To celebrate July 4th, we decided to bbq. Ok, no, there were no facilities to do that, so we went for vietnamese instead. There are a good number of vietnamese spots in the mission. Thanh Tam II was just the place we randomly picked. It’s a small little joint, dimly lit, with christmas lights on the wall. I dug it. The traditional vietnamese garbed lady on the cover of the menu is a bit menacing / creepy.
J got the chicken and shrimp rice plate. Good and good.
I wanted soup, but not pho or anything with meat, so I went with the seafood noodle soup. It came with scallops, shrimp, squid, and fish cake. All good. It was a really light broth, but spot on with just enough flavor. I can’t even really describe what it tasted like, but it was just what I wanted, and it was delicious. I practically drained the bowl.

Service was good, the food came out fast, it tasted good, and it was super cheap. What more can you ask for in vietnamese fare?

Thanh Tam II
577 Valencia St
San Francisco, CA 94110
(415) 252-1190

I pose this question to you, my dear blog readers. Why is broken rice so damn good? Seriously. In concept, it’s ridiculous. It’s broken bits of rice. It’s the stuff that extremely expensive and sophisticated machinery are designed to remove from the rice they are sorting. The whole point of those machines is to take these defective grains and toss them. Yet when I get a bowl of broken rice in front of me, it’s just the best damn thing in the world. And I know you agree. When you get vietnamese rice plates, this is what you get. Broken rice, rice bit, whatever it’s called, all I know is that it tastes amazing. And I just don’t know why. It just does. I always wanted to buy and make my own, but I just couldn’t bring myself to do it. Simply because of the concept itself. I’m paying real money for the rice parts that they typically throw away. But I finally broke down and did it, and gosh darn it, it’s awesome.

Pho 75 serves pho only. That’s right folks, no rice plates or vermicelli or spring rolls. Just pho, and a few drinks, and some scary looking technicolor desserts. If you don’t want just pho, then move along. Despite having a couple of asians along for the party, we all got very safe pho bowls, with safe meats… steaks, briskets, flanks. Not an innard to be had between any of us.

They serve a hearty bowl of pho here. The broth is actually a bit stronger than any of the other places I’ve been to in philly, and I’ve been to quite a number of them. So if you’re looking for a stronger flavored broth, Pho 75 is your place! Everyone agreed that the meat quality here is superior. For the healthy ones with us, they liked that it was less fatty than other places. And it seemed that you get more meat than at other places. We all stuffed our gourds.

I usually bastardize my pho with a giant heaping of sprouts and a few little squirts of sriracha and hoisin sauce. That’s usually it. I don’t put in jalapenos, and I normally don’t squeeze any lime. But C did the lime. And he doesn’t know why he does it but he does it cuz his mom does it and she’s vietnamese. So J and I both followed suit and limed our pho this time. We both liked it. Just a little squeeze. I can’t explain how it changed the pho, but it made it a little bit better. I’m convinced.

It was a good, filling, and cheap meal. The only down side is that on this hot and muggy night, all the windows were closed and there was no a/c on at all, so it was just uncomfortable. And it was also eerily deserted. There were a few people there when we showed up, but by the time we left, it was just us. Perhaps they just close early? Or perhaps real pho eaters don’t eat pho for dinner? I don’t know, but it was slightly weird. Oh, and they’re cash only. Considering the upcoming weather, I’m not sure how much more pho I’ll be eating until it gets cold again!

Pho 75
1122 Washington Ave # F
Philadelphia, PA 19147
(215) 271-5866