What the Pho?

There's a new Vietnamese restaurant down 10th street on Keyes. It's called Pho Tau Bay Noodle House. I was really impressed with the Pho and the service. Now let's not go crazy, this is a family run Asian restaurant, so good service means most of the people smiled and were not surly. Heck, here they were actually nice. No water refills, but nice and water in an Asian restaurant means cha-ching.

The pho was actually pretty good, the broth good but not exceptional, though I actually like it a bit bland. I don't know for sure, but I don't think they include MSG in their broth. MSG can give the broth a bit more flavor, but I generally have a reaction to MSG, something in the back of my throat that tells me it is present. That's why I usually avoid Hoisin sauce as most brand contain MSG. I didn't have that feeling here, and it was nice, and I hope that they do not use MSG.

The veggie tray was good with plenty of sprouts and both basil and dandelion greens--you don't always get dandelion greens. I ordered my Pho usual: Chin, Nam, Gau, Gun, Sach. That is basically three kinds of beef and tripe and tendon. I really like this place because the tendon is a huge hunk of gelatinous goodness, but on the other hand the tripe was a little under represented. I know, I know, tripe you're thinking tripe is just chewy and bland, but I disagree. Tripe has a wonderfully subtle flavor and texture which goes great in soups. As to the beef, it was good; I don't usually do rare steak, Tai, because I prefer the fatty content of brisket and its eventual effect on the broth, though one day I would like to get the plate of rare Tai on the side and then swish it into the broth before eating it super rare.

I also ordered spring rolls, goi cuon. The spring rolls were fairly fresh, not made on the spot, but I would say they were made in the last few hours, you can sometimes tell by the wrap. The large bowl was huge and I didn't finish all of the noodles, which I normally do, but I made sure I fished out all of the meat.

You know, I always seem to order the same things when I do Pho, I would really like to get some input on other things to try. I need to find a friend, maybe a hot friend with a smoking hot body, to guide me into new horizons with regards to Vietnamese cuisine. I did seafood Pho at another place once and was a bit disappointed, I should try it again, but I just don’t want to risk a bad experience. I did Bun Bo Hue once and didn’t dig it. I am always in the Vietnamese shopping mall on Story and see the huge plates of greens and other yummy looking stuff. I just need a guide to this type of food.

Anyway, I am happy to have found Pho Tau Bay and I now have a go to place for Pho, which was something that was missing from downtown San Jose. They say they’re open until midnight, so I’ll have to check it out on the way back from APA pool league night.

Oh, and sorry about the bad pun on top.