Phở Nguyễn in Boise is a local Vietnamese restaurant that highlights all the reasons why Vietnamese cuisine is one of my favorites. Filling and yet light, with freshness from plenty of fresh herbs like basil, fresh bean sprouts, red cabbage and fresh jalapeños. The red chili sauce that others buy in a large container from the Asian markets is not their way; instead Phở Nguyễn in Boise makes their own in-house. The flavors in the chili paste are bright, spicy but without being overpowering and with layers of flavors from an assortment of chiles including habaneros.
Make no mistake, however, if spicy is not what you want, most of the dishes are not spicy at all. You can use the house made red chili paste, the jalapeños or the ubiquitous Sriracha Sauce that is found as part of the condiments that are found on every table along with hoisin and soy sauce to adjust to your personal taste. Vietnamese cuisine emphasizes this aspect, with plenty of choices to adjust the majority of their phở soups to your own taste.
Spring rolls are one item that is found in just about every Vietnamese restaurant in the US. However, you can’t find it in any restaurants in Vietnam for one simple reason—every family makes it at home. When I visited Vietnam in 2019 for what was primarily a food tour, I was lucky enough to have even been invited to a family’s house in Ho Chi Minh City (also known as Saigon). Part of the reason was to teach me how to make my own spring rolls (Note: it is harder than it looks and mine turned out, well, not very pretty). It made me appreciate the skill needed to roll these delicious appetizers.
Phở Nguyễn has several versions of the rolls, with pork, shrimp or both and even a vegetarian spring roll on the menu. My spring rolls were delicious, full of the thin rice vermicelli, fresh herbs, thin sliced pork and tender cooked shrimp. The appearance was spot on too, rolled perfectly and with the shrimp and pork visible through the fresh rice paper wrapper. On the side was a dipping sauce, with peanuts both in the sauce and a chopped peanut garnish. The Spring Rolls are made in two versions, Vegetarian or with shrimp and thinly sliced pork. There are also the popular Fried Eggrolls as an appetizer, also in two versions. Popcorn Chicken rounds out the appetizer menu.
The broth is key to any proper Vietnamese soup. A good Vietnamese restaurant will simmer their broth for 12 hours or more, slowly extracting the flavors out of meaty beef, pork or chicken bones, onions and spices such as star anise. My favorite soup is a version of phở created and named after the royal capital of Vietnam, the city of Huế in central Vietnam. Bún bò Huế is spicy, but if the base broth is made correctly, has many layers of flavor from the combination of beef and pork bones as well as the other spiced used in the long simmering process. My bowl at Phở Nguyễn in Boise had some of the best depth of flavor I’ve had any place.
My bowl of Bún bò Huế was chock full of thick rice noodles, sliced onions, sliced pork, pig’s foot (a special request of mine), Vietnamese pork roll and other goodies. It was spicy, salty; and had a wonderful balance of umami flavors from a high quality fish sauce that they use. It was easily one of the best bowls of Bún bò Huế I have had in the US. The heat level was perfect, a nice spice level. On the side, a plate with an assortment of fresh basil, jalapeño slices, lime quarters and bean sprouts allowed adding a fresh, traditional touch to the bowl. As I ate, I was able to change the taste and balance of the dish by adding the jalapeño, basil, lime and fish sauce to the dish. At the table in a basket were also Hoisin Sauce, Soy Sauce and Sriracha Sauce to add more variety to the Bún bò Huế.
I talked with the owner about fish sauce, inquiring why it wasn’t included in the condiments at the table. He explained that the usual cheap fish sauce which is at the table in most places is not what he wants for his customers. Instead, he buys a high quality brand which he uses for cooking and has a much more subtle flavor. They will send out a small bowl of this fish sauce upon request. I understood this well because I had shopped for fish sauce to use when I tried to cook Vietnamese; and noticed the price difference between the Phu Quoc brand set on the table in its bottle at most restaurants. Phu Quoc brand is made in Hong Kong, not Phu Quoc (an island where the best fish sauces traditionally come from). I had recently purchased a bottle of Red Boat Fish Sauce, made on the island of Phu Quoc and easily 5 times as expensive, but much smoother and subtle taste and fragrance. Having read all the labels at Capital Asian Market to figure out which one I wanted, it was very easy to understand what he explained to me.
Another trip was made to Phở Nguyễn with a friend to try some more dishes. A different version of the spring rolls was ordered, this time the Vegetarian Spring Roll. The flavor popped from these, with plenty of fresh herbs and veggies inside accompanying the usual cold vermicelli noodles and rice paper wrapper. A warm Peanut Sauce topped with crushed peanuts came on the side to dip the rolls into. These was messy to eat but the flavor was superb. One of the reasons it was difficult to eat was because the rolls were very full, a good thing because I had noticed that most of the items served at Phở Nguyễn were very generous portions.
My guest ordered the vegetarian version of the Vermicelli Bowl that I had ordered on a previous trip, although mine had included the grilled shrimp and pork as well as a fried eggroll. While the Vegetarian Vermicelli looked delicious and got some favorable comments as to the flavor, it did come up short on being a filling dish, a common comment on vegetarian dishes from any salad-like fare and vegetarian items at most restaurants.
This dish included fried and shredded tofu, chopped Vietnamese herbs, bean sprouts, green onions, chopped peanuts and julienned carrots. It was a beautiful plating; and it was easy to see that all the veggies and herbs used in the Vermicelli Bowl were extremely fresh. It came with the typical dressing used on all the Vermicelli Bowls which is a fish-sauced based dressing. My guest was able to request a vegetarian version of this dressing which the owner gladly brought over.
Of course, no review of a place with phở in the name would be complete without having a bowl of this incredibly popular Vietnamese dish. I opted for the Phở Nguyễn Special Combination, which included sliced steak, brisket, tripe, meatballs and tendon. There are eight different combinations available, with several including only rare steak and brisket for those who are not into the chewier and, less popular in the US, tripe and tendon. Also on the menu was the chicken version of pho that includes chicken breast and a rich chicken broth. A kid sized phở is also on the menu, less expensive and including just well-done steak or meatballs along with the vermicelli noodles and beef broth.
The beef broth was nice and rich, reflecting the long cooking of the beef bones and meats required to infuse the broth. There was plenty of meat in it, including some of the specialty ones such as beef tendon and tripe not found in most restaurants here. All the phở bowls come in regular or large sizes; and it is possible to add a small bowl of meatballs as an extra side. The large that I ordered was very filling, with a nice portion of vermicelli and plenty of the different meats in it. By adding the different condiments I was able to enjoy several different styles with my order, from mild to hot and sweet to sour. This is one of the keys to phở, being able to start with the basic bowl and able to customize it to many different flavors, making it exactly how your taste buds want.
Overall, I was extremely pleased with Phở Nguyễn. Service was good and attentive, the food was fresh and flavorful; and the menu had many choices. They seemed to do a brisk takeout business also. As I tend to do, I was able to talk (anonymously of course) with owners Luan and Kelly, the husband and wife team behind Phở Nguyễn. They were both willing to take time to share information about the food and their restaurant, which made for a much more enjoyable experience than I have had at most Vietnamese restaurants in the Treasure Valley, with the exception of Boise’s excellent Phở Tay.
Phở Nguyễn currently has some summer specials going on such as the widely popular Vietnamese sandwich, the Banh Mi. These are available with either grilled pork or grilled chicken. They also occasionally have daily specials including Hu Tieu, a pork broth soup which has flat noodles instead of the thin rice vermicelli used in phở and is usually made with pork, shrimp and occasionally fish balls. I will definitely be going back again to Phở Nguyễn to explore their interesting menu and try more of their excellent dishes.
Phở Nguyễn
7310 State Street
Boise, ID 83714
(208) 853-9555
All photos by Ed Simon for The Boise Beat
