A few months back, I took a day off to meet some relatives who were visiting LA. I left quite early in the morning and hit Westminster at about 830 am. I decided to grab a bite to eat and it had been a while since I'd had pho in Little Saigon, so I decided to stop and get some. I checked out a couple of places and they were surprisingly busy, so I settled on Pho Quang Trang 2 which is in Asian Village Center right on Bolsa.
I hadn't been to this location of PQT, but I had been to the original location way back in the mid-2000's. From what I recall, they made a decent bowl of Pho Ga. I really wanted a obwl of Pho Filet Mignon, which is what I ordered. (small bowl – $6.45)
One of the main reasons being that I think I've gotten kind of used to the typical bowl of pho in San Diego, low in beef flavor, low in clove-scorched onion–anise tones, and high in salt/msg. I just wanted to get some bearings with regards to pho. First off, there was a bit less herbs than I was used too, but what there was sparkling fresh. The noodles were in the typical clump, but nicely done, still having a good amount of stretch to them. The broth looked darker than I expected, but was quite mild in the sodium department, at least compared to what I'd been having the last couple of months. Overall, a light beefiness, a bit too light in the fat department, but better than just about every place in San Diego. Not sure where it ranks within Little Saigon, wince I haven't had too many bowls over the last few years.
The only thing that I didn't enjoy was that the filet was still a bit too frozen, still stiff and solid, taking too long to get to the correct doneness and cooling off the broth too quickly.
Yes, I've had better….but god knows, I've had worse.
And the free little cup of che didn't hurt at all either.
The service, as to be expected was typical perfunctory Little Saigon, totally in character.
Pho Quang Trung 2
9211 Bolsa Ave
Westminster, CA 92683
Hours:
0830 am – Midnight Daily
ah hit or miss…
Hi Kat – More hit then miss though….
Took me a second to realize, ex Phoenix Restaurant above. I notice that place in the corner but the parking sucked so bad I never bothered.
Hey Billy – Yeah, parking here is usually terrible…except at 830 in morning on a week day.