Tony's Teriyaki

Address:
6315 15th Ave NW, Seattle, WA 98107

Phone:
(206) 706-4711

Price:
Small - 5.15
Large - 5.75

Rating: .5

This will sound dramatic but today when I went to lunch I had the worst bowl of pho in my entire life. Tony's is located on 15th Ave in Ballard, a block from Ballard High School. I drive by the restaurant a couple times a week on my way to and from work. The only reason that you would believe that they serve pho is in the front window where they have a large sign saying PHO. I have learned that it is usually best to avoid pho places that are not dedicated Vietnamese restaurants, and Tony's certainly help me cement this opinion.

When I pulled up to Tony's I was a little skeptical. The place was a total hole in the wall and there weren’t very many people in the store. Tony's only offers 5 different styles of the soup: pho with sliced beef, pho with sliced beef and meat balls, chicken pho, shrimp pho, and vegetarian. I stayed on the safe side and ordered the pho with sliced beef. On the plus side it did arrived fast and it did come with a large plate of the traditional sprouts, basil, jalapeño, lime, and the bowl of soup actually looked good. I started to feel like maybe this wasn't such a bad idea but I was quickly proven wrong as I took my first bite. The broth was completely tasteless, even though it appeared to be beef broth. The sliced beef somehow tasted like a McDonald's .99 cent hamburger. The noodles were not the traditional pho styled noodles - they tasted to me like the cheap rice noodles that you can buy at any grocery store. I rarely do not finish a meal at a restaurant, but I didn’t come close to finishing this one today. I have tried to cook pho before for myself, and it was a horrible disaster, but what I cooked tasted better then this place. DO NOT EAT HERE!

Viet Niam Pho

Address:
7640 15th Ave Seattle Wa 98103

Phone:
206-783-4310

Price:
Small - 4.35
Large - 5.15
X-Large - 6.35

Rating: 4.75

I figured that I would start with a review of my favorite Pho eatery. Viat Naim Pho is in Ballard. As far as I am concerned, this place sets the bar for Pho. The menu only consists of Pho, cream puffs, spring rolls, and drinks. I ordered a large Tai Chin Nam Gau Gan Sach, which is eye-round steak, well done flank, marble brisket, soft tendon, and tripe. This is what I normally order when I am enjoying a bowl of Pho. I know it is not very common for a "westerner" to enjoy tripe and tendon, but if you can make the tripe and tendon taste good then that is a true measure of a great bowl of Pho.

This bowl of pho was a great bowl of soup. It had the perfect balance of meat and noodles. The meat was sliced thin and was full of flavor. The tripe and tendon were also thinly sliced and the flavor did not overwhelm the rest of the meal. The condiment plate that traditionally comes with a bowl of pho was the perfect size. There was enough jalapeño, which was also sliced thin. There is nothing worse then getting big chunks of jalapeño because the flavor just over bears the soup. The broth at Viat Naim Pho is probably the best broth I have ever tasted. I always end up drinking all of it and i always get a feeling of disappointment when it is gone. At Viet Naim you are served a cream puff with every bowl of pho. Their cream puffs are great and I almost always think about buying some for later as I walk out the door. Overall, as I said at the beginning, I love this place and can't recommend it enough. If you love pho, I bet you will love this place.

Seattle Pho U

Hello

You can call me Oplin. My favorite food on earth is pho. As defined by
Wikipedia, "Phở is a traditional Vietnamese rice-noodle soup dish,and is served as a bowl of white rice noodles in clear beef broth, with thin cuts of beef (steak, fatty flank, lean flank, brisket). Variations featuring tendon, tripe, meatballs, chicken leg, chicken breast, or other chicken organs (heart, liver, etc.) are also available."

I will be reviewing Pho restaurants in and around the Seattle area and giving them a 1 to 5 rating. If you know of a restaurant and would like me to review it please let me know.