I was teetering between 3 and 4 stars with Huong Viet. I was really craving Vietnamese tonight…read more After stopping by another place, which I found out was closed for vacation/holiday for a whole month (really?), I stumbled upon Huong Viet.
No English menu. Not even a full Vietnamese menu. Only a German menu even with German names for the dishes. Towards the back, there was one page entitled something along the lines of "Vietnamese Specialties". This is the only page I saw names of dishes I actually recognized in Vietnamese! Not sure what all those other pages are supposed to be then...
I ordered the Pho Dac Biet (Pho Special). This was definitely not the PDB I am used to back home. This is where I struggled between 3 or 4 stars. Some of the differences I liked. Others not so much. But overall, I decided to give it 4 stars. I do see myself coming back to try other things eventually. But for now, my overly detailed breakdown of their Pho Dac Biet.
Noodles:
I'm going to take a stab that the couple running this place is of northern Vietnamese decent. I only say that because the noodles were the wider ribbon style. Thinner squared cross section noodles are generally a Southern Vietnamese thing.
Broth:
Had a slight tamarind flavor to it. Similar to the Vietnamese sour soup (Canh Chua). Definitely was not expecting that in my Pho, but it was a nice surprise.
Meat:
Chicken, beef, and a couple of prawns. No tripe, tendon, beef balls, or brisket. But again, this is probably a regional Vietnamese thing (I'm happy to get input from someone who's more familiar with northern Vietnamese dishes). The beef was tough and not the best quality. The chicken was fine. But the prawns were probably the highlight of the meal.
Vegetables:
Onions, cilantro, and ginger from what I could tell. That last one threw me off as I'm not the biggest fan of ginger. I usually pick out the ginger from my food. Unless it's pickled ginger. And this was not. But alas, I ate it anyway. The onions were diced instead of sliced. But that's just my preference. No side of basil, bean sprouts, jalapeño, and lemon. But again, north vs south is my guess.
Condiments:
There was no Nuoc Mam (fish sauce) on the table. Not having this is definitely no-no in my book. Except for when I'm so hungry that I've nearly finished my food by the time I've realized I should have asked for it. Next time! There was soy sauce. But seriously, who would put that in their pho?
Fortune cookie:
-1 for even having fortune cookies at a Vietnamese restaurant. +1 for the fortune being in German, English, French, and some other language I didn't recognize. Who'd have thought I'd be learning German from a cookie!