My buddy Rodney took me here a few weeks back and I'm just now getting to review it.. I'd had Pho a few times about 10 years ago back in Boston and despite the fact that I'm a HUGE fan of most Asian cuisine -- Vietnamese didn't "Pho-lly" do it for me. Bad pun...good bun! ;)
Pho Thanh is a delightful little hidden gem of a place, nestled into the end of a skanky strip mall. There's an amazing Asian grocery on the other side of the plaza which you MUST check out (and walk off your meal). I tried a few things with Rodney that day, including #68 Com Tam Tau Hu Dac Biet (broken rice with shrimp cake wrapped in bean curd skin, bbq pork, shredded pork, crab-egg cake and all topped off with a delightful fried egg on top. It was a lot of food! I also tried the pho beef noodle soup (#14 pho tai bo vien) with sliced beef & meatballs. Addictive!!
I went back 2 weeks later with my buddy Steve and got more #14 soup....I'm now officially in love with that soup! It's a HUGE bowl of broth & vermicelli noodles and comes with a side platter piled high with fresh herbs, citrus and some very piqued pepper slices (beware)!
Contrary to the rest of the plaza, the place is clean, the decor sparsly amusing/sad remnants of the proprietors previous life in Viet Nam, I supppose. There is a killer poster I'd love to have that looks like it was produced by the either ministry of tourism or ministry of production that shows a woman with 3 brightly colored balls of yarn (would someone please take a pic of this and post it to Yelp!?!?)
The staff is super nice and comped me a swig of a most amazing fresh pennywort drink. It glows vibrantly green as it sloshes & swirls within a juice dispenser at the counter. Tasted fresh (like wheatgrass juice) and left an aromatic effervescence on my tongue for a few moments after swilling it down.
Prices are super reasonable (most items between $4.95-6.95) and I haven't left hungry yet! Props to Rodney for pushing my gastronomic envelope and getting me hooked on a new local fave!