Pho Viet
On the Sunday before Pho Viet was set to open in Bend, the Wife was driving by and instantly called me to let me know that she was on her way to pick me up. She said they had the open sign and only one person was in there. We have been so excited to have a Vietnamese restaurant in town. Bend is cool and all but man, it is soooo white.
Back in the day the Wife took me to Pho (pronounced FUH like “Man, this is so FUH**ng good!“) in Portland on 82nd – the window on the door had recently been shot out. Classy place. I felt it was expensive Ramen. I complained that I could make the same thing with a ten cent bag of Top Ramen. I didn’t enjoy it. But over the last couple years I’ve had it a few times in Portland and found it delightful.
We went on Sunday and it was awesome. Fast service and great Pho. On Monday when it was SLAMMED we had some seriously bad service. Our waitress didn’t put our order in and it took forever. On Thursday I went without the Wife and it was fast and delicious. The Wife was pissed I went without her. And Friday night, another great visit. On Sunday, I had the lean brisket for $8.95.
Pho Viet - Pho with Brisket
Piping hot beef broth and super thinly sliced beef and compliment of bean sprouts, basil, jalapeños and lime. For you white breads out there, here’s how I doctor this sucker up. I shred up the basil and toss it in along with a couple slices of the jalapenos even though I don’t intend to actually eat the peppers.
Then I squirt in a little Siracha (hot sauce) and some of the stuff in the red bottle that looks like red chili flake sauce. I really don’t know what it is but its hot. The Wife adds in Hoisin sauce which makes the broth a little sweeter. Most people will throw in the bean sprouts but I don’t normally, I just want to get to the noodles and the beef and the sprouts get in my way. A little squirt of lime and its time to dive in.
Now that you have the goods in the bowl you have to use your chopsticks (or more likely a fork for you) to loosen up the stick noodles which will most likely be sort of stuck together at the bottom of the bowl.
Then its time to dig in. Get your face in there and slurp it up. You don’t have to be polite about it, slurp away, get after it.
Some people have told me that its not the best Pho that they have ever had and others have said the opposite. I really like it and am a big fan of soup in general. Pho Viet is solid and I’ll be a regular as long as its this good.
Phở Việt & Café Restaurant
1326 NE 3rd Street
Bend, Oregon 97701
541-382-2929
Open 7 days/ Week 9:00am – 9:00pm
http://phovietandcafe.com/
Foxs Billiards Buffalo Chicken Wrap
