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No Country for Old Phở
Wednesday January 9th, 2008

By Michael Chin
Eat Vancouver writer

I’ll be honest. I had trouble finding an angle for this piece. It seemed odd because there certainly isn’t a shortage of angles on Vietnamese Beef Noodle Soup (case in point: The Phởdown). I guess it would be more appropriate to say I was burdened with an overabundance of angles. In picking one I had to keep in mind that I have lived in the DC area all my life, so I can’t really talk about things like they are new or at least like I am re-experiencing them. I have, however, eaten phở in Vancouver, which does give me some sort of unique perspective, albeit a little lame. I’ll do my best to keep it snappy.

The third most important thing to know about phở here is that, in general, it’s not much different than Vancouver. There isn’t really a colloquial difference, like chowder. Just like in Vancouver you are bound to find a strip mall dedicated to the stuff. The fixins are the same, the cafeteria setup is the same, and the locations are plentiful. One such location, and arguably the best representative for phở in the Metro area is Phở 75. With several locations in Virginia, Maryland, and Philadelphia it borders on a mini institution on the East Coast. I go about twice a month. I used to go more.

At Phở 75 the decorum/ambience is pretty straightforward. White walls, a couple stock photos of Vietnam, and uncongenial staff scattered around. Fortunately, there are no cow logos or neon lights…that I know of. Unfortunately, we (and by “we” I mean Phở 75 and the collective phở scene in this neck of the woods) have something worse. Yuppies. Yuppies eat this shit up here, literally and figuratively. I know from my time in Vancouver, that this isn’t as big of a problem as it is here. From what I’ve seen the people eating at a Vancouver phở are either Asian or people really interested in downing beef broth. And you should count your blessings. On any given visit to 75, at any given time of day, you’re likely to see at least one or two tables inhabited by the urban douchebag. You know, the kinda person that is checking for a text message every minute, discussing Lars and the Real Girl, and acting like they are hot shit for mingling with the masses. This is the most important thing to know about phở here, and regretfully the most egregious of them all.

The second most important thing to know about Phở 75 is that the phở is good. In fact it used to be amazing. The kind of phở where bubbles of gristle floated around the top of a piping hot broth. The kind where after you were done with a large bowl, you had to take a few minutes convincing yourself you shouldn’t order a small to go. Most of the bubbles are gone now. And in my visit there with my brother, this was clearly evident. They still do fixins right. They give you a buttload of great fresh basil, and on some days that is enough to counteract the declining flavor. But still it’s like I’ve been having a prime rib for three years, and now all of a sudden I’m being asked to settle for grade B chuck. Well maybe that’s a little too harsh.

I’m not going to say there is direct correlation, but the decline in taste did come around the same time as the influx of yuppies. And it’s always been of my opinion that yuppies are like mushrooms; feed them shit and keep them in the dark. But, phở is a rich tradition, and I’d be slighting the staff to say that they are just adhering to my philosophy. All I know is, on most boards here people seem to reject the notion that 75 has been slipping. And maybe the people on these boards aren’t the exact epitome of the urban asshole, they at least have the passion to want to talk about it (perhaps they are second cousins). But seeing as I’m pretty well versed in phở, my mother adores it, and my father is in fact Asian, and we all agree that it’s not as good, I’m pretty confident in saying that the state of phở here is in peril.

Canada, make sure you defend your phở and keep it pure. And me? I don’t know what to do. A man would have to put his soul at hazard. But I love the stuff and have hope, but for now I have to tell myself, “Okay, I’ll be part of this world.”

Pho 75 – Arlington
703-525-7355
1721 Wilson Blvd.
Arlington, VA 22209