***23.09.14 five months in and the 'warm and fuzzy' reception we received back in April has now…read morebecome 'abrupt and hurried'. The joint is busier and with that the staff seem a bit disaffected, strangely. --food still tastes nice.
Pho Vietnam is newly opened and ready to WOW folks with their fresh and tasty pho, among other things. Having eaten pho in various cities around the globe over the past 20 years, I can say with some authority that this version is lovely but not what one might necessarily expect if one has had the pleasure of eating pho in the SF Bay Area or LDN or Ho Chi Minh City, for that matter.
The lovely young man who took our order told me that the Swiss 'won't eat tripe and cartilage', so P.V. doesn't offer a pho containing those tasty bits of cow. The brisket, however, was fairly plentiful. Interestingly, there, too, seemed to be an awful lot of black pepper in our soup. So much so that after consuming all of the broth, my husband's empty bowl was scored with many, many black marks. We both experienced a bit of 'pepper burn' after eating our meal as well. In addition to black pepper, the soup was well-flavored with green onion, white onion, and other finely chopped greens (I think I detected a bit of curry leaf) and, as it should be, tasted so very fresh. The usual side dish of lemon, bean sprouts, Asian basil and what appeared to be mustard green (no chilies and no cilantro) came out with the soup. There was, unfortunately, no Hoisin sauce on our sidewalk table, so I naively assumed that P.V. hadn't any. We spotted the sauce on our way in to pay. Oopsie. All you pho folk: don't forget to ask for it!
Trotting out my paltry Vietnamese, I ordered an iced coffee from a very obliging and friendly woman at the counter. I hadn't actually seen cà phê sua đá (iced coffee with condensed milk) on the menu, but the non-iced variety is listed. Coffee lovers would do well to try this beverage. It's sweet and has a richly-flavored coffee taste.
Although pho is considered 'street food' in Vietnam, it isn't here, so expect to pay 15.90 for a decent-sized bowl that won't leave you feeling stuffed, but rather satisfied.