Really confused by some of the reviews for iPho. I went down there to order off of the menu because I did not want to try and figure out what was what over the phone. The shop itself is fine, no problems there. The girl at the register was friendly and suggested I take a menu with me. Perfect, just what I was looking for.
I ordered Spring Rolls, Pork Banh Mi, Beef Pho, Wonton Soup, Egg Noodle Seafood Soup, and the "Vermicelli Noodle Grilled Pork". I called it Bun, but the girl taking my order told me it was not Bun. The description screams Bun, weird.
48 minutes later my order was ready. Really blown away here as these items are fast to assemble which is the essence many Vietnamese dishes (Broth for the Soups excluded of course). So this is going to be amazing because they took so long to really nail it.
Okay time to unpack and enjoy. Or....not.
1. Spring Rolls were a joke. Shrimp was flavorless and the Banh Trang (Rice Paper Wrapper) was like chewing on a dried pig ear for dogs. Gross.
2. Their Banh Mi is described as having pate, awesome. I make pate regularly and a legit Ban Mi should have it. There was this weird smudge of grey/brown sludge on one side of the roll which, was not crispy at all. I assume this is their pate. Pork was flavorless and the veggies were unremarkable. Sad, I love Banh Mi. Go to Jim's Donut and Bagel shop for a good VietSammy they are awesome.
3. With the exception of the Wontons themselves, which were nice and not too thick, the Wonton soup was a let down. Broth was weird, almost like it was built with bullion or some sort of new fangled concentrate (better not be pre-made frozen dishwater). By this point I really wasn't going to see an awesome dish, so I was resigned choking down this $60+ order of crap.
4. Egg Noodle Seafood Soup. Ugh, bad bad bad. Seafood was a thawed out mixed bag of various cheap sea creatures. If you've been to an asian market or even mexican mercado you know the bag I speak of. Again accompanied by that weird broth. Same bizarre manufactured flavor.
5. Beef Pho. Now this is where things get personal. There are 3 Vietnamese dishes I crave pretty much all the time. Banh Mi, Bun, and Beef Pho. Combination Beef Pho to be exact. I love offal such as cartilage and tripe. This soup was an absolute failure and left me aggravated. AGAIN weird broth, poor ingredients, and lackluster veggies.
6. Now for the "Un-Bun". Meat was obliterated and the veggies were like the rest. I'm glad that the girl at the counter said that this item was not Bun, because it wasn't. It was just BAD.
Waited too long and paid too much money for this slop. Will not come back to this place as they showed a lack of competence or respect for an amazing cuisine.
I am going to walk into the next Vietnamese joint I run across without checking Yelp first as I am totally confident it will be better. Change your name to iPhail, it would be more accurate. And a little advice. If you're going to have a family feud or pissing match in the kitchen, take it out back or wait till after service. The arguing could be heard in the "dining room". read more