Back in the beginning of April, "FOY" Dereck sent me an email regarding a pho shop that had recently opened in Rancho Penasquitos. The part of the email which really caught my attention read:
"I don't want to make any promises, but it was the best pho I have had in a while. The broth was beefy and not defatted. I didn't taste much sweet if any, not much anise, and a little salty, but still it was great."
Hmmm, pho broth not "San Diego sweet"? Ok, sold! I decided to go ahead and make the 20+ mile drive to check the place out; located in the corner of the busy Rancho Penasquitos Towne Center.
The place is very well lit and clean. The young folks working were welcoming and friendly.
I went ahead and just ordered a "medium" G-Beef Special ($15.50).
I was not impressed with the sprouts and basil.
It was a fairly small portion and some of the basil had turned color and were getting slimy.
And soon my bowl arrived.
I quickly noticed that the soup was quite dark and seriously defatted. It did lack the richness; but like Dereck had mentioned, while short on anise tones, though you could actually taste the cilantro, it did not have that pervasive "sweetness" that most of the pho in San Diego has. It was also fairly beefy in flavor. Taking a closer look at the soup, I noticed quite a preponderance of small pieces of beef in it. It also wasn't overly salty. This was pretty good.
I then started checking out the proteins, when I noticed something....no tripe, lots of beefy brisket, but no flank; the "Rare steak"....well, there was overcooked thinly sliced beef. As for the "tendon", there seem to be shreds of chewy, what seemed to be neck tendon. Perhaps there was some mix-up? I was the only customer in the place..... Since I'd had the soup, put the sprouts in, tasted the noodles, I just decided to go with the flow here.
The noodles were decently prepped and had a good "stretch" to them.
Overall, a nicely flavored broth, not sure what happened with the proteins, kinda lacking in QC with the blackening basil. I'm thinking that I'll need to return in a couple of months....even though it's a bit of a drive, to see how things are.
Dereck, this place definitely seems to have some potential! Thanks for the recommendation!
Pho G Beef
13297 Black Mountain Rd. Suite 6
San Diego, CA 92129
Current Hours:
Sun - Thurs 1030am - 830pm
Fri - Sat 1030am - 9pm
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