Bay Area Eats: Pho To Chau in Mountain View, California
I don’t know about you guys, but I’m not what you would call “enamored” with Yelp. All too often I’ve looked up reviews for a joint, only to find that the rating it was communally granted was completely skewed by strange people. The kind of strange people who strangely decide to rate a pho place based on the bubble tea it serves.
Seriously.
Pho To Chau in Mountain View, California, is one such maligned joint. Perhaps I’m being too harsh on the strange people, and perhaps I have lower than average expectations of an eatery’s ambiance and service standards. But there aren’t many places to eat in Silicon Valley that aren’t spendy, so when I chance upon it, and the food’s actually good, in fact, better than its pricier counterparts, I latch onto it—despite scuzzy floors, a lack of chopstick alternatives, or rude wait people.
In most Vietnamese places, the dish to order is their No. 1—the first item on the menu. This is usually a large bowl of pho, consisting of springy rice noodles swimming in a rich, beefy broth, and laden with cow parts. At PTC, the goodies include thinly sliced eye of round steak, well-done flank, fatty brisket, soft, gooey tendon, and shredded tripe.
Pho-lovers will tell you that the point of pho is to have a big, steaming, bowl of noodles served with a generous amount of beef. But the star of the show is, most decidedly, the broth. In keeping with this yardstick, I will say that PTC’s meat offerings are decent (the tendon is very good), but it’s the star that has me coming back, not its supporting actors. The broth is sweet from onions and a good, solid, stock base of bones, and I always drain my bowl. I don't believe vendors who claim that their broth “has no MSG.” This one, thankfully, doesn’t have so much that I have to guzzle water post-consumption.
Char-grilled shrimp and egg rolls on vermicelli, doused in a sweet-piquant, fermented fish sauce dressing.
PTC also does excellent vermicelli or thin rice noodles (think angel hair-thin). I adore the vermicelli with char-grilled shrimp and crisp, golden brown egg rolls. The vermicelli arrives with a bowl of Nước chấm – a piquant Vietnamese dressing made of diluted nước mắm or fish sauce, lime juice, and sugar – that you drizzle over your plate before tossing with extras like fragrant, fried shallots and crushed, roasted peanuts. The shrimp are beautifully timed and with that wonderful, smoky, char-grilled flavor, and the egg rolls are bursting with a fine mix of minced pork, black cloud’s ear fungus, and carrots.
The best iced coffee in the world.
I always finish my meal at PTC with an “Ice Coffee with Condensed Milk, French Espresso.” What this is, is super-strength Vietnamese coffee that filters into a ceramic cup (already lined with condensed milk) during your meal. By the time you’re done with your pho, this coffee-condensed milk mix is ready to be poured into the glass of ice provided. I will go out on a limb here and claim this is the best iced, milk coffee I’ve ever had in my life. But, be careful. The Vietnamese really mean business with their coffee. This one glass must contain the caffeine equivalent of at least four espressos. The one time I refused to share, I was bouncing all over the walls for hours.
By the way, the boss here is quite the tyrant and apparently the cause of many poor reviews on Yelp. The last time I was here, I observed him refusing to provide a diner with a fork. The exchange (from across the breadth of the entire store) went something like this:
Diner: May I have a fork, please.
Boss: Chopsticks!
Diner: But I need a fork!
Boss: Chopsticks!
This went on for quite a while before a bemused diner (whose table had forks) got up to hand this poor diner a fork. You’ve got to love a place with built-in dinner theatre. The people who don’t, go to the Pho Hoa chain across the street. But I’d rather bring my own fork. Seriously.
The damage: $20 for two hungry diners, including tip.
Pho To Chau
853 Villa Street Mountain View CA 94041
650-961-8069
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12 Comments:
I have to agree with you on your view of Yelp (especially in the Bay Area).
However, I lived in San Jose for a year finishing up my undergrad - and I know for a fact that there are plenty of good places to eat on the cheap, especially Vietnamese and Indian. You might need to look a bit harder.
missvenuz at 10:56AM on 12/30/08
It frustrates me when people (professional critics or otherwise) put down a restaurant for things like "ambiance" and the fact that some honest to goodness unnecessary request like different utensils could not be fulfilled.
Most of the time its places like these, decidedly ethnic and probably geared up to serve a slice of home to the community's immigrant clientele.
Take real Chinatown restaurants for example, too many have gotten a bad rap as scuzzy, low-brow, can't possibly be as good as Chinatown Brassiere because of the Chinese-speaking waitstaff, the brusque service and the boisterous atmosphere.
Not that Chinatown Brassiere isn't good, its just that it's not really Chinatown, and when critics claim it as the be all and end all of Chinese cuisine in New York City, it drives me bonkers, because its clear they haven't ventured into the heart of where all the Chinese restaurants are.
Lots of people only think that a restaurant has any worth if there are white tablecloths, silverware and a wine list. If there's a carefully crafted ambiance and waitstaff who are ready to do a jig for you on command.
But because the waitstaff (usually because of a rudimentary grasp of English) can't have a charming conversation with you and can't offer you a fork doesn't make or break a restaurant which really should be about giving you awesome food, anyway.
fuuchan at 12:19PM on 12/30/08
Oh, man, I loved this place when I was in college. It was cheap, tasty, and open late. Totally agree that the vermicelli plates are awesome. Really refreshing. That, and an order of spring rolls really hit the spot at 1am my senior year.
kathryn at 12:27PM on 12/30/08
Everyone on Yelp is 15, what did you expect?
chanterelle at 1:17PM on 12/30/08
"You can give me a fork, or I can fumble with the chopsticks, which will make my meal take three times as long to eat, and keep your table occupied when you could be seating more customers at it and making more money as a result. Your choice."
Fortunately, my pho place of choice seems to understand this rather simple concept.
clemon79 at 3:09PM on 12/30/08
i have to agree, yelp is beyond irritating and has no bearing on my opinion. its either people aping the language of professional critics, without much success or trite "this sucks" or similar inane comments. i find it of little to no value in judging anything...
mycherrypie at 4:37PM on 12/30/08
Do you happen to know if they offer a vegetarian pho?
variaas at 4:55PM on 12/30/08
missvenuz: I would love to hear about other excellent food joints at low prices -- do share!
fuuchan: I am in complete agreement. Awesome food tops my list of priorities. If the food is good enough to blow me away, I'll put up with pretty much everything they can throw at me.
onedaylingers at 5:25PM on 12/30/08
chanterelle: There must be plenty of older people posting on Yelp if $$$$ places get reviews. 15 years olds don't get to expense account their meals, do they? But yes, I do know what you mean...
onedaylingers at 5:31PM on 12/30/08
clemon79: The boss at PTC is definitely not big on hospitality, and lots of people choose to bring their business elsewhere -- which is a shame given the quality of their food. I've got quite a thick skin though, so I've been managing ;)
variaas: I know they have a "pho with no meat" option. But I believe the broth will still be meat-based. PTC isn't very vegetarian friendly because even their salads have fish sauce in the dressing. The iced coffee is veggie though, and (to my mind) worth the trip!
onedaylingers at 5:40PM on 12/30/08
Well, I've got a few for you.
La Fuente Fish and Chips on Calaveras Blvd. in Milpitas has the best fish and chips I've ever had. Not a great dine-in place, but the quality can't be beat.
Heritage of India has the best Indian lunch buffet - at $8.95, it's a steal.
Smile Sushi in downtown San Jose (on 1st Street between San Fernando and Santa Clara) is a great place to grab lunch or dinner on the cheap - just ignore the light rail :-P
I'll see what else I can remember (I left the Bay Area in May...) and re-post something later.
missvenuz at 7:36PM on 12/30/08
This place is just amazing. Being from Socal, there are a bunch of Pho places to choose from, but this is by far my favorite Pho place. The soup is so flavorful and fresh and the meat/noodles are cooked just perfectly! I highly recommend this place!
tambybear at 1:54PM on 01/09/09