Pho is a Vietnamese beef noodle soup, and is a delicious work of art. It is not something simple like American chicken noodle soup, but a deep, rich beefy broth made slowly for hours. You can make your own, but a really good pho broth is made by simmering beef meat and bones for 6 hours or more. Even an Instant Pot version of pho takes up to 3 hours of simmering. And, of course, there are pho beef broth concentrates you can buy. And if you do go to all that work, how would you know if you’ve achieved anything like what real Vietnamese pho is like? And these recipes don’t easily scale down to broth for just a few people.

I looked around my area for restaurants that served pho to see what it should be like. There were two places in Norwalk, CT that offered pho, as well as one more in Stamford. So I set out last week to try the closest one, Good Hope Dumpling and Ramen House. They offered pho for $16 and with beef slices added, $20. They also offered pork soup dumplings, a favorite of mine.

Well, their pho came as a do-it-yourself kit. A quart of chicken stock and a bowl containing the rice noodles and bean sprouts, and some rather dry slices of beef. They also provided containers with a lime, some jalapeno slices and a sprinkling of cilantro. They also provide little cups of Sriracha and Hoisin sauces to mix in. As a quick soup, this was OK, but from reading about pho, I expected a spiced beef broth as a base.

The soup dumplings were OK but a a bit tough.

The dumplings at the Ren Dumpling and Noodle house are tenderer, when they are available.

So, I went the following week to the Mecha Noodle Bar on Washington Street in Norwalk. Mecha Noodle Bar is a small chain: they have restaurants in Fairfield, Norwalk, Stamford, New Haven, West Hartford, CT and Brookline, MA, Boston, Columbus, OH and Denver, CO. But here, you can get pho, pho sure! They offer five versions, as well as Steam Bao, Hand Rolls, Ramen and Munchies. I ordered the Pho Bo Vien (with rare beef and meatballs) and an order of Sweet and Sour Spareribs. They also have an extensive drinks menu.

This is definitely where you should go to get pho as well as anything else on their menu. It was superb!
There was a container of spiced beef broth and a bowl of rice noodles, topped with the meatballs and rare (raw) beef, that cooks when you pour the hot broth onto it. The result is shown at the top of the article.

But, while Mecha offers takeout, they suggest that these dishes are better fresh at their tables, and that’s what I’ll do next time. I’m looking forward to it!

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