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| - If I were one of those reviewers who had to give you a bunch of background about myself, why my review should carry more weight than others due to some kind of arbitrary expertise, and how I came to visit the establishment that time, I would tell you that I only recently moved to the area and, after trying Pho Tahn less than a couple months ago, I've been on a pho kick and that, while I don't know good pho, I do know what I like. My expertise, then, comes from a history of enjoying big cauldrons of soups/stews when temperatures drop below 80 and, oftentimes, enjoying menudo to fend off hangovers (those my last menudo bowl for such necessity was years ago, thank goodness). By virtue of trying to visit Pho Tahn on it's day off, I tried Da Vang and, frankly, was pleased enough to continue you going there. Alas, Friday night I was running late and it wasn't going to be feasible for us to make Da Vang before they closed and, after a phone call to Pho Tahn revealed that they are closed for unexplained reasons until the middle of December, I decided to try my luck even deeper into the avenues and try Maxim with it's liberal 8:45p closing time.
After missing the restaurant on our first shot (it doesn't really face 19th Ave, the strip mall faces north so it's tough to see if you are coming from Osborne), we parked and entered. As others have noted, the place is extremely clean which was a pleasant surprise and the server was very nice, pointing out, for example, if whitey orders any dishes with tripe/tendon. The food is good and the dishes at the tables around us, who had not ordered pho, looked very good.
In short, I'd say it's a toss up between Maxim and Da Vang -- and that's a good thing. Both are 5-star Pho places and that is good enough for me.
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