Do you know what Pho is? It’s okay if you don’t. I didn’t find out it was a Vietnamese noodle soup until just a couple weeks ago. The first time I went to eat Vietnamese food was at a restaurant named Pho Plus. The food was interesting and I thought I would probably never have it again. Then one of my friends suggested going to a place called Noodle King. I was hesitant of going because my first experience of eating Vietnamese food consisted of asking myself “What the heck am I eating?” multiple times. But Noodle King is known as the best pho restaurant in town, so I agreed to try Vietnamese food again. Noodle King is a small restaurant located on University Avenue in Provo. The dish that I ordered was the Pho Tom (mostly because everything else on the menu looked…. interesting) which includes rice noodles, beef soup and shrimp. There are nine different types of pho that you can order and some other menu options include, but are not limited to, spring rolls, egg noodle soup and some stir fried options.
The cashier/waiters were very nice. The atmosphere was very relaxed. I walked in and I felt very comfortable right off the bat. My friend and I sat ourselves and were then greeted by the waiter. The wait service was definitely sub par. The waiter never checked on my friend and I, and the food also took a very long time to arrive. You wouldn’t think that soup would take forty minutes to make. When the pho finally did arrive I was surprised at the amount my friend and I were given for ordering a regular instead of a large.
Visually it was nothing spectacular. Just looked like a huge bowl of soup. They gave us chopsticks to use and I dug right in. The soup itself was warm and the broth had subtle hints of beef. I put a little Sriracha sauce to give the broth a little more kick. The soup also came with a good amount of herbs and sprouts on the side. There was a generous amount of shrimp in the pho as well. The dish definitely filled me up and changed my perspective on Vietnamese food. The pho cost around eight dollars which isn’t bad for the amount you are given.
Overall the service was mediocre and the food was exceptional. Would I come again? Yes. Would I recommend it to a friend? Yes. In fact I recommend everyone try it, just to try a new type of food. I will say that Noodle King wouldn’t be my first, second, or third dinner option, but I would go again. Go to Noodle King, order the pho, bring a snack because you’ll be waiting a while or just don’t come when you’re absolutely starving, and get the regular instead of the large.
