Thursday, January 12, 2012

San Francisco's Pho 2000 is Phantastic!

San Francisco is a great eating town. Arguably the local food movement started next door in Berkeley at Alice Water's Chez Panisse, and whether it's coffee, bread, or a bowl of Pho, San Franciscans really seem to care about what they put in their bodies. I've been coming to SF since the late 90's, when many of my friends followed the money trail  to SF and I was working for a Silicon Valley tech company that regularly sent me out West. The years have crept by and my friends have slowly trickled and sometimes sheepishly crept back to NY or other corners of the world. Sadly some, like my good friend Ari, are no longer with us. Still, he and others are alive in my many beautiful memories of those heady days before the Dot.Com bubble burst.  They are wistful mementos of a younger version of myself that are sweet but also fill me with a sense of longing for my lost youth. The days are creeping by and I grow long in the tooth... but thankfully San Francisco's  toothsome noodles are here to cheer me up.

Little Saigon is located in the Tenderloin District which, like most of San Francisco, is teeming with homeless people. The dispossessed seem to be a constant presence here, rivaled only by Calcotta, at least in my imagination since I've never been. The whole of San Francisco seems slightly run down, porn palaces and massage parlors abound, while neighborhood bars with seventies era signage occupy prime corners that NY has long ago ceded to banks and other yawn-inducing businesses. Essentially San Francisco is city with an edge. While New York's long established claim to all things avant-garde has steadily eroded under the irrepressible strain of gentrification, San Francisco has retained it's essential character, which is something to love and admire. Enter Pho 2000.

There are so many Vietnamese restaurants to choose from on a two block radius of Little Saigon where my hotel was located on Larkin and Eddy Street, but Pho was calling to me strongly, and ignoring my inner Pho voice can bring great peril. Pho 2000 at 637 Larkin seemed a likely enough spot- I mean, they have Pho in their name. This wasn't the  first time I'd visited a Pho 2000, there is one in Ho Chi Minh city I have visited (just OK) and there are others in LA and of course, Dorchester, MA. I'm sure they are unaffiliated. Why do they like this name? I can only assume these restaurants have all been around since before the year 2000 and hoped to snag by-passers with their futuristic noodle offerings. Are they living in the past?

One word of advice, don't go for the ambiance- unless you enjoy needlessly bright fluorescent lighting and elevator quality Chinese music thrumming in the background. I don't go to noodle places for the ambiance though, I go for the food, and I was very pleasantly surprised at Pho 2000. I started my meal with an order of "Imperial Rolls", usually called spring rolls (Cha Gio) in the East. They actually might have been the best Cha Gio I have ever had. They were thin skinned with such a beautiful crunch and a soft, savory center. The presentation was beautiful and even the fish sauce was of a higher quality than I'm used to-- all for $5.95. Apologies again for the poor picture quality--- it's the camera phone effect.

Imperial Rolls- so tasty!

As is my wont and custom I ordered the extra large bowl of Pho Thai with raw beef that cooks in the broth (6.95- add .75 to go large) and what came out could have filled a troff. They pack some serious volume into their bowls, and despite my best efforts, I was unable to finish it although I reveled in the Pholebensraum. I say I made my best effort because the Pho was actually incredible. The broth was fragrant and packed with homey flavor. It was beefy and spicy and yet it had all the undertones of exotic spices and star anise one could hope for, and there was just so much of it! The beef was delicious and did not arrive overcooked in the piping hot broth. Dipped in a mixture of chili and hoisin sauce it was nearly a meal unto itself. The noodles were a perfect al dente and just as voluminous as the broth. If I were less of a glutton, I would counsel people to skip the imperial rolls and just concentrate on the Pho, but they were so good I cannot in good conscience do so. Order them both and rejoice, but bring a doggy bag, or make sure there is a decent vomitorium in the neighborhood.


Delicious Pho at Pho 2000

Nice and thin al dente  Ban Pho noodles
This was really a great meal and the best Pho I've had in many a moon. One thing I noticed is that the Vietnamese restaurants in Little Saigon  actually seem to be run by Vietnamese people. In NY, quite often the Vietnamese restaurants are run by Chinese people. They may be Chinese people that came from Vietnam originally, but ethnically they are Chinese. I'm not trying to start any controversy here, but I wonder if that factors into the Pho equation at all. It's very hard to get a bowl of Pho this good in NY. Actually, it's difficult to get a decent bowl of Pho at all in NY. This was a fantastic meal and a great value. Two normal people could have feasted on this $15 meal, and they would have both left happy. I wish I had some more time to explore Little Saigon, but with a hectic work schedule it's tough to slip away and try some of the more unique dishes available, including a fascinating 7 course beef tasting at Pagolac (Vegetarians take note to avoid). I've only scratched the surface, but from what I've seen at Pho 2000, the future is bright. Or is it the past?