. Pad Thai was very good otherwise and very generous serving easily two meals or split with a friend. Next time I will ask for extra peanut sauce on the side. I added my own chili paste at home to help amp up the flavor profile a bit. It really helps bring out the lime in my opinion. I love that they took care to keep the sprouts separate so they can be fresh and crunchy when you get home and it helps complete the meal. Gyoza was good and standard and came with soy sauce. Thai tea was just too delicious I'm sad I drank it down so fast. Inside was nice and bright. They were very friendly. Their parking lot had 6 7 cars so I'm very hopeful PL is here to stay after watching this location struggle in the past. Oh! I also liked the texting about pickup times, updated pickup times and then also when it's ready for you to pickup. I look forward to trying other dishes.

Pros if you request spicy, it 's actually spicy for spicy lovers Cons the curries are oddly and distractingly too creamy. that 's the predominant flavor and texture over the spices, and i tried multiple. this must be for the caucasian palette? it 's not authentic quantity is very small and sliced very thin, even if you pay for extra meat. this goes for beef and pork. if there 's vegetables in the dish, they consistently overload those over proteins quality of meat is low and not tender for the price point (ex: each dish is over $20), the meat portion vegetable to meat ratio is out of hand Conclusion if you are unfamiliar with thai food or are seeking a gentle introduction towards authentic thai food, you could start here. but if you 're looking for authentic, not overly creamy thai food, avoid 2 stars bc it wasn 't awful. i could see people unfamiliar with thai food liking it. it was just... unusual for someone expecting authentic thai food