Sometimes a girl just needs a good Pho. And sometimes hole in the wall places have the best food. That was substantiated a couple weeks ago when I visited Pho Hoang Long Vietnamese Restaurant in Marietta. Glen and a couple of his coworkers discovered Pho Hoang Long near their work and have been die hard fans ever since. It is a great find for those of us who neither live nor work anywhere near Buford Highway. Pho Hoang Long is located in a strip mall off of Pat Mell Rd in Smyrna.
The restaurant is relatively small with only about 10 small tables. Our crowd of 6 arrived early to beat the lunch rush. The hostess/ waitress/ cashier was pleasant enough but it appears she could easily slip into Phuong-like behavior at any moment. She was polite, but I could tell she doesn’t have a lot of patience for non-regulars who don’t know exactly what they want.
I perused the menu although I already knew what I was getting, the medium beef pho (soup) with an extra meatball. This pho comes with tripe too. The order was duplicated with all but 2 people. Of the others, one had a spicy chicken dish with rice and the other, a vegetarian was stuck with basil rolls, the only non-vegetarian item on the menu.
Vietnamese Specialty Foods Store
As we waited for our food, the restaurant slowly filled up. Mostly Vietnamese, there were few other non-Vietnamese diners. As there is only one woman running the show here, the restaurant is a good size to keep it manageable. Oh, there’s also an ethnic store attached to the restaurant where you can find a variety of Asian foods.
Vietnamese Noodle Soup (Pho)
The soup was delicious, and the presentation lovely. My beef, still pink when set in front of me, continued to finish cooking while in the broth. I added a little Sirachai and hoisen,tossed in some bean sprouts, basil and lime, mixed it all up to break up the clump of noodles and get the meat separated so it could finish cooking.
Lime, Jalapenos, Basil, Bean Sprouts
The tripe in the Pho was incredible. I’m really beginning to believe tripe is underutilized in restaurants. But I guess it isn’t for everyone. Also, don’t miss out on the herbs that they set in front of you. Tear some off and put in your pho, it adds another dimension of flavor.
Our poor vegetarian friend got the shaft with his order. The basil rolls are nothing more than the free herbs placed on the table wrapped in rice paper. He did the best he could with his two orders, but honestly, how filling could some herbs wrapped in rice paper be? Definitely not a vegetarian friendly place.
Considering it was a one woman show, I thought service was pretty good and food was delivered quickly. The backup was when we went to pay. We all had separate checks and it took her about 15 minutes to take 5 different payments. Prices are average for a Vietnamese restaurant, with soups around $6.95 + $1.50 for the meatball. Think I’ll skip the meatball next time, as the soup is tasty and filling without it, plus I don’t really need the extra calories.
331 Pat Mell Road
Marietta, GA 30060
770 384 0530
