Mike L.
Yelp
Even though I pass by here somewhat regularly, I have to admit that I'd never felt a compelling urge to stop into Pho Huong. I certainly wasn't opposed to it (I'm always down to try most restaurants, especially pho joints), but there was nothing about this place that really stood out. However, after hearing some good things about this place from friends, including one who is a bit pickier than the rest, they almost immediately moved onto my radar. After all, if they managed to impress her, then the food must be pretty good!
Stepping inside, Pho Huong is fairly spacious, albeit somewhat awkwardly set-up (there's a front section of tables that feels set apart from the rest of the space. What stood out to me even more, though, was that the menu is rather narrow compared to most other pho joints that I've been to. It's nice that they offer the option for people to create their own beef pho (choice of five different meats that you can mix and match) and chicken pho (two different types of noodles with choice of breast meat, thigh meat, or both), but just one other noodle soup (beef stew). Similarly, there are a couple of starters to choose from, as well as a few types of vermicelli noodle dishes, but nothing in the way of rice plates, if that's something you were looking for.
-- SPECIAL BEEF PHO - ALL MEATS COMBO - Hanoi Style Beef Pho with Flat Rice Noodles, Rare Steak, Well Done Flank, Butter Brisket, Tendon, and Beef Balls...$20.75 (Large)
It's shocking of me to say this, but the ratio of noodles to meat was a little too skewed to the latter. Otherwise, this was pretty decent all around - all of the meats were great, though one chunk of tendon was kind of hard, and the broth wasn't too shabby either.
-- FRIED CRAB SPRING ROLLS...$10.95
This was terrific. The wraps on the rolls were a little thin, but I loved how full and plump these were. What's more, the filling was quite flavorful with all of the crab in it and the overall taste wasn't super oily. Would def recommend.
-- CHARMING CHICKEN PHO - House Chicken Pho with Flat Rice Noodles, Chicken Thigh, and Chicken Breast...$18.75 (Medium)
Came back specifically for this and, thankfully, it didn't disappoint! While the noodles were just okay, the chunks of thigh and breast, surprisingly, were quite moist and flavorful. FWIW, the broth was better than the beef one, too.
As far as service goes, it seems to be somewhat bi-polar. One the one hand, the male worker who circles from table to table to take orders and people's payments (doesn't seem to be one of the owners), is friendly and moves around really fast. On the other hand, the female worker that hangs out by the doorway to the kitchen (seemingly the owner) practically glared at our table the entire time we were there. Not sure why, as it's not like we were there right before closing, but every time I looked up, I could see her eyes staring back at me as if I was about to steal their sriracha or something.
Regardless of whether the lady was glaring at us or not, the bigger issue that gives me pause about coming back to Pho Huong is the menu prices. I try to avoid saying things are overpriced, but I don't have an issue noting that it's short on value here. While $11 feels reasonable for the crab spring roll, $21 for not the largest large bowl of pho and $19 for pho ga definitely caught my attention. So much so that if I had realized this was a northern Vietnamese restaurant before my first visit here, I would've got the chicken pho that time and possibly saved myself from having to come back for it (whoops). For that reason, despite how the food is arguably four stars based on taste, I'm rounding down from THREE AND A HALF stars based on value.