Adam & Eats: Pho King

On this week’s adventure, we are heading to an old favorite of mine. And old is a relative term, seeing as how they’ve only been around for a few years.

Now, this place isn’t the fastest joint in the world, but it allows you to get away with swearing in mixed company, so it balances out. Somehow. I hope you are ready for deliciously unrecognizable food, because we’re eating Asian food this week.

Located next to Middle Earth Pet Store (keep your snide comments to yourself, they were there before the pet store) in the shopping strip with the metal gorilla out front on Waldron Road is the infamous Pho King.

I have to get this joke out of the way now so that we can talk about more important things. They are the best Pho King restaurant in town. Ahem. Moving on.

Pho King is similar to my two other favorite Vietnamese restaurants in that they smell deliciously the same. While they are a bit grittier than Pho Hoang on Grand Avenue, they are much less cluttered than Pho Vietnam on Rogers. Like I mentioned earlier, the service is a bit slow, but the quality of food makes up for it.

If you are not familiar with Vietnamese food, Pho King is a great place to test the waters without breaking the bank. The waitstaff seems to be just as perplexed by pronunciation as beginners are and there are pictures in the menu of what you are ordering. It is an excellent way to find out what you like, and don’t like, in the event that you find yourself in a less non-Vietnamese-user friendly restaurant.

For example, if I said I was in the mood for some Bun Bo Hue, my Vietnamese friends would know what I wanted, as well as my friends who are familiar with Vietnamese cuisine. The Vietnamese food newbie would be lost and praying that it was something delicious. It’s a good thing we’ve got pictures.

Now that food has been called by name, I guess we’d better talk about it. And for the record, the Bun Bo Hue here is awesome. For those who don’t know, I’m talking about spicy beef and noodle soup. Also, try the Cha tau hu ky (A2) appetizer. It is one of the most amazing things I’ve ever tried at an Asian restaurant. It is shrimp wrapped in tofu and then fried. So yummy. (From here on out I’ll just refer to numbers on the menu because Microsoft Word is red flagging everything I type in Vietnamese and it is starting to give me a headache.)

The pho here is great, but I’m a bigger fan of the vermicelli bowls, in particular the B7 and the B11.

The B7 is vermicelli with chicken and an eggroll. The B11 is vermicelli with spicy chicken curry. Both come piping hot and served with carrots and daikon (radish), bean sprouts, green onions, crushed peanuts, mint, and a side of fish sauce. They are a perfect, light meal for those days when you are recovering from eating your weight in sausage at Emmy’s the night before.

If you haven’t eaten Vietnamese food before, or if you simply haven’t tried Pho King, do it. You’ll find that the experience is most pleasurable.

Until next time, good eating to you and yours.