Vietnamese soup at Pho Nomenon in Hoboken, NJ

Pho Nomenon in Hoboken, NJ

We were excited to go to Pho Nomenon, one of the new restaurants that opened recently in Hoboken. It replaced Hoboken Cottage that was really not one of my favorites. Well, think about it: they were proposing Chinese and Turkish cuisine; not sure what the link between the two is...Nevertheless, I tried both and did not like it.

dining room at Pho Nomenon in Hoboken, NJ

So, we arrived in the restaurant that had a medium size dining room, dominated by a painting of Buddha. 

As soon as we sat, they brought us some green tea that was welcome considering the temperature outside, and kept serving it as soon as our cups were half empty.

green tea at Pho Nomenon in Hoboken, NJ

As an appetizer, we ordered Goi Cuon Chav or vegetarian Summer rolls:

vegetarian summer rolls at Pho Nomenon in Hoboken, NJ

Contrary to spring rolls, they are not fried, making it a healthier version. It was made of rice noodles, fried tofu, picked carrots, daikon, lettuce and mint, wrapped in rice paper.

vegetarian summer rolls at Pho Nomenon in Hoboken, NJ

It has been a while since I ate this kind of roll and it was delicious, very refreshing, especially thanks to the mint. I ate it with the peanut sauce that came with and I also tried with some hoisin sauce that added some sweetness.

Hoisin and siracha sauces at Pho Nomenon in Hoboken, NJ

Then, they brought some soy, lemon and basil for the Pho.

Soy, lemon and basil at Pho Nomenon in Hoboken, NJ

Because we did not care about the rest of the menu: we came for Pho, this Vietnamese soup that was born in the 20th century in Northern Vietnam, taking some influence from both French and Chinese cuisine. Some believe that Pho is derived from "Pot au feu", a classic beef stew. I guess that now you see the link with the name of the restaurant, Pho Nomenon! Lets see if it is a real phenomenon!

Jodi ordered a vegetarian Pho with mixed vegetables, mushrooms and tofu. It was in fact the only one of the menu that did not have a Vietnamese name.

mixed vegetable Vietnamese soup at Pho Nomenon in Hoboken, NJ

On my side, I ordered the Pho Tai Chin Nam Ve:

Pho Tai Chin Nam Ve Vietnamese soup at Pho Nomenon in Hoboken, NJ

It was a beef broth with eye round steak, brisket and flank. It definitely had a nice smell, quite appetizing. The meat was good, although a bit overcooked. However, there were some pieces of fat that were not good at all.

Noodles in Vietnamese soup at Pho Nomenon in Hoboken, NJ

I have mixed feelings about that place: it was cheap and decent, but the food was not to the point where I would want to go back quickly.

Enjoy (...)!

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And Remember: I Just Want To Eat!

Pho at Pho 66 in Hell's Kitchen - NYC, New York

There are days where you are fixated on a particular dish. This time (shall I say again?), it was ramen! We were planning on going to Sapporo ramen, but it was packed. So Jodi and I decided to walk on 9th avenue, aka Hell's Kitchen, and see if any restaurant would erase our disappointment. We noticed Pho 66. The location looked familiar and it is only after we entered the restaurant that we realized that we went there several months ago, at the time it was a Colombian place called Farmers Rotisseria A La Brasa. I could not believe it!

If you do not know what Pho is, it is Vietnamese dish consisting of broth, noodles usually made from rice, herbs, vegetables and meat. Well, it was as close to the ramen craving as it could be...

What I really liked is the fact that they offer different sizes of bowl: large, medium and small, to accommodate any appetite.

Jodi ordered the Pho Verte:

Pho verte at Pho 66 in NYC, New York

Verte means green in France and here, it relates to the fact that it is a vegetarian dish. 

On my side, I ordered the Pho Bun Bo Hue:

Pho Bun Bo Hue at Pho 66 in NYC, New York

It consisted of pork shoulder and beef shank and came with some lime, soy and lemongrass to mix with.

Pho Bun Bo Hue at Pho 66 in NYC, New York

Both broths were tasty with for sure bolder flavors thanks to the meat in the Bun Bo Hue. The noodles were good, but I preferred the one in the Pho Verte as the one in the Bun Bo Hue were a bit too al dente for my taste and as they were thicker, it was less enjoyable. I liked both dishes, with a preference for the vegetarian one in fact! Incroyable!

For dessert, we decided to share a black rice pudding:

Rice pudding at Pho 66 in NYC, New York

It was made with coconut milk and served with slices of mango. I did not like it to be honest: the texture was off, I could barely taste the coconut milk and the mango was not ripe enough.

I really liked Pho 66 (except the dessert): the Pho are pretty good (they have a nice selection), they look beautiful and taste good, all of that for a reasonable price! I did not regret not having ramen that night! 

Enjoy (I did)!

And Remember: I Just Want To Eat!

Vietnamese Food at Chapa's in NYC, New York

We passed by ChaPa's Noodles and Grill, a Vietnamese eatery, several times and each time, this restaurant was packed. So we decided to give it a try. In fact, we gave it two tries! The first time we went and picked various dishes and then saw many people ordering their Pho (a Vietnamese dish consisting of broth,  rice noodles, herbs, and meat); so we decided to go another time to try the Pho.

So, the first time we went, we shared several plates.

The crispy calamari or Muc Chien Don:

I loved it: the calamari was not rubbery, the batter well cooked and very crispy, not greasy at all. The sweet chili sauce gave a nice Asian twist to this dish!

The veggie dumplings - steamed:

I liked these: the main problem I have usually with vegetable dumplings is that the shell can be very thick. These were perfect and very tasty!

The crab cakes:

It was made of crab meat seasoned with green onions, lemon and panko crumbs. The sauce on top was a spicy lemongrass mayonnaise. Although not the best crab cakes I ever had (lots of filler and not as much crab meat as I like), it was a nice Asian version of a crab cake and the lemongrass mayonnaise was a killer!

The Vietnamese Crispy Rolls (Chia Gao):

Inside the fried rice paper, were pork, taro, mushroom, carrots and glass noodles. Although a classic dish as opposed to most of the dishes we had so far, it was pretty good and tasty; the kind of dish that has a certain comfort into it...maybe from the frying part...

The Fried Tofu Mon Chinh:

This was my least favorite dish! The rice is on the left of the plate and looked like a thin net made of rice that was tasteless. I guess the idea is to make like a crepe with it, but I probably did not do it correctly...

Then we had the Pho: the vegetarian one.

And the meaty one called the Super Bowl:

Both came very, very hot! The Super Bowl had shrimp, squid, brisket, steak and beef balls. I enjoyed the seafood, although not that much and hated the meat: it was tough and the beef balls tasted like some processed meat (disgusting)! Both dishes were just ok and did not have the wow factor I was expecting! Even the broth was missing some depth. It was disappointing.

Last, for dessert, we ordered each time we went the black rice pudding:

Yes, you read well: we ordered it twice! It was so good! The black rice had a great chewy texture and with the coconut milk, it was to die for! Too bad they do not put enough milk on it!

So I have mixed feelings about this restaurant. We had some great dishes and some others not that great. Considering the number of Vietnamese restaurants in NYC, I am not sure, even after writing this review, that I would go back...Although the black rice pudding is fabulous!

Enjoy (I did)!