St Louis Vietnamese restaurants for Pho Ga (Chicken soup)

My long time friend Kenney was flying into St. Louis from Florida recently for a long weekend.  In September of 2011 we vacationed in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam and other cities as well.  Both of us are fans of Vietnamese food and most certainly we love pho (rhymes with duh not with dough).

Pho Ga from Pho Grand in St. Louis.

I’ve eaten pho all over Vietnam and several locations around the USA too.  It’s a staple in Vietnam kind of like how hamburgers are a first choice in the states.  After picking up Kenney at Lambert International Airport in St. Louis we decided to have lunch at the pho restaurant that was recommended to me by a clerk at Seafood City market a few weeks earlier.

After the airport we stopped at Seafood City Market again for supplies and I again asked the checkout clerk again about the restaurant I had heard about.  It was a place she said the local Chinese and Vietnamese people like to go.  A lady behind me in the aisle introduces herself and explains she too has a Vietnamese restaurant and has been in business in St. Louis for 28 years.  She wrote her name and address on the back of my Seafood City receipt.  It was called Mai Lee specializing in Vietnamese and Chinese food.  The lady named Lee was very friendly and I figured I’d go there one of these days just not today – Friday.

So,  Kenney and I drove to a place called St. Louis Pho on south Grand. It’s located in a former Burger King restaurant building.  I’m not easily disappointed but this was one of those times.  We both ordered Vietnamese spring rolls and Pho Ga.  I asked about Vietnamese beer and they didn’t have any. They had Heineken and that’s what I ordered.

It was early, right after they opened at 11 AM and well, our waiter seemed very indifferent to us.  It didn’t seem as if he cared that we were there at all.  He brought the spring rolls with a bland dipping sauce.  Then he brought the Pho Ga with the plate of vegetables including Vietnamese basil, cilantro leaves, bean sprouts and sliced jalapeno.  We poked around in the soup and wow, it hardly had any chicken in it.  As I said, I’ve had pho all over the world and this bowl had the least amount of chicken of any restaurant I’ve ever dined at.  Kenney felt that the broth wasn’t even chicken broth either by the color and yes it was certainly darker than it should have been.

We were not happy with the restaurant  and I told him that on the way back to the Interstate for our drive to southern Illinois we can stop at Pho Grand and I’ll show him their restaurant.  I had eaten there one time and I was very happy that time.  The restaurant also has a nice ambiance and has several  intimate rooms in it. We stopped, looked around and got their menu and off we went.  We would stop there after our fun Makanda Vulture Fest weekend on the following Monday for lunch before I drop him off at the airport.

Pho Grand at 3195 south Grand Blvd.  We arrived there on that Monday at about 11:30 very similar to our timing at the other restaurant a few days earlier.  Instead of being indifferent we had a nice young woman for a waitress and she efficiently and knowledgeably took our order.  Once again we ordered exactly the same thing.  It was spring rolls and I ordered the same Pho Ga while Kenney ordered Mi Vit Tiem pho, a soup with egg noodles and roasted duck leg, shitake mushrooms and vegetables.  And, this meal was noticeably better than a few days earlier. Pho Grand has a comfortable ambiance and I got a Saigon beer.  I like ordering the appropriate beer depending on the food style of the restaurant.  This time it was Vietnam and I got a Saigon beer.

Pho Grand on south Grand Blvd,  St. Louis.

The Goi Cuon spring rolls, steamed rice paper filled with veggies, vermicelli noodles, shrimp and pork were tasty and the peanut plum sauce had a sweet tang.  When my Pho Ga arrived a man connected to the restaurant came over and said, “Let me show you how to eat Pho Ga.”

He took two different squeeze bottles from a condiment rack on the table and squeezed a little of the red bottle called called Sriracha Hot Chili Sauce on the soup and then squeezed a little plum sauce in it too. He mixed it into the soup with chop sticks.

Pho Grand Mi Vit Tiem.

Well, he wasn’t kidding. The soup was kicked up and delicious.  I really liked it and I also liked having a lesson about the soup like this.  Kenney had ordered  a pho with a roasted duck leg.   He also said that his pho was delicious and pulled the duck leg out and pulled some of the meat off it and slid it back into the pho.

Well, he wasn’t kidding. The soup was kicked up and delicious.  I really liked it and I also liked having a lesson about the soup like this.  Kenney had ordered  a pho with a roasted duck leg.   He also said that his pho was delicious and pulled the duck leg out and pulled some of the meat off it and slid it back into the pho.

We had lunch, a Vietnamese lunch, a few days apart on south Grand Blvd.  I give the first restaurant thumbs down and I give Pho Grand a strong thumbs up.  I like the place and the food I’ve had there.

And, what about the lady I met at Seafood City that said she also owns a Vietnamese restaurant in the area?  My experience for her restaurant will be my next post.  Hint.  Her restaurant Mai Lee, was my favorite.

St. Louis Pho – thumbs down.

Pho Grand – thumbs up.  www.phogrand.com

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www.saporedellavita.com