Try Pho Saigon for real Vietnamese food

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By NEVA TRENIS
The Free Lance-Star

Date published: 2/7/2002

THE FREE LANCE-STAR

Used to be when I had a hankering for Vietnamese food, I had two choices: Get out the stock pot or gas up the Toyota. But bless the local family that opened up Pho Saigon Restaurant in Spotsylvania. They serve up tasty, authentic Vietnamese cuisine, and I don't have to drive an hour to get it.

The place opened in January, and already locals are lining up at the door to get steaming noodle soup, glistening garden rolls and jet-black coffee laced with creamy condensed milk. Hurried diners beware--this restaurant's quality has caused it to catch on fast--you might have to wait for a table.

First the name: Pho Saigon. "Pho" is Vietnamese for the authentic noodle soup prepared with traditional recipes. Perhaps the best thing about the huge ceramic bowls of steaming rice noodles and veggies is the rich homemade broth laced with star anise flavor.

On my first visit waitress Emily Le, daughter of owners An Tran and William Le, told me that when she was a little girl her mom made her "pho Saigon dac biet"--Hanoi beef noodle soup--to ward off colds and pass on a good dose of caring. And, while all the soups are authentic, she said, this is the most typical.

The huge bowl arrived (they call it small!) with almost boiling broth, silky rice vermicelli, scallions, cilantro and a variety of meats cut in paper thin slices: well-done flank steak, baked brisket with fat intact, gelatinous slices of savory stewed tendon and lacy tripe. It was all topped of with bright pink slices of the leanest round steak. If you want them cooked well-done, just plunge them into the piping hot noodles.

One of the best things about pho is that you get to add what you want from a plate of fresh garnishes: Throw in crispy mung bean sprouts, a fresh sprig of anise-flavored basil or hot pepper slices. Squeeze on lime juice, hoisin sauce or chili sauce.

And don't be shy about how to eat the stuff: Use your fork to twirl the noodles in the spoon. Or lift the noodles and meat with chopsticks while holding the bowl close to your mouth. Or just use your spoon to slurp it all up.

Date published: 2/7/2002