Battle 3, Pho House versus Rice Paper (jswatts review, 8/8 and 8/11)

The third battle of the Midtown region focused on two very different restaurants a little northeast of downtown Phoenix: Pho House on the corner of 32nd St and McDowell, and Rice Paper on 7th St south of Oak. Though both restaurants are a short distance from where I live - I was only familiar with Rice Paper going into this battle. Pho House is a relatively new operation in a pretty sketchy strip mall. Anyway, I tried not to bring too much prejudice with me... but I have to admit to finding the Rice Paper pho rather lackluster. A friend actually told me "don't bother" when he saw Rice Paper in our brackets. Figured it deserved a fair shot. 

But regardless, there was little doubt about the better pho this time. Some very minor concerns about comparability in this battle, as the menus were somewhat different... I had pho tai (thinly sliced rare beef) at Rice Paper, and pho tai bo vien (thinly sliced rare beef plus meatballs) at Pho House. Oh well -  a clear winner this time: Pho House takes it. 

Now for the reviews. Pho House delivered a good, but not great bowl of pho. A nice foundation of a rich, fatty, lightly salted broth. Nice mix of onions/scallions in the bowl and a healthy serving of meats and noodles. A pretty "average" size bowl - big, but not crazy huge. Noodles started out a hair undercooked - but the piping hot broth finished off the noodles to a nice texture in a couple minutes. Side veggies were nice - clean/fresh bean sprouts (which I'm finding isn't always a given even at some very good pho shops). I don't remember any mint, though. Responded nicely to some rooster sauce. Oh yeah, we got meatballs this time. I've never been a fan of Vietnamese meatballs, but I never learn and tend to keep trying. Rubbery things. Overall, I'd put this in the mid-upper tier of the pho so far. They're doing some good work on the food - but the location will probably doom this place. Sketch city - I'm generally very forgiving of a high sketch factor... and the restaurant itself was nice enough. But the shopping center is a dump!

Rice Paper, on the other hand, was about as half-assed as you can get and still try to pass off your soup as legit pho. Light broth, as in light to the point of being flavorless. After a few minutes, it did take on a little more of the flavor from the herbs and meat. But still?! C'mon. Very lightly sprinkled with scallions and onion slices, and just a few slices of beef. AND this was a $9 bowl of pho. Alright, perhaps I'm being a little heavy handed. It tasted fine, just pretty drab in a world of great tasting pho. The soup wasn't all that hot when served... By the way - Rice Paper is a cool place. Cool, trendy, nice, etc. It's the first battle where we've had to wait for a table. If you want a drink or want to take your friends to a cool downtown vicinity place, Rice Paper meets the requirements... if you want good food (good pho) - go elsewhere. Go to Pho House, it's about 5 minutes away. Just don't leave anything valuable in the car :-)