Yeah just to clarify it’s nothing like tsukemen - they just give you an extra bowl of broth with a piece of oxtail and some meatballs - basically it shows what you’re paying for by getting the “special combination.”
JR - there’s no right or wrong way to eat noodles, do whatever feels and tastes best to you! My personal philosophy is this - slurping is good because it aerates the noodles and broth and gives you a better flavor experience. However, I’ve found that the best delivery mechanism is to make spoonfuls of bites and suck that down as it accomplishes the same thing slurping does while giving you more broth delivery. So I’ll get some broth in the spoon and drop some noodles down on it with a little bit of meat or vegetable. And into my mouth it goes.
As for the hoisin and sriracha/chili paste - a lot of people like to dump it into their pho, but I’m not a fan of this. My analogy is that it’s like pouring ketchup into a good bowl of chicken noodle soup - it’s not necessary and hurts the flavor of a good broth. I do make a little dip on a saucer - I put some chili paste, hoisin and fish sauce and play around with it, but 8 times out of 10 I like my meat plain when having pho.
As for the yellow - hey if we can call other people black and white I think yellow and brown are fair game! LOL
I have become an sriracha addict in most Chinese or other non-homemade soups, I love it. I wanted to be fair however to my first bowl of pho so I decided to just dip some of the meat in it, since the meat was honestly rather flavorless once removed from the soup. It worked for me.
What was the the spice/herb that really dominates the flavor of the broth? I can’t put my finger on what it was but if they could take it down a notch I think it would greatly enhance the broth, right now it’s too forceful, I would have preferred a little more beefy flavor.
I personally used to dump sriracha into pho myself so I am totally sympathetic. No judgment here, just a matter of personal preference. In my old age I find myself becoming more of a flavor purist and my condiment use has really dropped a lot. I pretty much stopped eating fries with ketchup, for example.
The most predominant spice in pho is usually star anise. There’s usually other stuff like fennel, coriander in there too. Maybe cinnamon. I personally haven’t thought their broth was heavy on the spice before, the only thing heavy for me was the amount of MSG. If you put the veggies in the dominant flavor becomes the thai basil I think.
I’m not familiar with the taste of flavor of star anise, however tahi basil might be the culprit I was tasting. While there was a lot of green onion, there was a lot of other greenery in the soup, perhaps it was basil?
The basil would have come on the side plate with the bean sprouts lime and jalapenos. You’re supposed to put all that stuff in the soup, in case you weren’t aware. The greenery in the soup should be cilantro and green onions…
How to describe star anise…it’s kind of like cinnamon? If you’re familiar with Chinese 5 spice at all it’s like that.
Yes, there was a large spring of basil on top of the sprouts, I did not pour this into my pho I enjoyed the sprouts as a side rather than accompanying the soup. (My pho pas!!) I"m familiar with Chinese 5 spice…hmmmmmm just not sure.
I might have to get some Vietnamese tonight. Is it me or is there no website for this place? I wanted to check out the menu but can’t seem to find any site other than a pic or two on Google images.
@joonjoon is there any type of superbowl like dish there? (Or whole snappers?)
Pretty sure the pho-combo bowl I got is “Super Bowl” dish, it had every cut of meat available including the oxtail. (Although served in a separate bowl?)
Jr the superbowl is actually not a soup but I suppose the name could fit the bill for what you got. At pho le it is the “mixed grill” of their menu (no I won’t be asking you for anymore meat challenges lol)
It is my “go to” dish there. Joon turned me onto it years ago. Give it a shot if you’re in town. It’s not a monster like appella but it’s a cool dish that I like. Check Google images and you can see it. If i go tonight I’ll take a pic for you.
Did your pho have tendon and tripe, and/or brisket?
@NotJrvedivici So the “Super Bowl” at Pho Le is a dish known as “Bun” - basically a warm/cool noodle salad. the “Super bowl” designation is that way because it has all the available options - shrimp pork and egg roll. To answer @corvette_johnny’s question they don’t have a specific combo that has all of those things but I’m pretty sure you can just ask for it.
I haven’t had the bun there myself but my friend who got the pork version was really unimpressed. Take one for the team and let us know how it is!
I was anxious to make this post because I was curious how long it had actually been since my first trip here. Went back after 4 years and genuinely enjoyed it! Great night for a hearty soup!! Also shared a pad Thai with my daughter! I will be back sooner than 4 years!
Well all I can say is this place more or less introduced me to pho and it’s been my only pho experience(s) to date. While pho isn’t really my thing, I can’t fault this place or the food they put out at all. The pho is delicious, fresh broth and vegetables etc. I really can’t find fault in today’s world where you get a hot delicious bowl of goodness for $12-15.
Just bumping this up because I’ve honestly grown to really like / appreciate this place. I’m not going to pretend that “I know Pho”, but I do know anything I get here is “fresh” and delicious. All the ingredients and the pho just taste home-made which I truly appreciate. Even though I don’t want to know half the time what I’m actually eating, I enjoy it nonetheless. My wife who is less pho-friendly often orders off the regular menu and is always happy with the food.
I know many of you have your favorites but where would you say is your best pho in the area? Might want to venture out sometime away from my only pho-experience.
