(This picture was taken from the web)

Pho Ha Saigon

575 Adams Ave, Philadelphia, PA 19120

Pho Ha is located near the Lawncrest area of Philadelphia. It is located across the street from the old Adam's Bowling Alley. The parking lot is small and if it's really busy you may have to wait for a spot. The waiters are very friendly. There were more American faces in the joint than there were Asian faces so that's somewhat suspect to me! I've been to Pho Ha when it first opened up and I wasn't really impressed but since starting the blog I have decided to go back and try it again for my fellow PHOnatics!

My nephew has told me numerous times that the pho is the best and I can now judge it on my own and will give you my unbiased review of the Pho. 

I ordered the large Pho Tai Dac Biet (which didn't come with meatballs but somehow I had them... more on that later). As you can see in the picture the steak (tai) was separate from the rest of the pho but it was cut very thin and easily cooked in the hot broth. The broth is very light in color and very light in flavor. It wasn't the most fragrant or delicious of the phos I have eaten but it wasn't bad. You may not be able to tell from the picture but there was a nice coating of fat which helped solidify the flavor profile of this pho. You could taste slight hints of star anise, coriander, and cinnamon and by slight I mean you had to think about what you were tasting to realize what it was. 

I ordered the large and they gave you a ton of noodles and meats... we'll get to the meats in a moment... I liked the fact that they gave you all these noodles but they were overdone. They were mushy when I ate them and that's a no no when it comes to pho pho. 

They gave you plenty of jalapenos, one big ass lime, bean sprouts, and thai basil. They were all fresh and thankfully dry. Sometimes pho places will give you the bean sprouts and basil soaked because they just washed it. Also, they provided a dipping bowl/cup if you decided to dip your meats in sriracha or hoisin sauce.

Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaassssssssssssssss!!! Almost all the meats!!! They had flank, fatty brisket, tendon, steak, tripe, and meatballs. They gave you plenty of meat in the large bowl and I almost could not eat all of the pho because there was just so much meat and noodles. The tendon didn't have much of a flavor, which is a good thing. The tripe tasted like tripe and it was cut a bit too thick for my liking but it wasn't bad. The brisket, flank, and steak were cut thinly and all very good. The meatballs were rubbery and tasted like they were frozen so I recommend that you don't get them.... actually I never ordered them, they just magically came with my bowl. Well not really, when we went to pay for it there was a 2.25 charge for meatballs. Shady bitches.

Looky here! Almost 10 dollars for a large.... but I will admit that it was worth the 10.00 based on the amount of noodles and meat that they give you. However don't let them trick you with that meatball shit!

Ratings:
Broth - 3/5 (Ehhh it wasn't bad but it really wasn't that great either)
Meat: 4/5 (Almost all the meats but these shady bitches trying to trick you for them meatballs)
Vegetables: 4/5 (fresh thai basil leaves some of which were a lil brown)
Presentation: 5/5 (That bowl was gorgeous)
Affordability: 5/5 (That large is LARGE.)
Return: 3/5 (Probably not, because there are better places nearby)
Recommend: 3/5 (definitely better places to eat) 

Overall: B