After two weeks in Crete, I am back in Paris. So much to say about Crete but most importantly: Y'all at Yelp need to hurry up and set up shop there because Trip Advisor was horrible!
I had been scoping this place out for a while and I was able to finally stop by today just after getting home from the airport. I guess I had to be sufficiently exhausted and at the same time adventurous to give in to the call of the 'PHO' sign in front. Full disclosure: I love pho and having been introduced to it in DC in the mid 90s, I have tried almost every notable spot in the DC metro area and consider myself a pho snob.
This place is a 'Traiteur Asiatique' which means they have pre-prepared Asian dishes behind glass and you pick what you want and they heat it up for you. Usually not a good call.
The seating area in the back is sparse but very much in line with most other Vietnamese restaurants from back home. There was a pitcher of water on every table, knock-off Sriracha (not even close to the real thing), a bottle of soy sauce (or fish sauce - I didn't try it), and a jar of the crushed chili peppers (pretty good stuff).
You will get a little container of hoisin sauce that is not very comparable to anything stateside other than its brown and sweet. But many people tend to stay away from this anyways.
I ordered the pho and didn't try to add or subtract anything. This is what you get when you ask for pho from this place.
The broth was very aromatic, delicious, and the temperature was on point. There was three kinds of meat: eye of round steak, flank, and meatballs. All were good and fresh. The steak was raw and cooked in the broth as it arrived which is the traditional way. My only issue was with the noodles. They were not the thin long pho noodles that I'm used to. They were short, broader, and not nearly as much. The pho is served with a plate of sprouts (looked weak and not very fresh), a piece of lemon (not lime - I'm beginning to think they are a rare commodity in Paris!), and a whole chili pepper (not like the sliced jalapeno offered back home but it packed a lot of heat so I'd recommend cutting it up yourself).
For just under 8 euros, I am a fan. This is my first pho in Paris so I guess this is where the bar is set.
I see many police officers grabbing lunch from this place and I am a sucker for the pre-prepared foods no matter how many times I get burned... So, expect a review of the other dishes sooner or later!
Update:
My wife has a slight MSG intolerance which results in headaches when there is too much MSG. She says that this is the worst headache she's had in some time after having the pho. read more