| Overall (based on 3 ratings) |  |
| Broth (flavor, fragrance, clarity) | |
| Noodles (texture, clumpiness) | |
| Meat (tenderness, quality) | |
| Vegetables (variety, freshness) | |
C. Nguyen
Small restaurant, cozy atmosphere, fast friendly service. Pricier in comparison to Southwest/Western, maybe more typical here for Northeastern area. I ordered my usual benchmark of rare steak/meatball ... only have one size here. Starts with $6.99 for single "topping" to $7.99 for the combo. Very bottom of the page is "extra toppings $2 or more" ... no kidding.
The pho arrived well within the 5 minutes mark with good medium large portion. The broth is decent with good balance of anise, beefiness, and light fatiness. The meat is well represented as well as the meatballs, no complaints there. The noodles were cooked al dente with good indication that it was from fresh noodle source, very chewy, no mushiness present. The vegetation was a little sparse with only sprouts, one sprig of VN basil, and one lime wedge. Despite this, they are very, very fresh.
With the rain tap dancing on the window panes, the tradition VN music clearly audible above the din of mixed conversations between patrons and the light bantering of the staff and their kids coming from the back kitchen, if you close your eyes, you can ... almost... think you are dining at a side street cafe in VN ...
True to their words, when the bill came the "extra" meatballs boosted the bill by $3 ... ouchie. Luckily, their house tea is complimentary so it softened the blow a little.
Like the other VN restaurants, they only take cash, no credit or debit cards.
While that may fatten up their bottom line by saving them the 5 or so % credit card charges, they do not realize they are turning away the big parties and well heeled customers that they could have serviced cuz they ...WANT TO CHARGE IT... . That's VN Business 101 for ya, go figure.
I would have recommend this to my work buddies, I know they won't go for sure if they can't use their corporate card. Oh well...
