Pho Thanh

It's a cliche, but we've all heard the phrase, "Things are going to get worse before they get better," or something similar. Until recently, that was definitely the case at the mostly Vietnamese strip mall at the corner of 17th Avenue and Camelback. Starting around 1990, Pho Bang operated there as a small, unpretentious restaurant serving steaming bowls of Vietnamese noodle soups at reasonable prices. Sometimes during the decade just ended, however, Pho Bang started to decline. The food was usually pretty good, but the restaurant became dirty, plates and bowls went uncleared, and the staff were often inattentive. Customers kept going despite the complaints, but one day in 2009, the owners called it quits and closed the restaurant. A few weeks later and without much fanfare, Pho Thanh opened in the same location.

Pho Thanh manages to address a lot of the problems with Pho Bang while maintaining enough familiarity to please long-term customers of the old restaurant. The walls have been scrubbed, so the restaurant is cleaner than it was in years. It's still got some messy charm, though, with a stack of supplies cluttering a corner table under the flat-panel television that shows Vietnamese music videos and movies. The service isn't fawning, but it's more attentive than before. Happily, tables are cleared soon after being vacated, meaning customers no longer have to look at someone else's dirty dishes while desperately trying to get the attention of the harried staff. Yes, in all respects, Pho Thanh is a reboot of Pho Bang with similarly good, value-priced food, but without the baggage of the past decade of neglect.

Although the name and ownership have changed, the location is the same small, familiar dining room just two blocks east of the 19th Avenue / Camelback light rail station. Seat yourself if the staff are busy, and soon enough you'll receive a copy of the voluminous menu. Although, the restaurant's name incorporates "pho," the menu is really more of a cross section of Vietnamese food. Sure, there's plenty of the namesake rice noodle soup, with several beef and one chicken variety available, but there are equally large portions of the menu devoted to mi egg noodles, bun vermicelli dishes, com tam broken rice platters, bahn mi sandwiches, and even hot pots and entrees grilled at the table. Instead of offering every variant of pho possible, Pho Thanh seems to be an all-purpose neighborhood Vietnamese restaurant.

Viewed in those terms, the restaurant is successful. Even though the pho or com tam choices may not rival those at restaurants with those specific specialties, Pho Thanh provides appealing versions of just about everything mapped out on the menu. The pho is all based on rich beef broth, with the usual table salad of basil, bean sprouts, lime, and jalapenos provided alongside. A more surprising option are the udon noodle soups, which might at first glance seem a borrowing from Japan. In actuality, they're made from banh canh, a type of thick noodle similar to, but not exactly the same, as the familiar staple from northeast Asia. These soups have a lighter broth than pho and tend to rely on pork and shrimp more than beef. The garnishes and accompaniments are the same as with pho, however.

Although Vietnamese soups are known for the complexity of their broth, Pho Thanh also does well with seemingly simple stir-fry dishes. A mixture of chicken and broccoli in a garlicky sauce and served with white rice is a straightforward dish for the member of any group shy about tendon, trip, or tamarind. There area also about half a dozen vegetarian dishes. Many involve tofu, but the vegetarian summer rolls, bi cuon chay, contain not only julienned vegetables, but also shreds of mock pork instead of the more familiar cubes of bean curd. The meatless rolls are accompanied by the ubiquitous nuoc mam, or fish sauce, so strict vegetarians may want to think twice before dipping. Other condiments, present at every table, include the expected trio: sriracha sauce, hoisin sauce, and garlic-chili sauce.

Pho Thanh is open for lunch and dinner every day except Tuesday. The restaurant has no liquor license, but the usual assortment of tropical beverages keeps things interesting. Fresh squeeze orange juice or salted lemonade with club soda are some of the more refreshing choices on hand. Of course, there's a broad selection of American sodas for anyone looking for a more familiar drink. Desserts, as at most Vietnamese restaurants, are an acquired taste for most customers raised on American and European sweets, but there are plenty of options involving tropical fruits, coconut milk, mung beans, etc. Whether dessert is included or not, a meal at Pho Thanh adds up to a nice culinary tour of Vietnam. At 17th Avenue and Camelback, things did indeed get worse, but with Pho Thanh now open for business, they're starting to get better again.

1702 W. Camelback Rd. #14, Phoenix AZ 85015 | Map
(602) 242-1979