Steven T.
Yelp
Ahh yes, another Pho Binh. Fun fact, I used to live right across from the original location on Beamer Rd on the southeast side. Did you guys know that it's built from a trailer home? In the past decade they've grown into a local chain throughout Houston and for good reason.
Their pho is legen--wait for it--dary! L-E-G-E-N-D-A-R-Y..! As a kid I couldn't tell the difference. I mean, with the 2 lbs of hoison sauce and sriracha I was throwing into every bowl, who could? (Y'all feel free to throw me a comment if any one else did this as a kid.)
But because I'm more bougie, I can now point out the differences. The broth is fantastic. It's a very "clean" broth. Is it better than O.G. pho binh? No, but it's meniscually close, so for those looking to travel 25 miles out to see of there's a difference, you're wasting your time, but..! If you do, make sure you bring cash and know your pho. They don't provide menus--THAT'S HOW LEGIT AND BOSS THEY ARE.
Back to the broth. Clean, was it? Ah yes, it's translucently beautiful. I honestly like my bowls with just a spoon of fat/oil. Want to make it even more umami and fatty? Ask for a bowl of bone marrow to add in. Vietnamese baby Jesus would be proud, though you might visit him sooner than you think if you do this everyday.
My go to anywhere is "Pho tai bo vien," which is rice noods with meatball and thin cut eye round steak.
*pro tip, always ask for the steak on the side, unless you like yours extremely brown and tough (yuck).
Once the soup comes out, assess the heat. If it's already starting to cool, start moving the meat inside, but if you have time there's always this trick my uncle taught me: spray some sriracha on the beef, season with black pepper, and squeeze lime over it and marinade it for a minute or two. [Ramsay accent] "Meat, in." I aim for a pale pink and a hint of brown.
I think what I'm really surprised about is my fiancé ordered the phở gà khô (dry rice noods with chicken, some brown sauce relatable to teriyaki, and the broth on the side) and they asked her if she wanted white or dark meat. My mind exploded. Nobody ever asks that, seriously! Screw the calories, guys, team dark for life.
Bon appetit!
*Make sure you take a sip of your broth before making adjustments [with hoison or sriracha sauce] otherwise, it just hurts...
(Shout out to your boy if you get the reference)
Recommendations:
1.) Gee, I don't know. Maybe phở? Lol.
1.5.) Sorry, I couldn't help myself. But in all seriousness, if you like the tips above, order yourself a bowl of beef based broth and grab some "tai" (eye round steak) on the side. For folks who like their meat well done I would steer you towards trying Chín (Brisket) or Nạm (Flank) instead.
2.) If you like eggrolls and haven't tried the vietnamese variant, get it. You'll find that we make THE BEST eggrolls. They do serve it with sweet and sour sauce by default instead of fish sauce, though I'm sure they'll provide fish sauce instead if you ask.