Pho Thanh Restaurant

*** Pho Tay Do has closed, this location is now Pho DaKao and Grill

*** This location of Pho Thanh is now Pho Tay Do.

Waaaaay back in November, "NancyP" recommended the just opened Pho Thanh (it used to be Phuong Trang II), so it's about time I did a post. Sorry for taking so long, Nancy! And it might have been a bit longer if not for a conversation I had with the nice lady at the Dry Cleaners...yeah, I guess I'll talk to anybody about food.

The Dry Cleaner Lady recommended a few dishes at Pho Thanh, as well as the Pho. Both recommendations mentioned the very clean, and somewhat "stylish"(I'm quoting here) interior.

First thing we noticed were that the prices were a bit higher than what I'm used to, but on both visits the service was very nice.......

The Missus was in the mood for Banh Mi Bo Kho(Beef Stew - $5.95):

In fact, the Missus had the Beef Stew on both of our visits to Pho Thanh...which illustrated a very important point when it comes to these type of restaurants, the inconsistency, not in a bad way...but in a "life is like a box of chocolates" kind of way. On the first visit, the beef stew was full of very tender lean beef, which made the Missus quite happy, in spite of the rather mild(in a Bo Kho way) broth. On the second visit, there was a very large quantity of fat, gristle, and what made me happy, tendon! But of course this was the Missus's dish, and it seemed that the stew was on the thin side and very mild in flavor, lacking the flavor of the herbs and seasonings that we have become used to with Bo Kho. This stew was also lighter in oil content, and the portion size was on the large. To high lite both the serving size and the service, we were asked if we wanted, and got extra Banh Mi(baguette) with our stew. At no charge!

And, in what was a bite of a change(for Bo Kho), we were given a plate of "garnish" with every bowl. Overall, not the best Bo Kho we've had flavor-wise, but it sure had a lot of meat.......

The DCL (Dry Cleaners Lady) said her friend enjoys the Bun Mang Vit here, so that's what I ordered on my first visit(Bamboo and Duck Noodle Soup - $6.50):

First off, I enjoyed the way the duck meat was served, sliced and separate from the soup, covering a large pile of shredded cabbage, peanuts, and cilantro, along with a little bowl garlic nuoc mam cham. The duck was moist, and had good flavor. That is not to say that there was no duck flavor in the soup:

The neck and bony parts of the duck could be found in the broth. Also, unlike many bowls of Bun Mang Vit, the bamboo had been rehydrated, and was very tender. Still, I thought the broth to be on the weak side, and the portion of bamboo to be on the skimpy side. Still, I think it's my second favorite bowl of Bun Mang Vit so far...I still enjoy the more "rustic" version at Chinese Kitchen more. If you don't enjoy the strong flavor of bamboo, you may like this version of Bun Mang Vit.

Of course, I had to do Nancy justice and try the Pho. So on our second visit, I had the Pho Dac Biet(House Special - $6), quaintly called the "Super Bowl":

The bowl that arrived was quite large, and the garnishes had the largest amount of bean sprouts that I could recall. So let's get down to business here.... I thought the rare steak was cut too thick making it tough, and there was a severe lack of meat, other than a few meat balls, and one or two pieces of flank,(and no tripe!!!) in comparison to the huge amount of noodles in the soup.

The broth was very neutral, with no anise, cinnamon, clove or other seasoning standing out. In spite of the large amount of green onions, cilantro, and onions in the broth it was still fairly mild. If you enjoy a huge bowl of neutral, low oil broth, and a ton of noodles, this is your bowl. In fact, if you like to add "stuff" to your Pho, this is the place. On both visits we noticed groups of young people having Pho, and we watched them pour the Hoisin, Sriracha, and other "stuff" into their Pho like it was going out of style! One guy must've dumped half a squeeze bottle of Hoisin into his bowl of Pho...

And in case you think that there wasn't supposed to be any tripe in this bowl of Pho:

I will say that we had some really nice, efficient, and friendly service. Everyone was so very nice. If you're looking to have a bowl of Pho, or Bun Mang Vit, or HieuTieu, in a nice clean restaurant with friendly service, this might be your place.... maybe......

Pho Thanh
5296 University Ave
San Diego, CA 92105

Thanks for the recommendation Nancy! Sorry for taking so long!

Comments

[Ted]

Very interesting Kirk. Do you think the Dry Cleaning lady is related to the owners of Pho Thahn? I ask because once i was getting a hair cut and asked my barber (who is Lebanese) what was the best Lebanese place in the area. He quickly told me of of the "best" place and even brought out a coupon. I then straight up asked him if he owned the restaurant, and he said yes! Hmmm... it makes me think twice about getting recs from random people!

[howie]

I have a couple of friends who are very into the pho condiments. With every single bite, they get one squirt of sriracha and one squirt of hoisin sauce. I'm too impatient for that.

[nhbilly]

Interesting note Ted,

Nice review of the place seems to be an average place to get decent vietnamese grub. Kinda sound like Vien Dong in OC but in SD though. Bo Kho one of my favorite dish gotta have the meaty tendon or else it ain't bo kho so simple and so filling.

[malaysianfoodguide]

Those food photo looked nice and tempting...

[Jonathan Linn]

I'm from Portland Oregon and read your blog everyday. The menu for this restaurant looks exactly like a chain of Pho Houses we have up here called Pho Huy. They have the super bowl with meatballs and the menu is broken up in categories like "Adventurer's Choice or For Beginner's". I wonder if they are owned by the same family.

[Kirk]

Hi Ted - I don't think so.....many restaurants came up during the conversation....but I had been to all of them except this one.....can you believe that! I kinda blew her mind, especially when I started asking about Bun Mam, and stuff like that.

Hi Howie - So how can they tell you what the broth tasted like? To each his/her own I guess!

Hi Billy - Vien Dong has it all over this place!

Hi Jonathan - Thanks for always visiting, and especially for taking the time out to comment. That's very interesting...it could be. Or it could just be something they copied....maybe you can find out?

[alycia]

I have a menu right here in front of me, and I think the address you have posted is incorrect. The correct one is: 5296 University Ave.

[Kirk]

Hi Alycia - Gosh, you're right! Thanks...I'll update the post when I have a minute.