Pho Duc

 

  

 

Address: 3815 196th St SW # 102 Lynnwood, WA 98036-5749

Phone: (425) 672-2466

Prices:

Medium - 5.49
Large - 6.49

Rating: 1

While out in Lynnwood recently, I decided to use Google Maps on my Blackberry to find an early lunch spot. Pho Duc was the first place that popped up. Pho Duc is located in Lynnwood about a mile from the Alderwood Mall, tucked away just off a main road. As you drive up you notice the almost standard pho restaurant sign. They offer a large dinning room and have quick service.

I ordered my regular bowl filled with beefy goodness. The standard condiments came out wilted and looking that they had been sitting out for a few hours. The soup came quickly but from the first smell I realized that I was in for dried pho noodles. The noodles were so bad that the whole broth was tainted with the taste of cheapness. The broth also did not help in this manner - it was thin and lacking any real sustenance. To top it off,  the meat also tasted cheap and was sliced far too thick for a good bowl of pho.

Even though I finished my meal, I will avoid this place in the future.  Any place that uses low quality noodles is not worthy of my time and I would say they are not worth yours, either. The low quality noodles along with the thin broth just shows me that this store is more concerned with cost instead of quality.  Why spend your money at a place like that when there are many pho restaurants in the area that truly care about providing you with a great meal?

Than Brothers - Ballard

Adress: 2021 NW Market Street Seattle, WA 98107

Phone: 206-782-5715

Website: http://www.thanbrothers.com

Prices:
Small - 4.35
Medium - 4.75
Large - 5.25
Extra Large - 6.25


Rating: 2

If you ever look at other review websites such as Yelp, people either love or hate Than Brothers. Being the largest chain pho restaurant you can pretty much expect this. Personally, I like somewhere in between.  I have eaten at a few of them and they have decent pho but nothing to rave about. On this trip, though, I did not have the most pleasant experience.  I walked in and the woman behind the counter glanced at me in such a manner that made her look like she was annoyed that I was there and the waiter that came to my table looked very bored.

The food that I ordered did come very fast, but it did not look too good. The condiments plate looked like it was at least two days old and a bit wilted. It only came with one slice of jalapeno which was so thick that it must have been a third of the the pepper. I ordered a medium but when they brought it to my table it looked like I had ordered a small and they decided to add a little broth. In the photo above you may notice that there is a huge slice of tripe half way out of the bowl. Now i realize that most Americans probably don't order the tripe but is it necessary to display it? With all that being said, the soup was actually pretty decent. The meat is tasty but nothing special, the broth is very tasty and the most enjoyable part of the meal.  All orders of pho come with a cream puff and they are delicious.

There are 13 Than Brothers throughout the Seattle area and I do plan on visting them all over time and giving them reviews, but I certainly hope that my experiences will be better than this one. The soup is good enough that I'm not dreading going to another location but since I know there are other great pho places close by, I will probably avoid this one in the future.