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| - Not everything can be judged or foretasted on face value alone. Oftentimes, you have to look past the surface to find the real character and soul of an establishment.
Sure Number One Pho is bigger, brighter, more open and classier than the competing Vietnamese soup house next door. It's easier to access too. It actually has it's own storefront off Superior Ave. Appearance alone shouldn't differentiate the two though. It's an eatery first and foremost. Their number one job is to serve you good food with good service. That's the primary concept. I've had some of the best meals of my life in basement cellars and no-frills dives. I can get past decor and ambiance if the food and service make up for it.
With that said, it seems tradition to compare the arch rival Number One vs. Superior Pho in each review. Me? I side with the hard to find dive in the mini indoor mall, just past the nail salon and across from the Korean place. To me, Superior Pho trumps Number One Pho by a significant margin.
First off, Number One Pho doesn't serve bánh mì sandwich's. Superior does. Number One Pho seems to segregate the diners into two separate rooms. The Asian room and the non-Asian room. If you're a Westerner, you are seated in the room to the left. While it didn't particularly bother me, I did find it a bit odd and hard not to notice the trend. Even before ordering, we were already put off.
We started with a crepe appetizer of some sort. Greasy and unappetizing both in taste and texture. The majority of it went uneaten. Next, we had a bowl of Pho each. The broth lacked the depth and flavor that I grew to love at Superior Pho. And what is this? No Sriracha on the tables?! That's like ordering a hot dog at a ballgame without stadium mustard. The two go hand in hand. Milk and cookies, mustard and dogs, sriracha and pho. I thought it was a given? Not here.
To summarize, despite the misleading name, Number One Pho is hardly that. For the real bothy goodness of French influenced Vietnam, head over to the dive joint just next door; Superior Pho.
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