Battle 2, Pho Nhat versus Khai Hoan (jswatts Review, 7/23 and 7/25)

Alright - The second battle of the Midtown region focused on a pair of restaurants in the Arizona State University vicinity of Tempe: Pho Nhat on the corner of University and Rural, and Khai Hoan on Apache near McClintock. As both restaurants are a short bike ride from my office - I was reasonably familiar with them both going into this battle. I tried not to bring too much prejudice with me... but I have to admit a long history (roughly 12 years) with Khai Hoan as it was the first restaurant where I ever ate pho. And I try to get back there anytime I can justify it. 


All bias and bs aside, there was little doubt about the better pho this time. As a reminder, pho tai nam was the soup of choice. Khai Hoan for the win!


Let's get down to business. Pho Nhat served a huge bowl of soup with a remarkably 'smooth' broth. I don't know if it was a little bit of extra oil, fat, or whatever, but the result was a really rich broth. Plus it was a tad heavy on the salt for my taste. Responded nicely to some rooster sauce. Otherwise good but unremarkable meats, noodles, and veggie add-ons (all floating in a sea of the broth). I've got to reiterate that I really can't complain much - most days I'd eat this and be quite happy - but it wasn't in the same league as the Khai Hoan pho. 

Khai Hoan, on the other hand, nailed it. Tasty, light, almost delicate broth (if you can imagine such a thing for pho), paper-thin rare beef and tender well-done beef, and generous onion and other greens. This is another bowl of pho (sorta like Pho Ao Sen) that just looks great. Only "negative" mark on this one is that it is a slightly smaller bowl than most. I would say the serving of noodles and beef is comparable to most of the others, but just a few ounces less broth. Makes it seem like the bowl is full of noodles and toppings. But yeah, seriously, this good stuff. Even though it's sometime well in the future, I'm already dreading the round two face off of Khai Hoan and Pho Ao Sen - a couple of pho powerhouses, and one will get dropped in just the second round... oh well :-)