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Pho One, a closer look
Aloha!
6/13/09 - Oh, man did I get razed by Big Al and Da Gooch the other night! Both were totally harping on me for my lukewarm attention to Magoo's Pizza a few closer look's ago! C'mon, guys, was it really all that bad a review? I actually gave high marks to their garlic bread and sandwiches; it's just that the pizza doesn't do much for me, is all. I mean, give me a cold beer and I'll be more than happy with it, but comparatively speaking... well, I'll stop here already, lest I get into even more trouble! Did I not tell you that the veins of Magoo's Pizza runs deep here on the island, and is the subject of a plethora of passionate views and opinions? Well, I rest my case...
By the way, I got my razing while gathered at Miyabi the other night, a relatively new Japanese spot on Kapahulu Ave., right across from Go Banana's and The Running Room. You'll hear about the evening real soon, but just know that they do serve some great, very traditional Japanese dishes...
I know one thing we can all agree upon, however, and that is that Pho One is a fabulous place for Vietnamese cuisine. There's a couple of concerns here, however, most notably the prices, as Pho One probably adds another buck or even more to just about any dish. But that's probably due to the nicest dining room I've ever seen for a Vietnamese restaurant, at least on this island.
This happens to be the overflow section, which, save for a single worker on lunch break, was completely empty at the time. On the other side of those flower-adorned glass walls, just about every booth and table was taken!
The restaurant sits in that medium-rise apartment building on Kapiolani Blvd., with Ala Moana Center behind it and the Pan Am building in front. Parking is either in the few lots fronting the store (good luck!) or through the corridor on the immediate right, but make sure you read the signs stating which spaces are reserved for the restaurant.
I remember when these guys were located just ewa on Kapiolani, in an older, much less accomodating dining room that was housed in one of the buildings bulldozed-over to make room for the massive Nordstrom's mega-fashion store. That was back during the beginning's of the pho craze here in Honolulu, and the same great taste so evident back then was still apparent today.
The pho is as deep, flavorful, and redolent with spices as it gets anywhere, and can always be relied upon to satisfy your pho needs. They come with all the veggies you can expect, as well, including bean sprouts, basil, mint, chili peppers, and ngo gai. For anyone suffering the extreme culinary abuse of having never tried a bowl of pho, please do yourself a favor and go to the Vietnamese section of this site, learn the correct way to enjoy this dish, then head-on down to any of the great restaurants listed there, including right here at Pho 1!
You may be wondering - where's the beef? They won't always ask, especially if you're not Vietnamese, but an optional preference for some is to have their beef on the side, completely in the raw! This way, you can incrementally add the cuts to your broth so it doesn't overcook and become dry and tough. An even more exotic way, however, was taught me by my good friend Kiet (yeah, he's Vietnamese, BTW), who would toss the raw slices in lemon juice to cook, in much the same manner as a ceviche, and follow that with another toss inside of a combination of hoisin and the various chili sauces found at each table, which also happens to be the same mix used for pho, as well.
Personally, I'm not so high on that method, and neither is wifey, both of us preferring our beef cooked by actual heat, rather than through an acidic chemical process. Don't quite know how those slices of beef got so bright-red. Kinda looks like candy. Do they treat beef with carbon monoxide, like they do ahi, to get it so red?
I just love Vietnamese salads. Whether it comes with lettuce, cabbage, green papaya, squid, chicken, beef, or whatever, they usually come festive-looking, adorned with little bits and pieces of peanut, refreshing herbs like basil and mint, shards of protein (if any), and a light, tangy, slightly-sweet vinaigrette. Today, it was all about jellyfish. Well, not all, as there's a whole lotta other things here in this pretty mound of ingredaments, and it would've actually been great even without it!
Jellyfish ain't the most flavor-laden of tastes, after all. It's more about the fun and novelty of ordering such a dish, and hey, if you're looking for something at least semi-exotic and different, at least you don't have to worry about nasty and pungent smells, extreme sharpness, or any other horrifically strong attributes and qualities, such as, say, in a dish of durian, natto, lutefisk, or live grubs. Pretty tame stuff, jellyfish is, with a kind of pleasantly firm, crispy-snappy, noodle-like consistency and slippery feel, but a taste that is somewhat inconsequential.
The salad also came with a rather interesting side. These shrimp chips were the largest I'd ever seen, covering almost the entire salad-sized plate! Thick, crunchy, and airy, they did pack as much shrimp flavor as any other shimp chip you'll ever meet, and me, I do happen to be one of those guys who love a good chip with sandwiches, soups, and lots of other dishes, including salads!
And finally, my entree consisted of grilled bbq pork and spring rolls over vermicelli noodles. Most Vietnamese restaurants will devote large sections of their menu to hot rice bowls and cold vermicelli noodle bowls, both of which are topped with whatever choice of main dish items they happen to feature. Rice bowls usually soak up whatever juices they can from the meats layered on-top, while noodles come broth-less, at least for this particular style, with a small, separate container filled with a tangy, sweet fish sauce that is similiar, if not completely identical to, the vinaigrette used in their salads. We've all seen that sauce before, yes?
Pho One hits just about everything out of the park, and covers all the major bases well, such as spring rolls, bbq meats, salads, rice and noodle bowls, and, of course - pho. If you're a crab-lover, and I'm not talking crab-leg-lover (big difference!), who loves crab miso (only then can you be considered a true crab lover!), try their hot crab noodle soup - the taste is so rich and potent you'll think a whole barrel of them were cooked down and concentrated for a single bowl!
The food itself is fabulous and so is the atmosphere, but besides prices, the only other concern is regarding the service - it's pretty consistently horrible. They're usually not rude or anything, just, well... highly indifferent. Workers are often flying-by so fast it's like waving down a roving cart in an ultra-busy dim sum restaurant when you're the only non-Chinese person in the entire room, while on the other hand, there always seems to be that one individual standing around in a daze like a Union employee before their morning batch of coffee, donuts, and that extra first-hour on the clock before any work actually begins. Easy, over there... Don't know what it is. I know one thing, however, that if all Vietnamese restaurants trained their employees like Hale Vietnam in Kaimuki, we'd all be pampered and spoiled, that's for sure.
Food-wise, however, you can't go wrong, and so... it's all worth it!!! Check 'em out, brah, you'll see!
Hope you're all having a fabulous weekend!
Take care and Aloha till next time!
Aku
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