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| - What the pho? No seriously... How does this place have 4.5 stars?!?! I can ask this because I'm Vietnamese. I grew up eating authentic Vietnamese cuisine not only at home but at restaurants in Little Saigon in Orange County, CA -- where there is a heavy concentration of mouth-watering, satiating, authentic Vietnamese cuisine. Oh, and I've had pho in Viet Nam in both Saigon and Hanoi as recently as a year ago. Pho is my comfort food; you know, the food you grew up eating that just made your tummy feel safe and happy.
I dragged my boyfriend out of our warm home in the rain so that I could enjoy a nice, delicious, hot bowl of pho, my quintissential rainy-day food. I got a hot bowl of pho alright, but it was NOT delicious. Pho broth, done well, is very complex to make (which is why I completely shy away from the kitchen altogether) because it takes all day to marinate the bones and then add the subsequent layers of flavors to it (there's anise and other flavors). So 3 stars, and honestly, I think that's a really generous rating for the experience I had given their: (1) unclean restaurant (2 stars); good service service (3.5 stars); canned pho broth (2 stars); extensive menu (3.5 stars).
Unclean restaurant. Ok; so pho is kind of like good authentic Mexican food. You know the place is good when you're going to a little hole in the wall. However, hole in the wall doesn't have to mean unclean. When we came on a Sunday evening, the restaurant wasn't very busy. However, there were food and remnants of who knows what on the floor. It is quite bewildering that the restaurant has a 97% or some very high cleanliness rating. The servers were standing around so it wouldn't have killed them to pick up a broom. Just saying... It just makes a bad impression and is really unappetizing, in general.
Good service. The servers were very attentive, prompt and friendly. They are obviously accustomed to explaining the menu, which is broken down like a "Vietnamese cuisine for dummies." If you're a newbie, they really know how to ease in slowly to pop your Vietnamese food cherry.
Extensive menu. They have an extensive menu, kind of like Cheesecake Factory but for Vietnamese cuisine. I'm certain that there's a dish for everyone's palate, with the caveat that it's prepared correctly. I didn't try anything other than the pho so I can't speak to the other dishes. They have a pho for beginner's section where they break down each ingredient and you can add whatever you want. Basically, all pho restaurants do this, but it's not spelled out in such a rudimentary way.
The best analogy I can give is if someone has never had a burger before, you're not going to give them a Western Bacon Cheeseburger or quarter pounder with chili cheese on it; you're going to give them a bun, a patty, some pickles, ketchup and mustard to ease them into it. You can go to ANY burger joint and ask them to hold the onions or add extra pickles; they just don't lay all of the ingredients out like at Five Guys for you to pick and choose. Pho Hoa is like Five Guys but like all burger joints who let you pick and choose your ingredients, all pho restaurants do the same.
If you're new, just try the chicken pho (I prefer the beef broth though) or the pho thai (which is just rare flank steak lightly cooked by the heat of the broth). All my non-Vietnamese friends ease into pho by trying these basics (chicken pho or pho thai) and then slowly trying new ingredients.
Canned pho. The pho I was served was completely lacking in the complexity I was speaking of earlier. It tasted like a step up from Top Ramen, although Top Ramen is more flavorful. The broth I got was very bland to the extent that I needed to add fish sauce to it just to give it a little more flavor. It tasted like beef broth from a can -- you know how chicken broth tastes like straight from the can. When I have to add fish sauce to my pho, that's an epic pho fail.
I did have the honeydew smoothie though; it was delicious.
Overall, I left feeling really disappointed in my first pho experience in Charlotte. Yelp, you have failed me on this front. Total bummer. I definitely won't be returning and next time it rains, I'll have to drive farther to satiate my pho craving.
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