For many, “Bay Area cuisine” conjures up images of avocados, tacos, small plates, Alice Waters and disappointingly, for David Chang, the vision of a few balsamic vinegar-drizzled figs on a plate. But for me, San Francisco is all about the pho.
For the uninitiated, pho (pronounced “pha”) is Vietnamese noodle soup. It’s served in bowls bigger than your head and it is the most satisfying food on the planet. The basic components — broth, vermicelli, meat and/or vegetables — along with the extras — mung bean sprouts, basil, lime, hot sauce — are standard enough to allow for fair comparison between the dozens (hundreds?) of Vietnamese restaurants in the city, but varied enough to account for obsessive cataloging of small differences.
For instance, a basic variation is between Northern and Southern Vietnamese pho. Northern pho, as exemplified by both locations of S.F.’s popular Turtle Tower restaurant, doesn’t do it with all the fixings and uses flat broader noodles instead of thin vermicelli. The broth also tends to be less spicy than Southern style. Pho purists stick with version of beef pho — the original pho — that can be ordered any number of ways, with any number of beef parts. Beef balls; flank; tendons; thinly sliced; done as a brisket; and rare enough to cook in the soup are all popular options.
TAKING STOCK
Personally, though, I do not prefer cow in my pho. And as delicious as I find Turtle Tower, I crave the little plate with basil, lime, and bean sprouts next to my soup. In thinking about how to best write about my pho romance, I thought about trying to prepare it myself — but no pho that I make could possibly contain my favorite parts (and good pho broth alone can take years to perfect.) Also, frankly, I failed in my attempt to make basil simple syrup lately. I am a horrible cook. Another notion came to the fore. What if I combined all the elements from my favorite pho joints?
After soliciting recommendations from friends, scouring interweb, and then drawing upon weeks of delicious research, behold… FrankenPho.
Like the original monster, FrankenPho is an unholy thing, and I know that my elements aren’t to everyone’s taste. I also mean no disrespect to the fine purveyors of pho from whom I’ve pillaged for materials: your whole soup is a beautiful thing. But I gotta say, FrankenPho was literally a dream come true. For one glorious afternoon, a friend and I drove around S.F. on a pho’tastic voyage.
THE BROTH
The broth is probably the most important single element of pho. After sifting through recommendations — Vietnam II, on Larkin Street’s Little Saigon strip was particularly popular — I decided to go with beef broth from Evergreen. After walking by the restaurant, which sits on an especially desolate strip of Harrison Street near 18th Street in the Mission, for years, I went in a few months ago. Since then, I’ve been averaging one trip a week. While the meat can be uneven and the vegetables in the veggie pho aren’t my favorite, the broth is a dream.
For making FrankenPho, hot broth is good broth. Once home, I pulled out a big bowl and dumped it in. After smelling a few others, the broth from Evergreen was the clear standout. Bits of clove added a spicy element to the aroma, while the long-simmered beef essence gave a smooth, buttery mouth-feel. Is it too much to want to bathe in the stuff?
THE NOODLES
Next up, the noodles. In addition to pho, I am also a huge bun (Vietnamese vermicelli dish, with meat, veggies and/or fried imperial rolls) lover but for FrankenPho, only Turtle Tower’s flat pasta would do. They are just more fun to eat: slippery but with good flavor. Given that the big bowls always contain quite a large mass of noodles, the bland rice
vermicelli can feel heavy. The flat noodles are softer, as well, so no need to let them linger in the broth too long before eating or they might get too fluffy. For those with any desire to make a FrankenPho of your own, Turtle Tower offers noodles by themselves on the menu for a mere $1.50.
THE MEAT
As previously noted, I rarely go for pho ga (chicken pho), usually ordering veggie. At many restaurants, the chicken is an afterthought and tastes that way: soggy and grey with little flavor. On a friend’s recommendation, I checked out Golden Star Vietnamese in Chinatown, apparently known for their poultry. Found on a little street off of Clay, Golden Star has the same
no-nonsense serving style as most pho places, but takes a strangely long time to bring out the chicken dishes. After sampling a chicken bun, I realized the wait was worth it — I was in love. Five Spice Chicken Special was tangy, fragrant, savory. Inside the FrankenPho, Golden Star’s chicken contrasted nicely with the broth. Definitely worth a trip past Little Saigon.
THE VEGGIES
Pho has traditionally been a meat-heavy dish, so most traditionalists
might shriek about throwing too many things into the pot. At some
places, too, veggie pho is scorned to the point of not being on the
menu. But Sunflower, a restaurant with two entrances around 16th and
Valencia, makes a great meal out of its vegetable pho. Broccoli, red
peppers, cauliflower and sometimes even squash perk up what can be a
rather dull-looking bowl. With FrankenPho, the more elements, the
merrier.
Voila! Franken-effing-Pho! It took two people to assemble (thanks Heidi!) and two people, at the least, to consume. After the bean sprouts, basil and lime were all liberally added, and with Sriracha bottle in hand, I grabbed a giant spoon and dug in. It was lovely. Just then, I got a text about a friend of a friend’s favorite secret pho joint that apparently operates out of a donut shop on San Bruno Avenue. Was I interested? Mais oui! As a true aficionado, I love that San Francisco is one pho’d up city.
DO IT YOURSELF
What would you put in your FrankenPho? What am I missing? If you’re
looking to start sampling the different pho options, Little Saigon — a
neighborhood surrounding Larkin Street between McAllister and Geary —
is a great place to start.
Stop by Turtle Tower there or check out their Richmond location. For the chicken, head to Golden Star Vietnamese Restaurant. In the Mission, check out Evergreen Garden Restaurant and Sunflower Authentic Vietnamese Restaurant. Go forth and pho!
bluebuddha
Love Turtle Tower. Love Sunflower! Love Golden Star!
But Vietnam II? Meh.
And Evergreen?! Please! Horrible!
But love the idea of FrankenPho.
Sarah H
I just ate at Pho 2000 next door to Turtle Tower on Larkin and was impressed with their steaming hot, clear broth.
I also think Thanh Tam II on Valencia is decent, if you're fiending for pho while in the Mission. I prefer it to Sunflower's pho.
burazer
In SOMA, Rainbow Way has good pho, its a little hole in the wall joint on 3rd + Bryant. It's the closest place to my work and the chicken is not grey, its either dark or its white. Thank you for your Pho focus.
Run Your Mouth