Pho 75

Last night a friend of mine, Justin Trawick, organized a get-to-gether with friends at Pho 75 in Arlington. It's located at 1721 Wilson Blvd in Arlington. It's right next door to the new Ray's Hell Burger, which I am dying to try also. I've been dieting and really trying to watch what I have been eating. I looked up on the internet the calories and fat of Pho. It doesn't seem to be too terribly high, but I definitely know that it depends on the cuts of meat that you order as "toppings" in your Pho.
A quick glance online before I left work about this place told me that it's not fancy and that's cafeteria-like, but that the Pho at Pho 75 is one of the best in the DC area. Since I have never tried Pho before (pronounced FUH - not FOE), I was pretty excited and since our friend Ben was going to be there, I knew that I was going to be dining with a Pho expert.

The write-ups about the establishment was right on the money. It was not fancy, or cozy, nor quaint. It did feel almost like a cafeteria. There were five or six rows of long tables that could be shared by diners. Dark chairs lined the tables. Sitting atop of the tables were reusable chopsticks and soup spoons, along with hot and spicy sauce and plum sauce.

It took a little while to get the server to come over to us to take our order, but once we ordered, the soup came in minutes! Very fast! I ordered the #12 with eye-round and well-done beef brisket. The Pho Soup consists of beeth broth, very thin slices of beef that you can almost see through, onions, long thin white rice noodles, and cilantro. Separately on a small plate, you are given sprigs of fresh basil, bean sprouts, slices of fresh jalapenos, and slices of lime. This allows each person to season their serving to taste. The menu offered several different cuts of meat. Some other possible "toppings" were soft tendon, flank, bible tripe, some fatty cuts, and brisket. Fattier cuts of meat does effect the nutritional value of the meal as some of the fattier meats tend to have a higher fat content. Apparently, as I learned from Ben, it is common to add a hearty helping of hot sauce to the dish as the soup is somewhat bland without condiments, however; I added very little of the hot sauce.

I really liked the Pho very much. I think it was delicious. I definitely plan to try more Pho, especially a variety of meats. Pho really is quite a bargain. The restaurant's walls were adorned with dozens of Washingtonian's Best Bargain Awards. Apparently, it has won Best Bargain awards for the last several years.

On that note, Pho would be a great meal for starving musicians, artists, college students, DC interns, and those struke so hard by today's tough economy. Since it's right in Clarendon along Wilson Blvd., it's metro accessible. Anyone could enjoy some of DC's best Pho for Cheap!