Pho Xe Tang

On Saturday Kate and I decided to head up to Argyle Street for some Pho. I've been enamored with Vietnamese cuisine ever since I was able to visit Saigon for a few days back in 2008. Chicago has a number of authentic Vietnamese places, mostly clustered around Argyle Street in Uptown. Most of these restaurants are quite authentic and serve food that is hard to distinguish from what you'd find on the streets of Vietnam.  I've had the chance visit a number of local Vietnamese places and Pho Xe Tang is the best.

Pho Xe Tang has a terrific variety of dishes. They have one of my favorite appetizers, Banh Xeo. Banh Xeo is a crispy rice flour based pancake stuffed with bean sprouts, roast pork, and shrimp. They also have excellent congee (rice porridge) and high quality banh mi sandwiches. 

Our Saturday brunch was all about the Pho. The classic Pho includes sliced beef, well done brisket, well done flank, soft tendon, bible tripe, meat ball. The soup is based on an incredibly flavorful beef broth with star anise. I am not normally a tripe fan but it works really well in this soup. The tendon is also delightful, so soft, it literally melts in your mouth. One of my favorite parts of ordering Pho is the wide variety of condiments and garnishes. You get a plate of bean sprouts, fresh mint, limes slices, cilantro, culantro (also called saw tooth herb), and sliced jalapenos. You also have a variety a sauces to customize your bowl to your taste. In my opinion, the most important is the fish sauce which gives the broth an interesting flavor twist. If you love condiments and customization, Pho is the dish for you.

Pho, with garnishes and Vietnamese Iced Coffee in background

I also ordered a Vietnamse iced coffee which is made with condensed milk. Very sweet and sinfully rich.