Beef Pho Noodles – Wong Eats

12 years ago, my Friday dinner group used to meet up for dinner at a wonderful Vietnamese restaurant near Eastern Market, DC, since it was the halfway point between the MD and VA folks. However, it met its demise a couple of years later, and we lamented the loss of its wonderful offerings as well as its convenient location. Recently, I saw the sign of another Vietnamese eatery as this location and my group decided to meet up there. Walking into the familiar space, although chopped up to smaller real estate, I was greeted by a familiar face who called me by my name – the owners of the former eatery. Wow, they decided to reopen in the same space, Anh-Dao, and what a happy reacquaintance it was with some familiar faces.
After our smiling faces settled down from the warm effusive greetings, we perused the menu, albeit pared down from that of the last location. We started off with the usual Vietnamese appetizers. The first was Summer Rolls. The fresh wrap rolls was stuffed with the usual combination of rice vermicelli, sliced pork, sliced shrimp, and crispy lettuce leaves. It tasted like most that I have eaten in other places but I would have liked some fragrant basil leaves in the mix. The peanut sauce reminded me what I had in Vietnam, with the sauce not tasting too sweet or hoisin-like, allowing the peanut flavors to make its presence known in the peanut butter and bits used in the sauce. The next appetizer was Spring Rolls. The fried small bites were delicately made with a stuffing that tasted savory from minced meat and a refined seasoning that was noticeable but subtle at the same time. The pieces were greaseless to the touch, pointing to a kitchen that knows oil temperature for frying. This was a good start indeed.

A non-Vietnamese appetizer was written in the menu and that struck my curiosity – Steamed Chicken Dumplings. What arrived looked very much like Japanese gyozas. One bite revealed its nature. The skin was the usual quite thin dough encasing a delicious filling. Notes of finely minced chicken were mixed in with finely shredded vegetables and punctuated by notes of green onion and garlic. This savory mix made every bite pleasurable along with the dark soy dip that was bit sourish, sweet, and salty at the same time.

Another appetizer that caught my eye was not the usual – Shrimp Papaya Salad. What arrived was a plate of green papaya strands, julienned carrot, sliced shrimp, topped with basil and cilantro leaves that added their herbaceous notes. But what made this dish sing were the details in the dish. The fried shallots added a caramelized dark note and the crushed peanuts its nutty rich crunch. But the magic in the dish was the sauce that was perfectly balanced with its salty and umami fish sauce, and the right balance of sugar and lime juice. I kept coming back to that elixir sauce throughout the whole meal for its-so-goodness.

I recalled that the former establishment had a delicious Shrimp Crispy Noodle dish and a companion went for this order. The large plate was replete with the crunchy brittle pasta, topped with a light sauce and pieces of medium size shrimp and lots of vegetables. But the key to the dishes is both the noodles and the sauce. The former was greaseless and perfectly crispy with a clean taste (fresh oil was used), and the sauce was both savory and slightly full-bodied, which when mixed with the noodles, it had a tinge of smokiness that I found very appealing. I wouldn’t hesitate to order this at all.

Another noodle dish is the Combination Noodle Salad. What arrived was a huge bowl of rice vermicelli, paired with some finely sliced vegetables and topped with grilled chicken, grilled shrimp and a chopped up spring roll. The chicken and shrimp were slightly sweet and salty, pointing to a good seasoning and marination, and grilled with some slight char to its ends. The spring roll was as good as the appetizer. This was a huge bowl that my friend was thoroughly enjoying since its his Vietnamese favorite. Another companion’s order on another night had the noodles changed for steamed rice, which he seemed to be content with.

Shaky Beef was my order on my “first” visit. It’s name comes with the tossing action when it is cooked in the wok. What arrived were small cubes of beef cooked with some white onions. A whiff of it was a good indicator of the dish’s quality. The beef was quite tender, tasting uber savory with a soy/sugar sauce made sweeter by the onions. I enjoyed not only the incredible flavor but also the size of each morsel that made you appreciate the meal without feeling that you are biting into the side of the cow. The moderate portion was just right for me, and I was left complete sated by this dish.

The real litmus test of a Vietnamese pho place is it soup noodles. Since the owner knows me well, she decided to place a special order for me. What arrived was a combination of raw steak (the usual), flank steak, meat balls, and tripe. The meats were of good quality especially the beef balls that tasted home made, and the usual for the noodles. But the key ingredient is the soup that was where my focus was throughout this meal. It tasted full-bodied, an indication of use of lots of bones, slightly sweet from onions, and slightly woodsy (cinnamon, star-anise) with their evenly calibrated tones without jarring the senses. I was thoroughly enjoying this bowl until the last drop of clean-tasting (no msg) broth, and I would stop in here for that hot bowl when in town.

Yes, it has been a decade since I saw the owners in the same establishment, albeit reopened but smaller. But somethings have not changed. The high quality cooking is evident especially in the shrimp papaya salad, shaky beef, shrimp crispy noodles, the combination noodles or rice, and the pho noodles. So has the warm and friendly service from the owners whose husband-cook came out to greet me. The complementary dessert confirmed another unchanged variable – incredibly sweet oranges to end the meal that never departed from this superior quality (Where do they find them consistently sweet?). This place has been definitely added back to our dinner rotations, and we all are glad to have them back in business again.

In all the three years of this food blogging business, the cuisine whose restaurants I have reviewed and have closed the most is Vietnamese, numbering 3, not counting those I didn’t write about. Furthermore, recently, one of favorite places located near me folded up suddenly, which left a significant hole in my gastronomic palette. Consequently, a mission was set in me to find a worthy replacement, and a worthwhile place appeared unexpectedly in a most improbable place. I Love Pho is located at the back of an International grocery store in the heart of Laurel, MD. The space has seen one eatery after another come and go, and the opening of this food establishment piqued my curiosity. Initially, I was a bit nonplussed by their offering in their early days. However, there was a change of chef a few weeks later, and their dishes were starting to raise my eyebrows. After paying it a number of visits to sample the various dishes, I felt that I Love Pho was worth a write-up.

This eatery offers only two appetizers, and both are the usual Vietnamese standards. Cha Gio are Vietnamese spring rolls that I love from this cuisine. Their rendition here captured my attention from the first bite. The rolls were perfectly deep-fried, nearly greaseless to the touch. One bite into the roll revealed a very savory stuffing of minced pork, carrot, and shrimp, well-seasoned with spices and white pepper, and a slight touch of bounce from the bean noodle and wood fungus. But it is this same mixture that takes these rolls to another level as if having gone through a process of transubstantiation, tasting savory and beckoning the eater for more bites. The dipping sauce was also revelatory with its decent fish sauce, a good hit of lime juice, a hint of garlic, some crushed chili for some heat, and enough sugar to “round off” the strong flavors, making it worthy to sip like an elixir.

The other standard opener is Goi Cuon or Summer Roll. During my visits, they were made a la minute which made them stand out from other establishments. The rice paper was supple and not chalky at all (due to refrigeration), wrapping the usual suspects of shrimp, pork, basil, and rice stick noodles. I also appreciated the shrimp that was not overcooked and the pieces of pork that were seasoned with enough salt, unlike the bland meat found in other places. The dipping sauce, tasting house-made, was not just only sweet from the Hoisin, but salty enough to balance out the latter flavor, making it stand apart from other versions which tend to be lacking in the salt department. Again, another sauce that is finger-licking-good here. Unfortunately, my last order was refrigerated, resulting in the brittle and chalky qualities in these bites.

One thing that I appreciate in this place is the serving of a Vietnamese favorite, Banh Mi, which can be hard to come by. The sandwich comes with an opened French baguette that was crusty and fairly spongy inside, stuffed with ham, Vietnamese salami, some daikon and carrot pickles, crunchy cucumber, crispy jalapeño, and fragrant cilantro. What adds some interest in these stuffed rolls is the salami that is studded with piquant peppercorns and made fragrant with some five-spice powder. Furthermore, the bread has been slathered with some rich paté on one side and the other garlic butter – yes, you read that right. The result is a bite that is completely irresistible, the sum of all the disparate elements that seem to fit in just right in that crusty bun. At $5 each, this is a damn good sandwich.

Another room temperature dish is Pork Bun Salad. The deconstructed bowl arrived with the various ingredients hugging their separate territories: Grilled Pork, pickles, basil leaves, cucumber, and crushed peanuts, all sitting on a mound of bouncy rice stick noodles. The meat was perfectly cooked and tasting equally well seasoned with notes of fish sauce saltiness and some sugar sweet. That amazing fish sauce dipping sauce is served to be poured on the mixture that binds all the bowl partners together. This is another perfect summer dish in my books.

The ultimate litmus test in a Vietnamese place is its Beef Pho Noodles. Having said that I was not too wowed by the previous chef’s cooking, I was immediately impressed by this bowl with the change of guard. The secret to a good bowl of noddle is always in the broth, and this version grabbed my attention with the first sip. The fairly clear soup tasted complex from beef bones, interesting from the use of wood spices without shouting out their individual characteristics, and slightly dark and sweet from burnt whole onions. The co-stars in the bowl were equally impressive with the meat balls, thinly sliced beef, the bouncy Pho noodles, and the different garnishing which included the rarely served long leaf called Culantro in the Caribbean. After ingesting this revised recipe for the first time, I knew something was up in the back kitchen, and I did return indeed to try the other dishes.

The second litmus, in my mind, is another noodle soup, Bun Bo Hue, if it is offered at all in a Vietnamese joint. This is a spicy fragrant beef noodle soup with which the secret also lies in the broth like the above. The first sip of it again raised my eyebrows; it was complex with the lemongrass citrus fragrant hit, spicy with a slight throat-burning chili heat, and savory from the use of bones and the slightly funky shrimp paste in the making of its broth. Furthermore, some of the edible ingredients pointed towards a level of authenticity, notably blood cake and slices of tendon and pig’s feet. Not only I cannot get enough of this wonderful bowl, but also a friend who refuses to drink water as to not dilute the soup that he would devour until its last drop. I guess that is a testament to its oh-so-goodness.

Not all noodle dishes served here are the soup form. Tucked in the menu, and not on the display board, is Seafood Crispy Noodle. The first time I ordered this, they had forgotten the order, and after reminding them, the result that landed on my table was a sub par rushed job. However, I gave it another try. The second time around, it met my expectations. The noodles were perfectly crispy and cooked in-house, judging by the loud WHOOSH in the kitchen. The topping was a very tasty and savory mixture of seafood and vegetables: fish ball, perfectly cooked shrimp, squid (a bit overcooked the second time), faux crab (didn’t care for that) and a melange of slightly crispy but cooked vegetables. It was the sauce that not only tasted perfectly seasoned and savory, but it was more than enough liquid to soften the noodles with its flavors. I’m glad I give this dish another chance, making it high on my order list.

There are a couple of grilled meat dishes worth mentioning. The first is Grilled Chicken. Pieces of well-marinated chicken thigh (not breast, whew) have been grilled until the tips are slightly charred and crispy. What makes each bite sing in the mouth is the long marination that exuded fragrant lemongrass, salty fish sauce, a hint of garlic, and some sweetness. The salad with pickles and some rice were the perfect foil to these rich tasting bites. Usually not part of the meal, I always request a bowl of that so-good Pho soup to go with the meal, which they are happy to oblige me. With all these well done components, this is truly a satisfactory dinner worth ordering repeatedly.

The other grilled meat dish is Grilled Pork Chop. Again, pieces of pork chop have been marinated and pan-fried. The meat was slightly salty from fish sauce and sweet at the same time, while a dose of softened green onions added slight sweet pungency to these bites. However, the plate partners were equal heavy weights on the plate. The slice of meat loaf was very savory with a slight bounce from the use of wood fungus, as well as the pig skin salad that belied its nature with its slight smokiness and tasty allure. What makes this dish successful is the equal attention given to all the elements on the plate.

A couple of stews round-up this review. Bo Kho is a beef stew with pieces of carrot. Again, one sip of the broth pointed towards a set of knowledgeable and expert hands. It was perfumed with some lemongrass, sweetened with some tomato and the carrot pieces, spiced with some star-anise, and made savory by the pieces of quality beef that just fell apart in the mouth. A side of crusty baguette was the perfect vehicle to sop up every drop of this wonderful sauce. An alternative serving is with noodles, but I prefer the bread with these tasty meaty bites.

The other stew, and final dish, is Cari De, Goat Curry. This dish was not what I expected at all. Pieces of goat meat with the skin intact were coated in a thick curry sauce, more viscous than the usual Vietnamese curry. Furthermore, it was slightly sweet and it had a hint of acid (confirmed by the chef) with more spice fragrance than the usual renditions, tasting a step above Japanese curry but not the Madras kind. I started to appreciate the rather complex curry sauce as well as the meat whose mild-tasting skin I eventually got used to. Again, the baguette bread was the perfect accompaniment for the dish, instead of the noodles.

The low customer presence in this eatery made me wonder if I was off my game by raving about this small unassuming place, like some kind of crazy lonewolf. Checking online reviews of it, my praises for it were echoed by both novices and cognoscentis of the cuisine. I don’t know how long this establishment will last in this spot, but I hope more people will discover it and start to patronize this hidden treasure, albeit in the back of a supermarket. No doubt, all this was said for my own selfish benefit and hungry stomach.

Tag: Beef Pho Noodles

Anh Dao

I Love Pho