Food Spotlight | Pho Saigon Restaurant II

It’s been a while since I’ve had pho. Today, I went to the 99 Ranch plaza in El Cerrito with James, Jay, and Risa. From the beginning of summer, James and I had the goal of trying out every restaurant there was to offer in that plaza.

Pho Saigon Restaurant II isn’t the prettiest restaurant in the area, but it fits my adage that the sketchier-looking the place, and more legit the pho.

And legit this place was. I ordered a number 1 (the usual pho with rare steak, tendon, meatballs, etc.), and it seriously took about three minutes before four simmering bowls of pho were placed before us. We dug in.

The rice noodles were a bit too soft, but the broth was delicious and the meat was top notch. Plus, it’s pretty hard to screw up pho, so we enjoyed every last bit. Well, except the MSG-laden broth.

Verdict? Pretty decent pho, but still can’t compare with Pho1. That place will be hard to beat.

Insert lame pho puns at randomtidbitsofthought.wordpress.com.