Pho Nguyen

This pho shop is located in Raleigh Hills off to the side of a Fred Meyer. It doesn't have a street-facing storefront, so it can be easy to miss.

I first stopped in here with Flynn as part of his Westside pho tour, and I gotta say that it's second only to Pho Oregon on 82nd in terms of overall pho quality. On my first visit, they even understood my rudimentary Vietnamese to get that I wanted the rare tai to be served de riêng (off to the side). I've only been eating pho in Portland for a year and a half, but this is the first time that someone has accommodated this request.

My preferred bowl of pho is gan gau, referring to the bits of soft tendon as well as fatty brisket. Combine this with the rare beef and I'm good. Sometimes I'll go with the bo vien meatball as well. Forgive the washed out light on this pic, but really once you've seen one bowl of pho you've seen them all.

I also convinced Flynn to try out the banh xeo, a large crisp egg crepe filled with savory items like minced pork, shrimp and bean sprouts. The whole thing is served with large leaves of lettuce, meant to act as a bit of a wrapper around torn sections of the banh xeo, and dipped into the nuoc cham dipping sauce.

My first trip was really favorable so I went back again earlier this week, this time trying some of their bun vermicelli dishes. I sprung for the duck soup, bun mang vit. It arrives with the duck and cabbage served separately on a heaping platter, with the noodles and broth in a separate bowl.

I'm a really big fan of Pho Nguyen, and while it's only a little bit farther from me than Pho Oregon on 82nd, I sometimes have errands to run that put me on that side of the hill, so it's a great destination. Definitely recommended.