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| - AMBIANCE: I am a big fan of Vietnamese food, but have avoided coming to this place because people kept saying it's a dive. Well, when I arrived, I didn't think it was any more divey than most of the outdated, awful Chinese restaurants in Phoenix. I walked out of Pho House on McDowell because it was "divey" and there was practically no one in there, but then again, that is a newer restaurant. This one was packed, however. The restaurant was open and bright and coming in from triple digit heat, well-air conditioned. So, the ambiance was quite comfortable. Later, it became almost too cold, but going back outside was nice.
FOOD: We started out with crispy egg rolls, which were crunchy, hot and delicious, and the shrimp spring rolls, which were loaded with cooked, cold rice noodles, veggies, and shrimp wrapped in a delicate, thin soft rice paper. We also got an appetizer (don't remember name) that looked like dolmas, cooked pork in grape leaves, that you build yourself into a roll by wetting the rice paper and loading with the fresh vegetables. Btw, I love that you get so much lettuce, mint, seasoned vermicelli noodles, cucumbers, etc. to add to whatever you get...very nice. And don't forget to add the fish sauce and any of the multitude of other sweet, savory, and spicy sauces and pastes, Sriracha included. I had the #39, which is broken rice with BBQ pork, shrimp cake, a couple cooked shrimp, meatball, and fried egg. I wanted a mixture of different things and this dish delivered. My only complaint would be that the individual shrimps were way overcooked, but this didn't ruin my experience because everything else just shined in a major way.
SERVICE: It is apparent that everything is cooked to order and not just dumped from a can or stir fried from a frozen bag. Therefore, not all your dishes may come out at the same time. In fact, I really enjoyed the staggering of appetizers so that I could enjoy each one individually. But the service is efficient and always moving amongst an almost packed restaurant of tables. The server that took our order was very friendly and was able to recommend dishes and another server was able to help me identify something on another table that looked very good (the pork ribs, which I will try next time).
In conclusion, thanks to my friends for encouraging me to finally try this place. The prices are extremely reasonable, so I don't care if they don't have fresh paint, music, or whatever to entice me because the food is the star attraction and what my senses are tuned into here. The ingredients are fresh, there are a ton of Asians, and it's just a good time. I will certainly be back for lunch or dinner and definitely will try the pho when I crave a hot soup. I'm not sure if I will try the other Vietnamese restaurants in Phoenix. I've already been to Rice Paper, which was just okay, but sometimes having something to compare to is good. But then again, when you find something amazing that you like, it's just a waste of time and money to try something else that may disappoint.
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