Thanks to the brutal hangovers I experience several times a month, knowing where to get decent pho is absolutely critical. It's the only thing that can ease my abused digestive and nervous systems into a state of complacency.
I did not get decent pho here. In fact, it's the first pho I've ever eaten that made my hangover worse.
Maybe I just got a bad batch. I don't know.
My bowl was awful. The broth tasted of nothing but salt. The subtle flavors of meat and spice that my body craved simply were not there. I tried to enhance the flavor profile with the usual panel of hot sauces, to no avail.
The meat was alright, if a little tough. The veggies were pitiful. Half the leaves on the mint were grayish brown and wilted, and the bean sprouts were slimy.
It all made for a bad brew. I ate all the meat out of it, and that was about it. I usually drink the broth like it's the elixir of life, but not this time. I may as well have been sipping on hot brine. I couldn't even eat the noodles, as they had been steeped in the brackish concoction.
The pho left me excessively parched for hours, exacerbating my hangover, and did little to help my stomach ache.
I won't be back. Which is a shame, because the bahn mi looked great.
At any rate, the food is cheap, and the service is lackadaisical, as is traditional for family-run Asian eateries. I wouldn't go for the pho, but the bahn mi might be worth a try.
One should note that they close somewhat early at 9pm.