Friday, 19 August 2011

• The Best Pho In Orange County?

  

  I have to end that title with a question mark because to be honest, people's favorite pho restaurants can be a touchy and personal subject. People take their noodles very seriously ) And I haven't tried ALL of the phos in Orange County but I have tried some of the major players:

  Pho Kimmy: Very popular with the yelp crew and old school viet people seem to love the pho here. For some reason, I just think it's ok. So if you love Pho Kimmy, take my review with a grain of salt.

  Pho Thanh Lich: Winner of  the OC Weekly's Final Pho showdown you would think it would be really good but than again, the final competitor was Brodard Chateau (???) who is much more known for their nem nuong spring rolls than their pho. Again, I thought it was good, but nothing special.

  That's the problem with pho to me....I rarely have bad pho and I rarely have really, really good pho. BUT, there is one pho place that stands out above the rest.

  This place was first introduced to me by one of my good friend's boyfriends who swears by this bowl of pho. I scoffed and told him I had tried the best of the best and was not impressed, but he kept telling me to go. So finally I made it out to his favorite; Pho 79.

  The only pho place I've seen with so many Zagat ratings!

  

   

  And by the way, this is the Pho 79 on Brookhurst and Hazard. Pho 79 is so successful that they have several chains but I have heard each restaurant caters to a different part of Viet with their own unique broths.

  Husband says the quality of meat here is excellent. By the way, real viets eat their pho with the "meat on the side"!
  
  

  

  I, on the otherhand, am too lazy to dunk my meat in with every bite. But the meat is still perfectly cooked but slightly on the rare side before it ends up in my mouth. Also, this place is very generous with the meat. I *always* have meat leftover when I am done with my pho and that never happens at any other pho place!

  

   

  The real standout here are the noodles though. They are the most perfectly cooked pho noodles I have ever had. I am a sucker for "al dente" noodles though.

  We also ordered Vietnamese Iced Coffee and as you can see they let you filter it at the table. Legit!

  

   

  So I can finally say I have a favorite pho place, where is your favorite place?

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