I'm on the hunt for the best Pho in Austin, Texas working my way to Elizabeth Street Cafe (ESC), the "coming soon" restaurant of Lambert's and Perla's, Larry McGuire. I have high hopes for ESC, so you better make it good Larry ;-)
My boyfriend and I have eaten a lot of Pho in the past year but usually from the same three places, and no, we haven't been to Vietnam (but we will go eventually). My dream Pho place would have as many locally-sourced, fresh ingredients as possible and/or using a combination of organic ingredients, no MSG and all white chicken breast meat or quality cuts of beef.
Based on the Pho I've had so far, below is judging criteria and the score card to help me find the best Pho.
Judging Criteria and Score Card:
Service - (terrible) 1 2 3 4 5 (the best ever)
Spring Rolls - (terrible) 1 2 3 4 5 (the best ever)
Dipping Sauce - (terrible) 1 2 3 4 5 (the best ever)
Price $xx.xx (small) and $xx.xx (large)
Temperature of Broth - (cold) 1 2 3 4 5 (very hot)
Choice of Broth - Yes or No
Oily Broth - (very little) 1 2 3 4 5 (a lot)
MSG - Yes or No
Fresh Side Plate - Yes or No
Quality of Chicken - (low with strange crunch parts and dark meat) 1 2 3 4 5 (high)
Quality of Beef - (low with tough and strange fatty parts) 1 2 3 4 5 (high)
On our first adventure under the Sunday Pho Chronicles, we randomly selected Tan My to be our starting point. Tan My is up north off Ohlen Road behind the Target on 183. There's a laundry mat and a discoteca in the shopping center. We were nicely greeted as we walked in and took stock of the two tables that were seated.The decor is like most Vietnamese restaurants-little focus or money spent on decor. But, I'm okay with that. In a way, it's what makes the ambiance of a Vietnamese restaurant. They aren't trying to be fancy, just straight to the point with the food they serve...and I like that.
Now, on to the important stuff, the PHO!
Whenever we get Pho we typically order spring rolls to start, so this could also be called the Spring Roll Chronicles as well. To start off, we ordered #36 Goi Cuon - spring rolls with shrimp, pork, vegetables and vermicelli. The brown peanut dipping sauce was gelatinous with ground peanuts on top, but lacked peanut flavor. The insides were fresh; the combination of shrimp and pork was spot on. However, the rice paper was a little stale to me.
We ordered #14 Pho Ga – Noodle soup with chicken ($xx.xx for a small) and #13 Pho Tai – Noodle soup with eye round steak (and added beef meatballs to it aka #16 Pho Bo Vien) ($xx.xx for a large). What was great about this place was that I could order my pho in beef broth OR chicken broth. I opted to order my chicken pho in beef broth. The pho was served piping hot (as it should be), with a plate of fresh bean sprouts, Thai basil, lemon and jalapenos.
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| #14 Pho Ga – Noodle soup with chicken |
The chicken was all white breast meat. HALLELUJAH! Thank the Pho Lords there weren't any weird chicken parts, fat or dark meat floating around. The eye round steak was quality meat with some pink in the middle and the meatballs were very dense. I could have done without the meatballs. The table sides were fish sauce, fresh chili sauce, soy sauce, bitter roasted spicy pepper sauce and siracha. See below for Tan My's results!
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#13 Pho Tai – Noodle soup with eye round steak (and added beef meatballs to it aka #16 Pho Bo Vien) |
The results are in!
Service - 4
Spring Rolls - 3
Dipping Sauce - 1
Price $xx.xx (small) and $xx.xx (large)
Served Hot - 5
Choice of broth - Yes
Oily broth - 5
MSG - Yes or No
Fresh side plate - Yes
Quality of Chicken - 5
Quality of Beef - 4
