Gerald S.
Yelp
Decided to take the scenic route back to Bucks from JFK and explore Staten Island. I really enjoyed the drive and realized that SI is much bigger than I imagined with urban, suburban, and historic locales.
When my hunger alarm went off I found myself in the vicinity of Pho Rainbow, and followed the Yelp directions to New Dorp. Found a place to park across the street along the railroad tracks, and went in. The shop has about ten tables and was clean and bright. The service was provided by two friendly women who appeared to be Chinese. They promptly brought over a pot of tea and a menu. A wide screen HDTV provided the rest of the entertainment.
Perhaps, I should have gone with the Pho given the colorful name of the house, but I was feeling more adventurous in keeping with my exploration of the Island, so ordered the Com Thit Nurong Lap Xurong Apla (White Rice under Grilled Sliced Pork, Chinese Sausage, and Fried Egg). It arrived after a few minutes and looked good on an overflowing plate. There was plenty of BBQ styled pork that had a very good flavor. The Chinese Sausage was segmented and grilled, sharing some of the smoky taste of the pork. The Fried Egg was cooked too long and was thus a distinct piece of the combination as opposed to melding with everything else with oozing egg yolk. There was more Broken Rice than I could consume.
While I was satisfied when I walked back to my car, my impression was that I had probably missed the star of the show here (pho), and had settled on something fairly mundane. It was okay, but did not instill a desire to return to try more dishes.
If I found myself in this neck of the woods again, I would not avoid Pho Rainbow, but neither would I rush back for more.