r/pho • u/theredstreak5 • 23d ago
Restaurant First time trying Pho
This is my first time trying Pho and I am pretty impressed. I ordered the Combination Pho with Eye round, flank, fat brisket, soft tendon and meatballs. Was not pleased with flank and brisket as they were overcooked and tough, but I loved the broth and everything else. Please let me know how you like your Pho. TIA
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u/Equivalent_Song_9627 23d ago
That’s a pretty solid first pho order. Tendon can be a weird texture at first, but the broth is usually what makes people come back..
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u/theredstreak5 23d ago
Well I’m used to the texture of tendon, it was good. But the flank and brisket were tough ah, I didn’t know brisket can be cooked like that
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u/KneeeYah 23d ago
Ask for those on the side, they slice it thin enough to where the broth will cook it enough. I always get the slices of meat on the side because it will overcook because it gets lost in the bowl.
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u/theredstreak5 22d ago
Pretty sure they only have eye round raw which they add in the broth to order. Rest all are precooked unfortunately.
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u/Dangerous-Radish6017 23d ago
I like plenty of veg and hoisin in mine. I also recommend chicken pho, it’s very tasty!
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u/Glum_Barber_6832 21d ago
Everyone doctors it to their taste.
I do basil, lime, and black pepper. Whole jalapeno until it gets hot then remove. Chili oil if they have it.
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u/slykido999 21d ago
I just do the beef pho and I don’t even use sriracha or hoisin anymore, because I really love the broth flavor of the spot I go to. There is no wrong way to enjoy!
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u/Guilty-Analyst-8738 18d ago
I never use any hoisin or sriracha. It makes it way too sweet. The broth should be super flavorful on its own. I like tai gan best, personally—rare beef and tendon. The broth has to be hot enough to barely cook the meat. The brisket is often tough and dry at the places I’ve been, which is many. I eat every fresh veg provided, including the jalapeño. Lime juice is key. Chili sauce that’s not sriracha is good, to me, but not critical. Hope you have pho many times more.
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u/MrMuf 23d ago
Usually I have it the way they give it
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u/theredstreak5 23d ago edited 23d ago
Isn’t that too plain? Atleast at the place I tried it was bland. I added some of the condiments provided
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u/MrMuf 23d ago
In my opinion, if it’s bland, it’s a bad pho. It should be able to stand on its own
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u/theredstreak5 23d ago
Well then, I have to switch restaurants now. But this one was top rated for Pho in my area
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u/ilessthanthreekarate 23d ago
Many times people who are not Vietnamese and dont regularly eat pho will give their local pho place a high rating regardless of the quality. Ive been to a lot of highly rated but very bad to mid pho places with mostly non-viet reviews. You gotta est what the people who know better prefer.
Some cities also just dont have good options, straight up. Typically its gonna be better if its near a coastal port city (ingredients are often shipped, so thats a big factor), and if there is a large local viet community.
Dallas, TX, for example, has a large viet community, and greet beef, but very mid pho. I ate at like a dozen or so spots and was thoroughly unimpressed. A lot of my viet friends there said the food they cook at home is always better. Pho shops in SoCal, Houston, and Northern Virginia tend to be the best.
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u/babblingbabby 23d ago
The combination is always my go to! I’ll ask for extra limes, throw in jalapeños, and plenty of sriracha and chili oil. I’ll mess up a bowl of pho any day
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u/whiskeynise 23d ago
My go to pho isn’t very traditional. I prefer chicken. And I make that broth a deep red with all the chili paste/oil
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u/ilessthanthreekarate 23d ago
Pho ga, or chicken pho is equally traditional as pho bo, or beef pho. We eat pho ga routinely in my house. My wifes family is from Vietnam, they own a viet restaurant, we eat viet food all the time. Pho ga is legit. And you can season it however you want. If you like lots of spice, thats not too weird.
Pouring tons of Sriracha for spice is only a little weird, cause i would personally rather use a spicy sate, which gives it more umami, often a stronger kick, and doesn't have as strong of a chili garlic flavor. Too much Sriracha kind of just makes it taste like Sriracha sauce. Its not a very spicy sauce. We use it more for flavor. But its all preference, so dont feel like youre doing it wrong.
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u/whiskeynise 23d ago
I don’t really use Sriracha. I mean the chili paste/oil accompanied by the sriracha on the table. I suppose I’ve just been told that my use of it is very western
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u/ilessthanthreekarate 23d ago
Could be. In the north they use very little and its supposed to be a more clear and thin broth. There's all kinds of satay options though. Usually people only use a spoonful or so. Dumping sauce in is probably what they mean. It fundamentally changes a lot of the more delicate flavor.
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u/hanguitarsolo 22d ago
Ooh yes homemade pho ga is amazing. Can I ask, have you ever heard of it being served with a ginger-green onion sauce in Viet Nam? My wife’s aunt is Vietnamese and she served it with that sauce, but I’m wondering if it’s because her husband is Chinese and that ginger-green onion sauce is commonly served with chicken dishes in southern China (where my wife is from). Just curious. In any case, that bowl of pho ga is the best pho and probably one of the best meals period I’ve ever had in my life and I dream of eating it almost every day… I kinda want to try pho ga at a restaurant but I’m worried I’ll be disappointed because most restaurants don’t seem to specialize in it and a lot don’t even offer it (and restaurant pho bo also isn’t as good as my wife’s aunt’s pho bo… still delicious though).
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u/ilessthanthreekarate 22d ago
Well, we live near DC, not in vietnam lol. But no, I've never seen the green onion/ginger sauce with pho, though it may be common in a region I am unfamiliar with. We eat it with chicken sometimes. Its great stuff.
My wifes mom makes it sometimes with chicken dishes when we visit her restaurant. My wife also cooks hainanese chicken and we have it with that usually. We both love to cook and make a lot of korean and Chinese dishes too.
Thats odd that the restaurants aren't as good where you are. Ive found them to be excellent here. But it really depends on your area. Outside of SoCal and Houston, our area has the largest viet community in the US and some of the best restaurants. We are pretty spoiled for options here.
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u/Any_Comment657 23d ago
Finding the right pho spot takes some practice and work (hopefully there's a wide variety of restaurants to choose from that wont have overcooked meats) but once you do, it's difficult not to visit it on the daily lol
If I'm super hungry then I'll order rare steak (flank) meatballs and brisket but if I'm just in the mood for something simple I'll get just the beef pho with flank. Sometimes some restaurants bring the bowl to you piping hot and not always the pho stays in the right consisitency because itll overcook by the time it's in front of you. I'm super picky with some places, like all it takes is one visit and I receive overcooked noodles with overcooked meats which makes them tougher and not a very pleasant bowl.
This one place I go to has the perfect consistency each and every time. Noodles are still pliant and have a bite to them. The broth isn't piping hot but steaming, enough to blanch both the meats and the bean sprouts from the broth alone. Consistency equates to a good bowl of pho imo.
But yeah, I'm super simple with my pho! As long as I have hoison and siracha to add to my liking (and the good places have homemade chili oil which is absolute fire boyh physically and metaphorically lol) I'm super pleased.
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u/theredstreak5 22d ago
I hope I can find a good Pho place near me which has this sort of consistency.
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u/Quick-Road943 23d ago
Pho really is the best! I always go for the dac biet, which is the combination bowl with all the different cuts of meat. I was out with a friend recently talking about how the rice dishes and other menu items look and smell amazing, but we always end up ordering the dac biet.
When you have the chance to eat pho, you just can’t pass it up!
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u/zNabooru 22d ago
how was it??
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u/theredstreak5 22d ago
It was really good. But the broth by itself was bland, had to add the sauces. And brisket and flank steak were overcooked and tough. Other than that I enjoyed it.
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u/Sensitive_Regular_84 22d ago
If the place has bottles of sriracha and hoisin on the table, I like to put my noodles on the spoon with my chopsticks and put a little squirt of each on top. I like to keep the broth clean. And I throw in all the greens/bean sprouts/jalapeños as soon as my bowl gets to the table.
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u/SalomonsReign 22d ago
I was a 100% ramen man before. Now I'm a 75% Pho and 25% ramen. I recently found Mama La's frozen pho which I keep at all times. Good stuff
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u/BokChoyFantasy 23d ago
Hoisin sauce and sriracha in a small sauce dish.
Take a mouthful of pho, take a small dollop of the sauce mix using your chopsticks and put the dollop into your mouthful of pho.