GET YOUR PHO FIX Local restaurants serve this tasty Vietnamese dish with mouthwatering results.
Pho by Pleiku
HAVE IT YOUR WAY Pleiku’s pho is traditional—it’s made from restaurant owner David Tran’s mother’s recipe she brought with her from Vietnam—both vegetarian and beef-based broths are brewed for 36 hours with fresh ginger, onion and star anise. But as Tran learned from his past Asian tapas restaurant, Pipa, not every diner wants to commit to the traditional bathtub-sized serving of pho. To suit Western dining preferences, he
added cup-sized servings of the steaming soup to his menu, so diners can start their meal with pho, then move on to other dishes. In fact, the “fusion” here is more an East-meets-West mix of restaurant philosophies than cuisines. The décor is L.A. Minimalist, the menu is edited and personalized and the rhythm of dining here is more like a Western bistro than a funky pho shop. 264 Main Street, SLC, 801-359-4544
THE ART OF EATING PHO
PHO PROTEINS
All those noodles. All that broth. What’s a Utahn to do? Eating pho calls for a different etiquette from our European knife-andfork tradition.
Options that go beyond beef • Shrimp, peeled and deveined • Chicken breast, cut into thin strips • Tofu, cubed • Meatballs, about oneinch in diameter PHOTOS BY ADAM FINKLE
• Scallops, thinly sliced Tip: To make slicing easier and slices thinner, partially freeze meat (20–30 minutes) before slicing.
David Tran
Set each guest’s place with chopsticks and a soup spoon. You can find traditional pho spoons at Pier1, Crate & Barrel or a local Asian market. Use one hand for chopsticks, the other for the soup spoon. Take a sip of broth first. It’s okay to put your face close to the bowl—you want to get a real whiff of all the aromatics. Use the chopsticks for the noodles and when they’re gone, pick up the bowl and slurp right out of it. This is not considered poor form.
LA-CAI NOODLE HOUSE It’s a long-time go-to for local pho lovers, though some say the soup here is slightly Americanized. However, that means they do serve a vegan version. 961 S. State Street, SLC, 801-322-3590 PLEIKU This downtown restaurant is more stylish than the usual soup joint, and there are lots of noodles in this pho, and a deep broth. 264 Main Street, SLC, 801-359-4544 OH MAI Famous first for everyone’s favorite banh mi, Oh Mai’s pho runs a close second in the hearts of customers at this little walk-in spot. 6093 S. Highland Dr., Holladay, 3425 State St., SLC 801-467-6882 PHO TAY HO Twenty different variations of pho—you choose from four bowl sizes and choose your cut of meat. Finish with Vietnamese pudding—red mung beans, jello, etc. 1766 Main Street, SLC, 801-466-3650 WORLD FAMOUS PHO A cheeky restaurant (“What the pho?”) serving a wide selection of pho from chicken to brisket to tofu. The Special pho also includes tripe and tendons. 154 25th Street, Ogden, 801-612-9000
SPRING 2016
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