Phở Bà Tâm
Vietnamese · Noodle soups $$ Little Saigon
4.8(1,204 reviews)Opens tomorrow 8amSince 1998Family-run
25–35 min$3.99 delivery$15.00 minimum
Mrs. Tâm has made this broth on the same corner since 1998.
She starts the pot at four in the afternoon for the next morning — beef bones blanched twice, charred ginger and onion, star anise and cassia tied in cloth so nothing clouds the broth. The restaurant is nine feet wide. There is one table inside and four plastic stools on the pavement, and by eleven in the morning the pot is half gone. She has never advertised. Everyone within a mile already knows.
Full menu at Phở Bà Tâm
- Phở bò — Beef noodle soup — 16.50 USD — Flat rice noodles and thin-sliced beef in a clear, long-simmered beef broth. Herbs, lime and chili come on the side to add yourself.
- Phở đặc biệt — House special beef noodle soup — 18.50 USD — Everything in one bowl — rare beef, brisket, tendon and meatballs. What regulars order on a first visit.
- Phở gà — Chicken noodle soup — 15.50 USD — A lighter, clearer broth with poached chicken, spring onion and black pepper. What she eats herself.
- Phở chay — Vegetarian noodle soup — 15.00 USD — Vegetable broth with fried tofu, shiitake, bok choy and carrot. Made without fish sauce.
- Gỏi cuốn — Fresh shrimp and pork rolls — 7.00 USD — Rice paper rolled around shrimp, pork, vermicelli and herbs. Not fried — these are the cool ones. Two per order with peanut sauce.
- Chả giò — Crispy fried spring rolls — 8.00 USD — Pork and wood ear mushroom fried in rice paper until blistered. A different dish from gỏi cuốn, which is fresh and not fried.
- Đĩa rau thơm — Extra herb plate — 3.00 USD — Thai basil, sawtooth coriander, bean sprouts, lime and chili. For the table.
- Cà phê sữa đá — Iced coffee with condensed milk — 5.25 USD — Robusta dripped through a phin to order, poured over ice. Strong and sweet. Arrives unstirred.