Vietnamese restaurants offering pho, the traditional soup with beef and noodles, abound in Honolulu. There are probably more pho restaurants than McDonald's, if we don't miss our guess. In Waikiki, the offerings are less numerous, but there are some. Recently we visited Pho Old Saigon, on the mauka side of Kuhio in the heart of Waikiki, between Seaside and Nohonani.
Pho Old Saigon has a very extensive menu, and we were only able to sample a couple of dishes this time around.
We started out with an order of cha gio, the popular Vietnamese egg rolls. We'll say that they were about average. They were nicely fried and attractively served, but somewhat bland in flavor, and we need to spice up our nuoc mam (Vietnamese fish sauce in which the egg rolls are dipped) with some hot chile sauce to give the egg rolls a needed lift. We noted that they were made with Chinese-style egg roll wrappers rather than with rice paper. The use of rice paper is typically Vietnamese, but making rice paper egg rolls is more costly and labor-intensive. An order of six egg rolls at Pho Old Saigon is $11.95, and they're listed on the menu as "spring rolls."
Of course, we had to try the pho. Out of a large number of options, we went with the one that most Americans seem to order, pho tai, or pho with slices of rare beef.
The pho was served with the traditional accompaniments: fresh herbs, chile slices, bean sprouts, etc. We mixed hoisin sauce and chile sauce to add to the broth, as is usual when eating pho.
We thought the flavor of the broth was too thin. Pho broth should have strength, but it is very common for Vietnamese restaurants who want to attract a mostly Western clientele to dilute the broth to suit what the chef thinks is Western taste. In our opinion this is always a mistake; strong, well-made pho broth is delicious and can't be matched by a thinner, less authentic version. A small bowl of pho, which is large enough for a very good meal, is $9.95.
We also ordered one of the special Vietnamese dishes, grilled pork with shredded pork and rice, or com tam bi thit nuong. This is definitely something to try if you want authentic Vietnamese cuisine. The grilled pork had a nice charcoal flavor without being dry. The shredded pork was, again, best described as "average." The dish on the whole was reasonably good though hardly outstanding. It sold for $11.95.
We complimented our meal with the popular Vietnamese iced coffee, ca phe sua da, for $4.95.
Pho Old Saigon claims to be the only Vietnamese restaurant in Waikiki, but that's not quite true, as you can get Vietnamese food in the International Market's food court. And if you're looking for the best O`ahu has to offer, you'll have to go outside Waikiki, to a place such as To Chau in Chinatown.
Pho Old Saigon offers reasonably good Vietnamese food, at a price noticeably higher than you'll pay outside of Waikiki. We can't say that the restaurant offers outstanding cuisine or an outstanding value, but if you want a sit-down Vietnamese meal and don't want to venture out of Waikiki, this is the place.
Note: In this story we did not render Vietnamese orthographical markings as they do not reproduce reliably on all browsers.
5 comments:
I have eaten pho twice and did not like it. The broth did not have a strong beef flavor and was too thin.
I prefer saimin, ramen, or kooksoo instead.
BTW, you might get more comments if you opened your comment box to Anonymous or ID/URL commenters.
Gigi, sorry to hear that your experiences with pho were not to your liking. Overly thin broth is generally the mark of a restaurant that thinks it is catering to Western tastes. You might try To Chau in Chinatown for one of the best bowls of pho on the island. Pho Tri on Kalakaua near Beretania is also very good.
Of course, good saimin or ramen is a "can't go wrong" meal too.
Opening up comments was a great suggestion and that's now done. Thanks for the idea.
I'm not too familiar with pho accept from what I've read on food blogs, where pho seems to be all the rage. My own theory is that the Vietnamese cuisine was influenced by French colonizers if that makes sense which accounts for some of Vietnamese food's appeal.
Ron: apologies for the delay in posting your comment. Vietnamese cuisine was indeed influenced by years of French colonialisim; witness the Vietnamese sandwich (as above) which is Asian -style meat and herbs on a French roll. Of course, Chinese influence is even greater, to no one's surprise.
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