July 26, 2011

• Pho from Asia Grill: some assembly required

  Asia Grill PH: 212-753-9819

  1239 2nd Avenue New York, NY 10065

  
  

  So it was over 100 degrees Fahrenheit on Friday night, but it was literally FRIGID in the office…so much so that i was able to order hot pho and cha gio without breaking a sweat (before, during, and after). *i didn’t take the pics of store front or interior, those are courtesy of seamlessweb.com

  Décor:

  it always disappoints me whenever a joint tacks on the “we sell sushi too!”. kinda makes me feel that the joint isn’t good enough doing their own ethnicity, they got to throw in some Japanese… *shrug.

  PHOOD:

  
  

  food came semi hot, and took a long while to get to me. but whatever, i was freezing and needed some hot soup in me.

  
  

  Cha Gio (4, Vietnamese crispy fried spring roll filled with pork, shrimp, mushrooms, clear noodles, taro root and turnip, served with lettuce, fresh herbs and nucc cham sauce on side): super duper crispy! $5.50 way cheaper than Obao but no pickled veggies or pieces of romaine.

  
  

  now you can see the cross section of this crispy tasty morsel.

  
  

  on closer look you can see the shell is pretty much separate from the hot moist meaty insides…yes, my innards did fall out on occasion into the fish sauce out of the hard crispy skin…but it was still good…but i felt the flavoring from Obao was better.

  Pho Assembly: Ingredients

  
  

  Pho Bo Soup (A hearty ox tail soup with rice noodles, thin slices of beef and onion served with bean sprouts, basil and hoisin dipping sauce on the side): Unfortunately, the broth wasn’t hot enough, so i had to nuke it to make it super hot. I got the large as i was hungry and cold (L) $6.50

  
  

  the supplied bean sprouts, lemon, chilis and mint leaves.

  
  

  now in a separate container they had the large order of pho rice noodles, that were covered by very thinly sliced beef.

  

  with your powers combined…

  Step 1: empty some of the broth into the pho noodle container, as there is too much broth and will overspill if you just add the ingredients to it.

  Step 2: Add bean sprouts.

  Step 3: let bean sprouts absorb some of that hot yummy broth.

  Step 4: add thinly sliced beef to broth with bean sprouts.

  Step 5: eat a crispy spring roll, cause its getting cold.

  Step 6: Add Rice Noodles to Pho Broth.

  Step 7: look at the work of art as the ingredients marinate and meld together.

  
  

  Final Step: stuff your face. (this is Step 7, for you number nazi’s and those that ride the special bus)

  Summation: Unfortunately, with all that work and effort…the pho wasn’t that good. the broth was a little bit gamey…and the noodles just didn’t absorb any flavor so remained uber bland….i was quite disappointed….the beef was ok. broth was ok. noodles sub par. bean sprouts are vegetables, and your mom is a good cook. wait…what? atleast the spring rolls were good? i will most likely never order take out pho from this place again. Though i am curious as to what the pho would taste like sitting down to eat it. Cheers!

  • 12:28 am
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