Pho Hanoi

So there's a new pho place in town, looking to muscle in on Saigon Legend's monopoly on Vietnamese food in Gainesville. This one is on 34th street, just south of Archer Road, across from the Kangaroo. I'm a sucker for pho (pronounced fuh) of all types, and Vietnamese food is always tasty.

To the review...

Atmosphere:
Unfortunately, Pho Hanoi is in a strip mall. Restaurant owners can't really help this though, so while it's not the most scenic location you can't hold this against them. They have done a nice job on the interior, with a nice paint job and tasteful decorations. The seating is... cramped. But in a way, I think it fits. If you've never tried it, pho is an excellent hangover cure and generally good pick me up. Filing in, taking your seat next to someone else and eating seems a good part of the experience.

Service:
So-so. Friendly enough, but a bit forgetful. We received our spring rolls after the pho had been brought out and only after reminding the waiter we had ordered them. It was also only one person covering the restaurant for a little while, so it's certainly forgivable. I'm sure as this place comes into it's own and the employees gain more experience, it will improve.

One very negative point was that Shirley's pho was accompanied by a dirty soup spoon. We're talking several splotches of dried food. This is the kinda thing that can really kill a restaurant for me, so I hope that this was just a very rare mistake.

Menu:
I'll be honest and say I mostly came here for the pho. Everything else was secondary. But the quick glance at the rest of the menu showed a lot of names that are familiar to me from Saigon Legend, so I assume they are standard Vietnamese entrees. pho Hanoi offers some different choices than Saigon Legend in it's phos. They offer beef, beef tendon, tripe, chicken, and tofu as options. They also have bowls that have a combination of the beef, tendons, and tripe.

Food:
I ordered the pho with just the beef, while Shirley ordered the beef & tripe pho. The first thing that struck me upon seeing the dish was that it was not a clear broth as I am used to, you could easily tell the beef broth by it's color. It also had a stronger smell of anise than the pho at Saigon Legend. The accompaniments were the usual lime and bean sprouts, along with culantro and thai basil. This is the first time I've had thai basil in my pho, and I have to say I'm glad they include it. It's delicious.

The beef was sliced perfectly thin for the soup, and the broth was incredibly flavorful. I absolutely loved it. Shirley's pho with the tripe was very good too, and the tripe was very flavorful.

Price:
Expect a bowl of pho to run you around 7$. It's a pretty huge soup, so trust me that this is a pretty cheap meal for what you get.

Overall:

This is a promising new restaurant that offers what is currently the best pho in town. The service could stand to improve, but the quality of the food and the good prices would keep me coming back even if the service stayed the same.