Pho Hanoi: Vietnamese restaurant close to home

There's this restaurant in Calamba that I've been wanting to try out for a long time. It's called Pho Hanoi and it's located in Bucal, near the Total Gas Station. A few months after its opening, I was able to drop by for dinner and see if the pho was comparable to what I've tried out in Hanoi and Redwood City.

From outside, the restaurant looks welcoming and clean. Wooden tables are covered with red tablecloths and the lighting appeared inviting; not at all intimidating for a sole diner stopping by for a late dinner. Take note, I arrived there about 8:30 p.m., I think. It certainly helped that the waiting staff and the owners gave a very warm welcome to me as I entered the restaurant.

As in the previous Vietnamese restaurants I've tried, I wanted to order pho ga. However, I was surprised that this chicken soup was not available. Instead, Pho Hanoi is offering it's signature soup, pho Hanoi, and three other selections. Naturally, I had to try the pho Hanoi. 

HUGE. That was my first reaction when the bowl arrived. This soup definitely is good for more than one person... except if that individual was famished. In my case, I was able to polish off such a large serving because my last meal before this one was lunch. That's eight hours prior to dinner!

pho Hanoi

One thing I noticed as I slurped on the soup was that it tended to be sweeter than what I've tried in Hanoi but was similar to what I've tasted in Redwood City. An adaptation towards international taste, perhaps? I attributed the hint of sweetness to the onions I kept seeing in my bowl of soup. 

Unlike the other restaurants where I've eaten pho before, including ones in Manila, Pho Hanoi gave only a few pieces of basil leaves, bean sprouts, and a slice of calamansi. Normally, I'd be given a plateful of basil leaves, several lemon wedges, and lots of bean sprouts. Because of the lack of herbs to enhance or mask the pho's flavors, I was able to take in the real taste of the soup. I just missed that freshness that comes with the basil and the sharpness that's from the lemon.

As I dug deeper into the bowl, I realized that the spring onions were cut up into finer pieces than in the hole-in-the-wall I wandered into in Hoan Kiem; the vegetables in the soup were much sparser than what I got in Saba Cafe. However, I have to emphasize that in those previous forays into Vietnamese cuisine, I always got the pho ga, which has chicken. Pho Hanoi had beef in it; thus, the garnish proportions for it might be slightly different.

Then there were the spring rolls. The last time I've eaten one of these was when Tran Anh Nguyet was still a scholar in the GQNC Lab. Of course the spring rolls in Pho Hanoi tasted differently from what I used to eat; I used to eat build-your-own-rolls, in which I added all the basil leaves I could fit in the rice paper.

fresh spring rolls

The spring rolls in Pho Hanoi normally have shrimp but since I'm allergic to it, I requested to have something else in there... they gave me chicken! Instead of lots of basil leaves, the spring rolls balanced the flavors with the crunch of lettuce and the softness of rice noodles. These rolls could be dipped either in vinegar or in the brown peanut sauce. Personally, I preferred the vinegar dip, but that's just because I like the sharp flavor of it.

My dinner at Pho Hanoi was a good first try that I've decided to drop by again soon. Next time, I'll try other dishes and not just the pho. Nothing beats eating Vietnamese food in Vietnam but Pho Hanoi is the closest Vietnamese restaurant to home.