[1/13/2007] Pho 79 Vietnamese Restaurant

Pho 79 Vietnamese Restaurant
29 S. Garfield Ave.
Alhambra, CA 91801
(626) 289-0239
http://www.pho79.com

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I went hiking at Arcadia Chantry Flats with Wen and her family on this Saturday morning. To fill our hungry stomach after the hike, Pho 79 was the destination.

We arrived the restaurant around 1pm. Business was busy as usual. Quite a few people are waiting for tables. Luckily they just happened to have a 5 people table available so we didn't have to wait.


Condiments

There are different kinds of condiments on the table. When I eat Vietnamese food, I need to have the brown Hoisin sauce and the red chili sauce. Without these two, I just feel like something is missing with my pho.


Cha Gio (US$4.95)

We ordered Cha Gio (Vietnamese eggrolls) as appetizer. There were minced meat and mushroom inside the golden crispy shell. We dipped them in the sweet/sour fish sauce, wrapped them with lettuce, Delicious!


Com Bi Cha Bo Nuong ($5.75)

Wen ordered Com Bi Cha Bo Nuong (Charbroiled beef, shredded pork and steamed egg with rice) for her son because he likes both steak and egg. I like Vietnamese style charbroiled beef and pork. It has a sweet taste to it. I like their steamed egg as well. There were minced meat, mushroom and vercimelli with the flavorful steamed egg. The rice they used was Vietnamese borken rice.


Pho Dac Biet ($5.50)

Everytime I go to a Vietnamese restaurant, I always tell myself to try something different. But I always end up ordering a bowl of pho (beef noodle soup). I got Pho Dac Biet this time. It is the combination beef noodle soup with rare beef, cooked beef, tendon and tripe. The rice noodle was done perfectly. The broth was simmered for days with beef bone. It was so good. Having a bowl of hot noodle soup is so perfect on a cold winter day. The portion was big. I could only finish half of this bowl. Leo and Henry both ordered Pho Xe Lua ($5.95), which is XL combination beef noodle soup. Both of them finished the whole bowl in minutes!


Banh Hoi Nem Nuong Chao Tom ($6.50)

Wen ordered Banh Hoi Nem Nuong Chao Tom. It has charbroiled meat balls and shrimp paste served with vercimelli and thin rice paper. We didn't really know the proper way to eat this dish since none of us had it before. We assumed you wrap everything in the rice paper with the peanut sauce. It was pretty interesting, but good.




Cafe Sua Nong ($1.95)

Even though I was full, I couldn't resisit a cup of Vietnamese iced coffee. The order came with a cup with condensed milk, dripping hot vietnamese coffee sitting on top of the cup and a glass full with ice. After waiting for about 10 minutes for the hot coffee to finishing dripping, I mixed it with the sweet condensed milk, then pour the hot coffee into the glass with ice. A perfect cup of Vietnamese iced coffee. Vietnamese coffee is so rish and stong. After this cup, I couldn't sleep till 3am.

I like Vietnamese food. It's cheap, filling and delicious.

Chinese review