Eat*Drink*Cleveland: Vietnamese food

Lobster and Pho

6901 Rockside Rd, Independence, OH 44131, USA

Lobster and pho is not a combination that you normally would put together. But a little restaurant in a plaza on Rockside Road in Independence has done just that...and more. Lobster & Pho is a mash up of Vietnamese, seafood and cajun seafood boils.

It sounds strange but when I saw a picture on their Facebook page, I had to check it out.

On a recent cold night, we were lured in by thoughts of a steamy bowl of pho, and headed there to see what this crazy sounding restaurant was like. As you walk in, you are greeted by large tanks of live lobsters.

lobster and pho, lobster, pho, Independence Ohio restaurant, seafood boil, cajun, Vietnamese restaurant

There is a bar area that is open to the dining room. It has a strange sports bar vibe thanks to lots of TVs all over the dining area.

We started off the meal by sharing the vegetarian egg rolls. They were served fresh out of the fryer and were really tasty considering they didn't include any meat for flavor.

My husband went with the traditional Pho Tai ($10) with rare steak in the house beef broth, but I decided to take a chance on the Signature Spicy Beef Pho ($12) a combo of rare steak & beef shank in a special spicy beef broth.

lobster and pho, lobster, pho, Independence Ohio restaurant, seafood boil, cajun, Vietnamese restaurant, spicy pho

Boy am I glad I did! It was definitely the star of our meal. There was a nice kick to the flavorful broth. I did not really like the traditional broth but my husband thought it was "Ok". The flavor was just a little off to me - not terrible, but not up to par with the other much better pho options in Cleveland.

happy hour, cleveland, lobster and pho, lobster, pho, Independence Ohio restaurant, seafood boil, cajun, Vietnamese restaurant, spicy pho

If you are in there area for lunch, they do have a lunch special for buy one get one pho half off. It's limited to P2, P3, P4, and P5 bowls Monday - Friday 11am - 4pm. They also offer Happy Hour during the week.

I've heard that the fried lobster tail is amazing so I'll definitely be returning sometime to try that. The seafood boils sound really good and the prices aren't bad.

Lobster and Pho definitely fills a void in the Independence dining scene. If we are in a hurry or the weather is terrible, I would definitely go back for the spicy pho. When I try the fried lobster, I'll definitely report back!

Lobster & Pho
6901 Rockside Rd
Independence, OH 44131
(216) 525-0028