Not At All Your Typical Ice Cream Parlor
Written: Jan 27 '06 (Updated Nov 26 '08)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Wonderfully delicious, cheap, nutritious, low fat, fresh taste
Cons: Can be crowded since it is so good and so cheap.
The Bottom Line: This is the best, inexpensive, nutritious, low fat and full-flavored food. It can be quick. It's far better than McDonalds or other fast food places.
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| tennis_player's Full Review: Swensen's Ice Cream & Food |
This is not your typical ice cream place, by a long shot.
It opened many years ago as the local branch in Pleasanton of the famed ice cream purveyor, Swenson's that started in San Francisco. In the beginning, it was just an ice cream parlor. There were a succession of owners over the years. Ice cream, alone, was not enough to keep this kind of place open and profitable. They tried added sandwiches, salads and other simple things familiar to the families and kids.
Recently, a Vietnamese family bought the place and kept the ice cream and sandwich/salad menus and added the traditional Vietnamese Pho Soup Noodles and a few other Vietnamese items. They are still a franchised branch of Swensen's complete with sign, logo and ice creams but now they offer much more! It was an instant hit. For once, they had a steady clientle in both winter as well as summer. Pho is a clear noodle (bean threads) along with beef slices in a complex, aromatic, clear beef stock. It is cheap, nutritious, wonderful flavor and warms the soul on cold or blustery winter days. Other nice Vietnamese treats include Spring Rolls, Egg Rolls, rice plates with BBQ chicken, pork or beef. There is, also, a delicious Vermicelli Bowl, a sort of noodle salad with BBQ chicken or pork. All of these are really, truly inexpensive. A large Pho is only $7.50, small is $6. The Vermicelli Bowl is also $6.
This is a very small, casual place set in the corner of a medium-sized strip mall.. It's almost a square dining room with the entry door in one of the four corners. There are four booths lining one exterior wall and a long communal table along the adjoining exterior wall. The other two walls house a small fake marble counter with bar stools and the cash register. The remaining wall is where the ice cream counter is located. The small kitchen is located directly behind the counter and cash register. The decor is typical ice cream parlor style - fake marble tables, ornate heavy wrought iron chairs, overhead ceiling fans, tiffany-style lamps, etc.
The staff is extremely friendly. The wife, Ng Ngno, is very gracious and a delight to talk to. Her English is passable. She is one of the cooks and waits tables. Her husband is the one that makes the broth for the Pho. He tells us it takes about 20 hrs. for each batch. He starts it at night and finishes it the following day. It has more aroma and flavor than the other Pho places we have tried, locally. They have young students waiting tables on weekends and peak business hours. They all seem to have the right attitude as all are friendly, intelligent and hard working.
My preferred soup noodle item is #17 on the menu. It is chicken broth with the clear vermicelli noodles and marinated, gilled, sliced chicken. If I hanker for the beef Pho, I choose the large, rare beef and flank beef item, #10 on the menu. My wife loves their Vermicelli Bowl with chicken. It comes with sliced vegetables in the bowl with the chicken and vermicelli. A thing sauce is served on the side. She dumps the whole bowl of sauce into the vermicelli bowl and mixes the ingredients. It is not a hot dish and is great in the summer.
There is no correct way to eat the Pho or Chicken Noodle Soup. They come with fresh, crisp bean spouts, lime slices and fresh Asian basil. I squeeze the lime into the soup, add some bean sprouts, pick the leaves off the stems and add them into the bowl. Then, I mix two condiments, a very hot chili sauce with Hoisin Sauce (sweet plum sauce) and use it to dab onto my noodles as I pick them up using chopsticks and place them into a large plastic Chinese spoon for transport into the mouth. Oh so divine!
One more thing, in Asian culture, it is bad luck to cut the noodles with your teeth while eating. It is best to "slurp/suck" the noodles into the mouth. Chopping of the noodles with your teeth is considered bad luck since noodles are a symbol of long life as noodles, when made in the traditional manner, are endless since they are made by tossing/folding/looping the dough so that it ends up as an endless strand of noodles.
I would invite all of you to try the Pho in your local communities.
Jim
May 5, 2008 UPDATE
As of the beginning of this year, they have dropped the Swensen's franchise and have taken out the ice cream section and installed more tables for increased seating capacity. They have also changed the name to reflect their current status as a real Vietnamese restaurant. The new name is Pho Minh Restaurant.
They have added some specials to the menu and have expanded their drinks to include Vietnamese teas and Bubble Tea.
But, the star of their offerings, the traditional Beef Noodle Soup remains unchanged and is still the best there is in the area.
Jim
06/01/08 UPDATE
Sadly, I must report that their food quality has gone downhill. I don't understand this as it is still owned and operated by the same people.
The grilled chicken in the soup and in the Vermicelli bowl item no longer has that nice honey-char flavor and texture. Now, it's more dull-flavored and less interesting. The beef Pho is still good but that limits us, too much!
Too bad!
Jim
Recommended:
Yes
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