Khai Hoan is a strip mall Vietnamese restaurant in Tempe that feels oddly familiar, like that classmate's sibling you never knew in high school that added you on LinkedIn eight years later. Oddly. Familiar.
The restaurant was relatively empty in the middle of the week for lunch. It seemed like there weren't many nearby workplaces that generated lunch traffic; maybe Khai Hoan kills the delivery game.
The spring rolls were quite pleasant. Anytime I can dip a bunch of cellophane noodles into peanut sauce, I will. You can take that to the bank. I recently had some awful spring roll experiences with old taco lettuce, so Khai Hoan was refreshing.The vegetarian pho was fine. I'm wasn't loving the bok choy, but the broth was satisfying enough. The portions felt small, but Khai Hoan was otherwise affordable.
I might be spoiled by living in Houston, where Vietnamese is the most spoken language after English and Spanish. Khai Hoan reminded me of the first time I had Vietnamese food back in high school in Kansas City: If I didn't know what I liked, then I would default to liking the dish. The only thing is, I do know what I like these days.
I would come back and try other vegetarian dishes if I were in Tempe again.