South Philly Vietnamese Restaurants

[philadining]

We went to Nam Phuong (11th and Washington) tonight, as a last-minute diversion on the way somewhere else. And I'm glad we diverted, it was quite good.

We weren't in the mood for soup, so we started with barbecue pork summer rolls, and they were just about the ideal versions: good ingredients, nice balance of meat, vegetables and noodles, an assertive herb component, and most importantly, nice fresh soft wrappers. Some of the best I've ever had.

A papaya salad with beef jerky was a little tricky to eat, with the long juliennes of firm papaya a challenge to get in the mouth in a dignified way, but it was worth it for the fresh crunch, and the little sweet chewy shreds of beef. There was a subtle, but crucial, nuac mam sauce on the side to add a salty, darker component to it.

A broken-rice combo was a lot of food: grilled pork, dry shredded pork, a pate-ish loaf, and an "omelet" which was really just a fried egg, surrounded a big pile of excellent fine-grained rice.

A couple of bottles of "33" and we were pretty happy.

Service was a little rushed, but friendly, and the busboys seemed to be having a contest to see who could pile the dishes in their pans in the LOUDEST possible manner, about 6 inches behind my head, but hey, I can live with that if the food's good....

I don't think I'd tell you to drop everything and get over there immediately, but it was pretty darn solid.

[KatieLoeb]

You know I'm a huge fan of Pho Xe Lua in Chinatown, and that's where I'll usually head when the jones hits, but sometimes Washington Avenue is closer and easier to deal with when feeling lazy. I recently had a pretty good bite over at Pho Ba Le, which is now where Le Cyclo (Bizarro) was. Menu looks really good as well, as did all the plates that passed by me while I was there.

What are you doing next week? Care to meet there and compare dishes?

[philadining]

What are you doing next week?  Care to meet there and compare dishes?

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That's sounding like a plan, Le Cyclo was my former Summer Roll fave, I'd love to check their current status under the new name. And I'll try to remember my camera this time...

[zeffer81]

Although it's become commercialized in Philly, I still prefer Vietnam to any of the places on Washington Ave (and Vietnam Palace). They are owned by the same family who owns Fu Wah on 47th and Baltimore--voted Best Vegetarian Hoagie in the Philly Mag's Best of '04.

[Greg Ling]

"A broken-rice combo was a lot of food: grilled pork, dry shredded pork, a pate-ish loaf, and an "omelet" which was really just a fried egg, surrounded a big pile of excellent fine-grained rice."

the pate-ish thing is the omelet,it's mungbean noodle ,wood ears an crab.

[mrbigjas]

i love nam phuong. i like vietnam palace slightly more, but other than that nam phuong is my go-to place whenever i'm with a few people.

next time you're there try the bitter melon soup. they remove the seeds and stuff the melon with a ground pork mixture, in a light broth.

service is always kinda brusque and rushed, but i've never considered that a negative for some reason. it seems appropriate there, for such a big place turning out so much food.

if you guys do a ba le trip next week...

[philadining]

the pate-ish thing is the omelet,it's mungbean noodle ,wood ears an crab.

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Ahhh that makes more sense! Thanks for the clarification. So the fried egg was a bonus...

[MarketStEl]

Vietnam Palace! It's been ages since I've been there.

I'm not in any position to commit to any dining run right now, though.

[Greg Salisbury]

Nam Phuong is not head and shoulders above every other Vietnamese place, but it does have one thing that keeps me coming back over every other joint: parking. That and the fact that they never do the eye-roll thing when they see me walking through the door with two small children. And no one does chicken salad like them!

If you're looking for banh mi, the place next to Nam Phuong (with Pho in the name somewhere, it's along 12th St. West side) not only has the widest selection, but also the tastiest.

[mrbigjas]

that's viet huong next to nam phuong. we've been a few times--i posted about it. but i haven't had the banh mi.

[herbacidal]

Nam Phuong is not head and shoulders above every other Vietnamese place, but it does have one thing that keeps me coming back over every other joint: parking.

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It's my preferred joint for Vietnamese in South Philly. My preferred Vietnamese joint overall locally is Xe Lua.

[cinghiale]

I'm a big fan of Nam Phoung, too. So happens I'm taking two Vietnamese friends there tonight. Although they've been living at 8th/Passyunk for over a year, they've never been. Now, they're moving to Norwich (Linh's a writer). I'm also taking three, young Germans. Want it to be a good send-off + good intro to Vietnamese. I'm mostly a spring roll/broken rice/charred pork kinda guy, occasional soup, egg dish, jerky, and am not too familiar outside that realm.

Linh's wife Diem cooks good, traditional dishes. So, query: what would y'all recommend for NP's strong points? jas's rec on the bitter melon soup sounds great -- I know I'll be ordering that. Any other suggestions?

[zeffer81]

their summer rolls are yummy, albeit not especially exotic. they're a great way to start your meal off, because they're not greasy and heavy like a regular egg/spring roll and all the veggies taste nice and fresh.

[Greg Ling]

Went to nam phuong last night with pops and my sisters.We got there abou 7:30 and there was maybe two other tables by eight the place was packed.

for a app we got something we've never had before the beef ,shrimp and squid dipped in vinegar. really cool dish.They give you a tabletop burner that has this broth with vinegar chiles garlic and shallot.

A plate of cilantro ,shiso,basil ,mint ,lettuce and vermicelli.And then rice paper and this sauce that tasted more philipino than vietnamese,any way a ton of food for 16 bucks.

we also got the quail which is one of the best versions of quail you can get anywhere.Grapeleaves of course.we had the standard broken rice entrees but tried two new thing.If you like variety meats get the hue style noodles pig blood ,tendon, stomach ,tripe and thats the stuff i could identify and I took butchering in high school.

the country style beef is good too it's also called bac bo lac or something ,cubed steak watercress and limejuice.

[philadining]

In search of summer rolls, a small band of us surveyed the former Le Cyclo Bizarro, now known as Pho Ba Le, directly behind the Ba Le bakery at 6th and Washington.

We started with Papaya and Beef Jerky.

This had fresh, cool, crispy slivers of papaya with chewy, sweet, smoky dried beef. We're still trying to figure out why you can't get this jerky at the 7-11.

They had a special appetizer of mini-pancakes, topped with shrimp and ground pork

I think Katie hit it on the head when she said this was what egg foo yung dreams of being....

next was Grilled grape leaves filled with beef

OK, I'm totally down with some smoky char, but these puppies were burnt... an interesting, thick, sour sauce helped a lot, but still....

We came for summer rolls, and they had a sampler platter, so we weren't arguing.

At 12:00 was...hey, what was that?!? I moved too slow and missed that one... at about 2:00 was the fried pork skin, 3:00 was fried tofu, 6:00 was... I dunno.... 7:30 was shrimp, 9:00 was barbecued pork, and about 11:47 was a fried springroll with ground pork.

I tried several of those, thanks to Katie's heroic attempts at portioning them out. I liked all of them, especially when matched with the appropriate sauces.

Chive Soup had tofu, shrimp and ground pork in it.

We misunderstood the description of this soup, thinking it came with tofu, shrimp OR pork, not all three. I steered clear of the shrimp, so i'll let someone else describe it.

A variation on the broken-rice platter with grilled pork was pretty standard, which is to say, really good. It featured six flavors (and textures).

Same for the Grilled Beef on vermicelli, no surprises, just darn tasty

A special of rotisserie chicken might have been the surprise hit of the evening

Looks a little plain, but the chicken had a great sweet flavor.

All in all, I thought most everything was very good. I'm waffling about the grape leaves... Pho Ba Le didn't sprint out the the head of the pack, but remained a solid contender. I think i'd give a little edge to Nam Phuong, but i'd be happy to come back here too.

And these are indeed among my favorite summer rolls in town. I'm looking forward to continuing the comparison...

Six of us actually ate all that, for $14 each, including a good tip.

Big thanks to my tablemates for the fine company, and especially to Katie for the libations! Who knew Spanish whites were the perfect match for Vietnamese food?

Edited September 16, 2005 by philadining (log)

[cinghiale]

Went to nam phuong last night with pops and my sisters.We got there abou 7:30 and there was maybe two other tables by eight the place was packed.

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Musta walked right by ya, Greg -- I was there w/crew also about 7:30 on Wednesday-- sat in the smoking section, since it's usually a lot less crowded.

Vietnamese friends pronounced it very good. We had assorted apps -- spring & summer rolls, jerky & shrimp/pork papaya salads, omelette, oh and a jicama roll, too -- pretty damn good. Assorted mains -- the chicken w/eggplant was surprisingly good (surprising, since I rarely eat chicken when out). Char-broiled pork w/broken rice, squid, an awesome yet simple roast pork, sizzling beef. Diem, who cooks a lot, ordered hot/sour soup (really only "hot", she opined) and thought it was really, really good. We chatted about pho, and Linh talked about this difference between Hanoi pho (considered by Vietnamese to be "authentic") and Saigon pho, sneered at by those from the North for the bastardization of ingredient additions, but how so much better Saigon pho is. And pho here tops even that, he says, on account of quality. He thought the whole Hanoi cooking culture was essentially killed during 50 years of assorted turmoil. Maybe it's slowly coming back, he said.

Almost went back last night, since Wed's meal was so good.

Cf-ing philadining's pricing at Pho Ba Le, price was $140 incl. t/t for 7.

Edited September 16, 2005 by cinghiale (log)

[mrbigjas]

In search of summer rolls, a small band of us surveyed the former Le Cyclo Bizarro, now known as Pho Ba Le, directly behind the Ba Le bakery at 6th and Washington.

it's still pretty bizarre, i have to admit.

We started with Papaya and Beef Jerky.

more thickly sliced than some i've had, and it came dry. the dressing was slightly smoky, salty... good stuff.

next was Grilled grape leaves filled with beef

OK, I'm totally down with some smoky char, but these puppies were burnt... an interesting, thick, sour sauce helped a lot, but still....

i've never had that sauce with this dish before, and i wonder what it was. almost pinkish, thick, and with a serious vinegar tang to it.

We came for summer rolls, and they had a sampler platter, so we weren't arguing.

At 12:00 was...hey, what was that?!? I moved too slow and missed that one...

i think that was the one they listed on the menu as 'glazed ham.'

Chive Soup had tofu, shrimp and ground pork in it.

We misunderstood the description of this soup, thinking it came with tofu, shrimp OR pork, not all three. I steered clear of the shrimp, so i'll let someone else describe it.

i don't know how to describe it except as a standard kinda soup that you often get served with a meal like this in both vietnamese and chinese restaurants. a very light broth.... it's like, in soups like this, in my experience, the ground pork, shrimp and tofu are all variations on 'nearly flavorless' and they serve as a great first course or almost a palate-cleanser between courses. i love them, but i would understand if people think they're bland.

A variation on the broken-rice platter with grilled pork was pretty standard, which is to say, really good. It featured six flavors (and textures).

the bright orange omelette down there on the right was the highlight of this dish for me. very good. advertised as crabmeat, if i remember right.

A special of rotisserie chicken might have been the surprise hit of the evening

Looks a little plain, but the chicken had a great sweet flavor.

i think they said it was basted with oyster sauce. but i could be wrong.

All in all, I thought most everything was very good. I'm waffling about the grape leaves... Pho Ba Le didn't sprint out the the head of the pack,  but remained a solid contender. I think i'd give a little edge to Nam Phuong, but i'd be happy to come back here too.

i'd go back too--but earlier. by 930, we were the last people in there and they were noisily putting chairs and tables away for cleaning.

Edited September 16, 2005 by mrbigjas (log)

[KatieLoeb]

All in all I found Pho Ba Le to be solid. I really liked the specials we tried - the mini pancakes were delicious and definitely reminded me of Egg Fu Young (in a good way), but in hor d'oeuvres sized portions with a tasty shrimp on top. The rotisserie chicken was very moist and tender and the soup was good, if a bit bland as mrbigjas has already attested. I had never tried Vietnamese Beef Jerky before and I liked the smoky bits in the papaya salad. Dressing for that salad was pretty tasty too, as I recall. The Grilled Grape Leaf Beef rolls were standard issue, but I really love that dish and order it everywhere. This version stacked up just fine and I don't remember them as tasting burnt to me. I only tried a few bites of the Summer rolls, but the ones I tried were quite good. The crispy fried Spring rolls were yummy too and I really like Ba Le's version of Satay dipping sauce. It's thick and very peanut-ty. Grilled Pork and Grilled Beef were, well, grilled. Again, pretty standard issue, but tasty.

Much to my surprise the Spanish white wines were a decent compliment to our meal. The Peitan Albarino was crisper and overall a better wine than the Muga Rioja Blanca, but both were refreshing with the food. Thanks to all for letting me borrow their palates for "research".

I like Pho Ba Le. I'll certainly go back there again. There's parking, it's close to my house, and the food is tasty and very reasonable. If I'm jonesing for particular dishes I'll still hit Pho Xe Lua, my personal favorite Vietnamese restaurant in town, but Ba Le has a lot going for it that will likely send my business to them at least part of the time in the future.