Gerald S.
Yelp
Adams Avenue in Northeast Philadelphia is a center for the Vietnamese community. The neighborhood is full of pho and com (noodle & rice) houses that are about as authentic as you can find on the East Coast. No, it is not yet as diverse as Garden Grove, CA, with little differentiation between southern and northern style cuisine, but what they do have, they do well by and large.
Pho Ha Saigon benefits from being a fairly new structure; well designed and spacious enough (in a post industrial sort of way) to attract and hold your attention, with a respectable and capable kitchen. The service staff is generally bilingual and large enough to stay on top of their work. Their HVAC is strong enough to suck the front doors closed and create a semi-vacuum between them, making prying them open to enter or exit a chore. Hopefully, that also means there is sufficient circulation to be sucking out any Covid suspended in the air.
I went with a smaller bowl of Pho Ga (Chicken Noodle Soup), Spring Rolls, and takeout for the family of Grilled Beef w Vermicelli, and Roast Pork/Beef Banh Mi). The bowl was still large enough for a few goldfish to swim comfortably. The chicken broth had very good flavor profile and there were plenty of accessories (Thai basil, sprouts, jalapeno slices, & lime wedge) to adapt to my tastebuds. The sliced breast meat was downright generous, and the under the surface nest of thin rice noodles, more than adequate.
While the Spring Rolls were generic, with standard sweet dipping sauce, the pho was a pleasure to slurp with flat spoon in one hand and chopsticks in the other. It filled me completely. I suppose the broth could have been somewhat deeper in secondary seasoning and simmer time, because I found myself suffering a mild case of MSG poisoning on the way home. I am allergic to it, and I should have warned them when ordering. Still, MSG really shouldn't even be in their kitchen. Chalk it up to my oversight. I won't remove a star, but reserve the right to let people know in case they are also sensitive to it.
That evening my family went after the Banh Mi and Vermicelli dish with gusto. The sandwiches were stuffed and had great taste with strong roll contributions. The Grilled Beef was succulent and in small thin sliced pieces. Delicious.
But for my bout with the food additive, I totally enjoyed my meal at Pho Ha Saigon, and will not hesitate to return with memo to self about inquiring about MSG.