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| - Delicious! The restaurant appears clean and stylish (I was told to go to a dirty, hole-in-the-wall place to find authentic Pho...um, no thank you) and the waitstaff was very pleasant, although they seemed to be under-staffed.
The hot jasmine tea was fragrant and delicious--just the right strength. I snuck in some Splenda (no sweetener in sight at the restaurant) which added just the right amount of sweetness. We ordered the #4 spring roll for an appetizer. It was incredible! It had Vietnamese sausage, jicama, egg, cabbage (and some other veggies) and was wrapped in a translucent springroll paper, served with garlic hoisin sauce topped with chopped peanuts. I could eat these spring rolls all day!
I ordered #22 for my entree. Holy cow was this Pho SPICY!!!! The broth was incredibly savory, flavorful and rich--it was almost too much to handle. I liked the thicker vermacelli noodles but I was not a fan of the congealed pig's blood that came with it. The meat was tender but I found myself picking out some pieces of fat (I'm a health nut...but it was delicous!). Pho is served with a plate of fresh beansprouts, cabbage, crispy onion, basil, mint and jalepenos. I love how the hot broth tenderized the bean sprouts and cabbage during the meal!
My friend ordered #15, a perfect combination of meat and noodles, had much more meat than most Pho restaurants. He ordered the steak eye round on the side and it came out just as he asked; the broth cooked the meat so it wasn't tough or overdone at all. The only thing was his Pho didn't come out piping hot. Next time I'm going to order something like this instead; the flavors in #22 burned my palate and I really was in the mood for broth with more clarity.
All in all, a very tasty experience, plus it was VERY reasonably priced! An appetizer, hot tea for two, and two regular Pho dishes (which neither of us finished--I took the rest of mine home for another dinner) came to $24 (without tip). I'm going to back to try the Bun (noodle and veggie dishes without the broth); I ended up splashing Pho broth on myself as I slurped up the noodles--I'm not exactly a pro at maneuvering chopsticks and a spoon!
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