Recently in Vietnamese Category

I fell in love with banh mi sandwiches after I first tasted them at Xa Vietnamese Grill restaurant in Irwindale.

But sadly, Xa Vietnamese closed months ago and has left me longing for those tasty French Vietnamese sandwiches.

So I scoured the Internet and surveyed colleagues for nearby Vietnamese restaurants that served the baguette sandwiches.

Mr. Baguette in Rosemead was suggested plenty of times but it is not in the coverage area of our weekly community newspapers (I will give them a try later anyway).

After finding many pho spots on the Web, I hit on Pho 2007 in Rowland Heights. Though not really near the office, I thought I would give it a try since it is within our coverage.

As I drove up Colima Road toward a little side street called Otterbein, I knew I found the place when I was greeted with a large "Pho 2007" sign over what used to be a Taco Bell restaurant.  

I was eagerly greeted as soon as I entered and was handed a menu, which varied from spring roll appetizers to banh mi sandwiches, and pho (rice noodle soup) to rice plate entrees, and more.

I took a chance on three original shrimp spring rolls for $4.50, and a banh mi sandwich with grilled pork for $3.25.

The rolls come with about three medium-sized shrimp (cooked and peeled), small pieces of cooked chicken, cilantro leaves, lettuce and vermicelli rice noodles, all tightly wrapped in rice paper.

The rolls were nicely sized for their price (I only finished one) and the accompanying peanut sauce was a great complement.

The first thing I noticed about the sandwich was the size. It was wider than what I was used to. When I unwrapped the paper covering the sandwich, I found out why.

Pho 2007 used a bolillo (a thick and wide Mexican roll) instead of a baguette (long, thin French bread).

This made the sandwich a little difficult to bite into, but I knew my way around a bolillo so I dug into the thick crusty bread. 

I liked that the sandwich had all the banh mi ingredients I was used to - sliced carrots and cucumber, cilantro sprigs, and sliced jalapeno with a light spread of mayonnaise. The sandwich also had a half-round slice of tomato, it was nice but a little too thick so it kept coming out. 

The pork was nicely seasoned with soy sauce and something a little sweet. The pieces were nicely sliced, not very fatty, which you may find with pork, and slightly grilled. 

For the price, I would say the sandwich definitely satisfied my craving for banh mi.

But I can't say how often I will go out of my way from the northwest side of West Covina to the southeast end of San Gabriel Valley just to get to Rowland Heights. That would take up my whole lunch hour.

Of course, those cravings don't go away forever ...

Pho 2007 is at 19208 Colima Road in Rowland Heights and is open from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Friday and from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. They are closed on Tuesdays.

Be sure to have cash in hand as they do not accept any cards. $5 dollar dine-in specials are offered on Wednesdays. For information and to-go orders, call (626) 839-8100. 

By Evelyn Barge, Staff Writer

The word's trickled out - twice now - on a relative newcomer to Garvey Avenue's pho-cluttered landscape.

The spotlight first fell on Pho Minh Vietnamese restaurant in December, when famed L.A. Weekly food critic Jonathan Gold heaped piles of praise on the eatery for outshining all its look-alike neighbors.

Then, in a front-page news story on May 1, the L.A. Times trained its eye on Pho Minh, where customers are quick to rave about the classic noodle soup but slow to make their way through the front door.

The consensus among interested parties? More people should be eating here. And now you can add me to that list.

My small-bowl order of pho dac biet (No. 2 on the menu, $4.75) was without doubt the best I've ever noisily slurped in a San Gabriel Valley strip mall, and there have been plenty of those occasions, though last week marked my first at Pho Minh.

I've been a longtime fan of San Gabriel's much-talked- about and always-packed Golden Deli, where I can order a feast for two for under $20, and the drive itself from Pasadena through San Marino's upscale, winding roads is part of the joy.

But at Pho Minh the joy is concentrated - simply and richly - into what's most important: the food.

Sailing down Garvey during the lunch hour, it's easy to get distracted. With the concentration of Vietnamese signs increasing on the drive west, so comes the onslaught of pho stops. Without a destination in mind, each seems indistinguishable from the next.

"Is that one it?" "Wait, maybe this one?" "How about we just stop there; They're all the same, right?"

A word to the wise: Don't stray from the hunt. Buried in the back corner of International Plaza is your target - one that's worth the series of risky U-turn maneuvers required to get there.

Here, the broth is mellow and exquisite; the jumble of meats, hearty and fresh. Pho zen is achieved with a scattering of both the tabletop fish and chili oil.

What's more, this brothy concoction didn't leave me in sodium-induced shock nor with an MSG hangover, both of which I've come to warily expect from hole-in-the-wall joints in the Valley. Leaving Pho Minh, I felt lightly energized with a warm, full feeling in my belly.

And did I mention free iced tea, tinged with jasmine no less? That's no rotating special, either; It's printed on the menu. One day after the L.A. Times article landed on front lawns and newsstands across the city, Pho Minh was packed, every seat in the house filled. The staff and servers were overwhelmed by the traffic, literally running to clear off one table to the next.

For me, that translated into an extra-long lunch hour with lots of waiting involved. It was my only disappointment.

But busy is not the standard fare. Though certainly a long-distance destination for foodies around L.A. and Orange counties, it seems Pho Minh isn't drawing the necessary support from locals, the ones with the power to sustain its day-to-day business.

The dearth of diners probably has less to do with the recession (who would refuse a full meal for $5-$6 in this economic climate?), and more with the location and its dissonant chorus of equally-priced competition.

Save yourself the weeding process, and write this down:

Pho Minh is located at 9646 E. Garvey Ave., Unit 108, in South El Monte. For more information, call (626) 448-8807.

Hours are 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily.