Big_al (GroupRank 5) Posted 2 years, 2 months ago: The only thing I like better than five-star dining is four-star chowing-down. To rephrase: I'm happier paying a fair amount for a lot of good food than I am paying a lot for a small amount of haute cuisine. Great example is Pho Tay Ho here in my neighborhood (Bensonhurst) in Brooklyn.
There are tons of ethnic joints here in NYC, as you can imagine. The key to finding a good one is to look for one filled with customers indigenous to the cuisine's country/region of origin. In other words, a Chinese restaurant full of Asians is a good bet. As is a Mexican joint full of Central/South Americans, or a Kebab House full of Middle Easterners. You get the idea. Anyway, Pho Tay Ho is always packed with a mix of Asians who know good "home cookin'" and gwai lo's (whiteys) like myself who know where to find good, cheap fare.
Due to it's busy nature, the food is always fresh and I haven't had one brown mint leaf (which they put on everything) yet.
Service is so-so but that's because the waiters are running back and forth and serving multiple tables so you may have to speak up to grab one's attention. Don't feel like your waiter is rude if he doesn't visit your table during your meal to see if you need something else or to make sure everything is to your liking. There is a cultural difference here that needs to be observed: The onus of responsibility lies with you as far as asking for more water or more food. Also note that they seem to work as a team so the guy who brings your soup may not be the same one who brings your entree, and a totally different one may bring the check. It's weird but it works.
Everything in this place goes fast but you shouldn't feel rushed when eating. The place is always full of Asian families who spend lots of time at their tables eating and chatting. The key to an enjoyable experience is knowing how to order. It's not like the Soup Nazi in Seinfeld but you will have a better time if you know a few of the unwritten rules. Basically, here's the procedure: 1) come in, wait, get seated 2) When the waiter comes over with your menus, ask for water and/or forks at this time, if desired, before he runs off 3) when he brings these things back he'll probably expect you to order and since you have not decided, tell him that you need five minutes (or seven or ten) 4) take as much time as you need to read the menu and if he shows up again, ask for more time until everyone knows everything that they want. I'll explain why in a minute 5) order your meals 6) while you're waiting, mix up a few dipping sauces. On your table you will find a ton of chopsticks, small shallow bowls, three mysterious sauces and some soy sauce. Basically you want to grab a bowl, add a little bit of one of the sauces and dilute with soy sauce until tolerable as a dipping sauce (same thing you do with wasabi and soy at a Japanese joint). The sauces are as follows: a) Hoisin sauce: a sweet and savory brown sauce also known as "Chinese barbeque sauce". This one doesn't need to be diluted with soy, you can eat it straight b) Sriracha: a HOT spicy sauce with a chicken on the bottle made from sun-ripened chile peppers, vinegar, garlic, sugar and salt and c) Sambal Oelek: a HOT spicy sauce made from just chilis, no other garlic or spices that would alter the taste of your dish. Be warned: PLEASE CONSUME THE TWO HOT SAUCES CAREFULLY AND IN MODERATION. Dip only a small part of your food into them after diluting sufficiently with soy sauce, don't drown your forkfuls in them or you will pay for it later. Moving on... 7) By the time you're finished being a mixologist, the food will probably show up. Start eating and enjoy. Remember if you need more water, beverage or anything else and you can't find your waiter, it's not uncommon or rude to ask for someone else's help.
Now, the whole reason you want to have your entire order ready up front is that if you order an appetizer and ask him to come back for your entree order, he may be back with your app sooner than you expected which will get cold while you're still deciding on your entree. Or if you start eating hoping to flag him down midway through your app to order your entree, you may not be able to get a hold of him until after you're done and you could wind up with large gaps inbetween courses. Now the downside to ordering all at once is that even though he knows to bring appetizer before entree, they'll probably come out only a couple of minutes apart. In other words your small table will probably wind up crowded with appetizers, entrees, soups and beverages. But that's far better than having that find-and-grab-the-waiter anxiety while trying to enjoy your first course and then if you can't (which you probably won't here) you'll have to order the next dish and wait after finishing the first.
The food is typical Vietnamese restaurant fare. But before you ask, "so what's the big deal?" remember, it's about freshness, taste, price and quantity. You really will feel like you're at your best Vietnamese friend's house and his mom is whipping up dinner.
Appetizers include the usual spring rolls and summer rolls. The two that have never failed me are the #31 Steamed Rice Cake with VN Ham ($5.50) [pictured]. It's steamed rice cakes filled with minced pork (cake is a bad description, it's actually rice paper rolled like a crepe around the filling), topped with fried garlic and accompanied by bean sprouts, mint, and slices of Vietnamese "ham" which is really more like pork roll which you'd buy at a deli. It sounds kind of weird but it's great. Put a piece of the ham on the crepe, dip it in sauce if you like and enjoy. The other one that I love is #28 Crispy Squid with Garlic Sauce ($8.25). It's unreal and you get a ton of it. [NOTE: I went online after writing this review to see if there were any bona fide reviews of this place and there were. Interestingly, the Village Voice loved the restaurant but hated the squid. New York Magazine loved the restaurant and the squid. Personally, I think it's the best thing on the menu. Interestingly, the two mags also differ on the neighborhood. One says Bath Beach, the other says Gravesend. I say it's Bensonhurst.] Either of these appetizerss is more than enough for two people.
They have the usual assortment of Pho which is the national dish of Vietnam. Pho is a beef broth with rice noodles and different meats added in (choose from combinations of brisket, eye of round, tendon, tripe, etc.). Don't look for it under the "soup", it has it's own section on the menu. I'm not a big soup person but this dish is unreal. The broth is phenomenal--I read somewhere that it can take up to five days to make. Just be warned, the bowls are very large (especially the "big bowl") and this is a meal in itself. So look around at other tables for an idea of how much you get. If you order a pho, an appetizer and an entree, I guarantee you won't get past the Pho unless you share. My favorite soup/stew is in the appetizer section #33 Beef Stew w Bread VN style ($5.50). The hot, crispy bread is great for sopping up the delicious broth. It has a hint of curry though not as much as the chicken stew. Not only do the potatos and carrots melt in your mouth but the meat does too.
Definitely try one of their vermicelli dishes which are not really vermicelli pasta but thin rice noodles. You can get it with anything from grilled beef to pork to chicken to spring rolls or a combination. I go for the #56 Grilled Beef & Spring Roll w Sesame Seasoned Lettuce on Rice Vermicelli ($5.50). It comes in a big bowl, layered, so you mix it all up and you can either dump the accompanying nuoc cham on top or just dip your forkfulls into it. By the way, nuoc cham is a Vietnamese dipping sauce that comes with just about every dish (either that, or peanut sauce). It's a thin, orange-colored sweet,sour and salty tasting delight with carrots and garlic in it. Traditionally it's a peppery sauce but theirs is not that spicy.
The menu has pictures as does the restaurant itself over the counter to help you figure things out. And the menu gives a good description of what is what, so you can pretty much figure out what you might like. If undecided, get anything with a pork chop. They are seasoned just right and succulent.
Give it a shot if you're in Brooklyn, you can't go wrong. And don't bother trying to find parking on 86th street (always crowded with shoppers, parked cars, double parked cars and moving cars, plus it's under the el--elevated train tracks for you non-NYers--so it's a traffic nightmare) try 85th or one of the Avenues (it's between 23rd and 24th by the way) and then walk your lazy ass over there. It's worth it.
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Big_al (GroupRank 5)
Posted 2 years, 2 months ago:
The only thing I like better than five-star dining is four-star chowing-down. To rephrase: I'm happier paying a fair amount for a lot of good food than I am paying a lot for a small amount of haute cuisine. Great example is Pho Tay Ho here in my neighborhood (Bensonhurst) in Brooklyn.
There are tons of ethnic joints here in NYC, as you can imagine. The key to finding a good one is to look for one filled with customers indigenous to the cuisine's country/region of origin. In other words, a Chinese restaurant full of Asians is a good bet. As is a Mexican joint full of Central/South Americans, or a Kebab House full of Middle Easterners. You get the idea. Anyway, Pho Tay Ho is always packed with a mix of Asians who know good "home cookin'" and gwai lo's (whiteys) like myself who know where to find good, cheap fare.
Due to it's busy nature, the food is always fresh and I haven't had one brown mint leaf (which they put on everything) yet.
Service is so-so but that's because the waiters are running back and forth and serving multiple tables so you may have to speak up to grab one's attention. Don't feel like your waiter is rude if he doesn't visit your table during your meal to see if you need something else or to make sure everything is to your liking. There is a cultural difference here that needs to be observed: The onus of responsibility lies with you as far as asking for more water or more food. Also note that they seem to work as a team so the guy who brings your soup may not be the same one who brings your entree, and a totally different one may bring the check. It's weird but it works.
Everything in this place goes fast but you shouldn't feel rushed when eating. The place is always full of Asian families who spend lots of time at their tables eating and chatting. The key to an enjoyable experience is knowing how to order. It's not like the Soup Nazi in Seinfeld but you will have a better time if you know a few of the unwritten rules. Basically, here's the procedure: 1) come in, wait, get seated 2) When the waiter comes over with your menus, ask for water and/or forks at this time, if desired, before he runs off 3) when he brings these things back he'll probably expect you to order and since you have not decided, tell him that you need five minutes (or seven or ten) 4) take as much time as you need to read the menu and if he shows up again, ask for more time until everyone knows everything that they want. I'll explain why in a minute 5) order your meals 6) while you're waiting, mix up a few dipping sauces. On your table you will find a ton of chopsticks, small shallow bowls, three mysterious sauces and some soy sauce. Basically you want to grab a bowl, add a little bit of one of the sauces and dilute with soy sauce until tolerable as a dipping sauce (same thing you do with wasabi and soy at a Japanese joint). The sauces are as follows: a) Hoisin sauce: a sweet and savory brown sauce also known as "Chinese barbeque sauce". This one doesn't need to be diluted with soy, you can eat it straight b) Sriracha: a HOT spicy sauce with a chicken on the bottle made from sun-ripened chile peppers, vinegar, garlic, sugar and salt and c) Sambal Oelek: a HOT spicy sauce made from just chilis, no other garlic or spices that would alter the taste of your dish. Be warned: PLEASE CONSUME THE TWO HOT SAUCES CAREFULLY AND IN MODERATION. Dip only a small part of your food into them after diluting sufficiently with soy sauce, don't drown your forkfuls in them or you will pay for it later. Moving on... 7) By the time you're finished being a mixologist, the food will probably show up. Start eating and enjoy. Remember if you need more water, beverage or anything else and you can't find your waiter, it's not uncommon or rude to ask for someone else's help.
Now, the whole reason you want to have your entire order ready up front is that if you order an appetizer and ask him to come back for your entree order, he may be back with your app sooner than you expected which will get cold while you're still deciding on your entree. Or if you start eating hoping to flag him down midway through your app to order your entree, you may not be able to get a hold of him until after you're done and you could wind up with large gaps inbetween courses. Now the downside to ordering all at once is that even though he knows to bring appetizer before entree, they'll probably come out only a couple of minutes apart. In other words your small table will probably wind up crowded with appetizers, entrees, soups and beverages. But that's far better than having that find-and-grab-the-waiter anxiety while trying to enjoy your first course and then if you can't (which you probably won't here) you'll have to order the next dish and wait after finishing the first.
The food is typical Vietnamese restaurant fare. But before you ask, "so what's the big deal?" remember, it's about freshness, taste, price and quantity. You really will feel like you're at your best Vietnamese friend's house and his mom is whipping up dinner.
Appetizers include the usual spring rolls and summer rolls. The two that have never failed me are the #31 Steamed Rice Cake with VN Ham ($5.50) [pictured]. It's steamed rice cakes filled with minced pork (cake is a bad description, it's actually rice paper rolled like a crepe around the filling), topped with fried garlic and accompanied by bean sprouts, mint, and slices of Vietnamese "ham" which is really more like pork roll which you'd buy at a deli. It sounds kind of weird but it's great. Put a piece of the ham on the crepe, dip it in sauce if you like and enjoy. The other one that I love is #28 Crispy Squid with Garlic Sauce ($8.25). It's unreal and you get a ton of it. [NOTE: I went online after writing this review to see if there were any bona fide reviews of this place and there were. Interestingly, the Village Voice loved the restaurant but hated the squid. New York Magazine loved the restaurant and the squid. Personally, I think it's the best thing on the menu. Interestingly, the two mags also differ on the neighborhood. One says Bath Beach, the other says Gravesend. I say it's Bensonhurst.] Either of these appetizerss is more than enough for two people.
They have the usual assortment of Pho which is the national dish of Vietnam. Pho is a beef broth with rice noodles and different meats added in (choose from combinations of brisket, eye of round, tendon, tripe, etc.). Don't look for it under the "soup", it has it's own section on the menu. I'm not a big soup person but this dish is unreal. The broth is phenomenal--I read somewhere that it can take up to five days to make. Just be warned, the bowls are very large (especially the "big bowl") and this is a meal in itself. So look around at other tables for an idea of how much you get. If you order a pho, an appetizer and an entree, I guarantee you won't get past the Pho unless you share. My favorite soup/stew is in the appetizer section #33 Beef Stew w Bread VN style ($5.50). The hot, crispy bread is great for sopping up the delicious broth. It has a hint of curry though not as much as the chicken stew. Not only do the potatos and carrots melt in your mouth but the meat does too.
Definitely try one of their vermicelli dishes which are not really vermicelli pasta but thin rice noodles. You can get it with anything from grilled beef to pork to chicken to spring rolls or a combination. I go for the #56 Grilled Beef & Spring Roll w Sesame Seasoned Lettuce on Rice Vermicelli ($5.50). It comes in a big bowl, layered, so you mix it all up and you can either dump the accompanying nuoc cham on top or just dip your forkfulls into it. By the way, nuoc cham is a Vietnamese dipping sauce that comes with just about every dish (either that, or peanut sauce). It's a thin, orange-colored sweet,sour and salty tasting delight with carrots and garlic in it. Traditionally it's a peppery sauce but theirs is not that spicy.
The menu has pictures as does the restaurant itself over the counter to help you figure things out. And the menu gives a good description of what is what, so you can pretty much figure out what you might like. If undecided, get anything with a pork chop. They are seasoned just right and succulent.
Give it a shot if you're in Brooklyn, you can't go wrong. And don't bother trying to find parking on 86th street (always crowded with shoppers, parked cars, double parked cars and moving cars, plus it's under the el--elevated train tracks for you non-NYers--so it's a traffic nightmare) try 85th or one of the Avenues (it's between 23rd and 24th by the way) and then walk your lazy ass over there. It's worth it.