I know, we've been having a bit of a heat wave, what the heck am I doing having pho? Yeah, I guess I've gone around the bend in my old age. Actually, I was recently in the Hillcrest area for a meeting that ended at 1030. I was hungry and having not been back to Pho Fifth Avenue since February of last year, I was kind of curious to see how the place was doing……..
The place served up what I considered to be a decent bowl of pho….and yet I wondered, had they "jumped the shark" or was the pho here still pretty good?
I decided to take my chances on the hope that there would be an open parking space nearby. I lucked out and got one right outside the shop. This must be a good omen, right?
The pho for me here is the filet mignon version. It's not cheap at $9.95 for a small and $11.95 for a large. The other protein offerings seem to favor the gringo's….lot's of meaty cuts and not so much tendon and tripe.
The herbs and bean sprouts were kind of scarce, I asked for some additional basil to bump up the anise flavor in the broth and was gladly given more. The broth had a nice hue and was low-oil. As I previously noted, to me the soup tends to be on the sweet side, though unlike other versions elsewhere, there is a beefy component to it.
You must get the beef on the side for this and the broth must be at the right temperature to lightly, barely cook the meat. Check and check on this visit.
Even the noodles were prepared well, nice chew without being overcooked.
I hate to beat that ol' dead horse, but even the pho in Hillcrest is better than what I've had in Kearny Mesa? There's something just wrong about that.
Pho Fifth Avenue
3807 5th Ave
San Diego, CA 92103