Pho Kim Long II
It’s an ongoing conundrum for those who aren’t associated with a particular ethnic group but are looking for a restaurant that is: We want it to be the kind of place that draws crowds of expatriates, under the theory that, if people who grew up on the food eat there, it must be authentic, and pretty good to boot. Then again, if we don’t speak that particular language, we want it to be the kind of place where we won’t feel like outsiders, and where we can easily communicate with the server.
Pho Kim Long II fulfills both halves of the equation.
Those who are even reasonably observant will have noted that pho shops, or restaurants, have been popping up — gradually at first, then multiplying exponentially — across the valley in the past five years or so. “Pho” is Vietnamese (and pronounced to rhyme with “duh,” which is all the comment I’ll make about this particular pho spot’s not-for-a-family-newspaper name) and refers to the ever-popular broth with rice noodles, beef and vegetables, and its many, many variations. It’s touted as a hangover remedy, a cure for whatever else ails you — an Asian chicken soup for the soul.
As is generally the case, the pho at Pho Kim Long II is served in big steaming bowls accompanied by plates of herbs, fruits and vegetables that can be added to the soup to tailor it to one’s particular taste; our side plates held basil, cilantro, limes, bean sprouts, hot peppers and stacks of leaf lettuce. The meat can be eaten in the soup or out, doused by the hoisin, soy or hot-pepper sauce on the table.
We plucked the beef from the Rare Steak Noodle Soup ($5.95) because we wanted it to remain rare, and in this piping-hot broth that wasn’t going to happen. And so it became two courses, the thin slices of lean beef with sauces, and the noodle soup, to which we added fistfuls of lettuce and a float of basil. It was classic, the broth light but well flavored and very satisfying.
We fished the meat out of the Cantonese Roast Duck with Egg Noodle Soup ($7.50) — a sort of Vietnamese-Chinese hybrid — as well, but for a different reason. The amount of duck in the soup was substantial, its skin lacquered with the characteristic blend that includes five-spice powder, ginger and hoisin sauce, but as also is characteristic it had been hacked up with a cleaver and contained a fair number of bones. Thus we removed the duck from the broth, pulled the meat and skin from the bones and returned it to the soup along with some cilantro, and were quite happy with the result. That the egg noodles in the duck soup weren’t as delicate as the rice noodles in the steak soup was fitting in that both the duck and the broth were more assertively flavored.
Like many pho restaurants Pho Kim Long II also offers a variety of Chinese dishes, and so it was that we decided to pair some spring rolls ($4.95) with some egg rolls ($5.95) as starters. The spring rolls were classic Vietnamese, rice-paper wrappers enfolding rice noodles, basil, lettuce, whole shrimp and even some pork, four fat half-rolls that were nothing short of excellent. The egg rolls were much more slender, fried and contained mostly shredded vegetables. Both were quite good in their own right, but those spring rolls were remarkable, and I’ve had more than my share of them over the years.
The atmosphere basically was functional, with soothing muted colors and a generally streamlined appearance. The mix of Asian and non-Asian clientele reflected the generally user-friendly nature of the place.
Service throughout was good, until it came time for the check. We wondered about the storied Vietnamese reluctance to present a bill, but the hostess who finally brought it to us explained apologetically that they’d just been unexpectedly slammed.
And this on a warm summer evening. Come winter, those curiously restorative soups will have even more appeal.
Las Vegas Review-Journal reviews are done anonymously at Review-Journal expense. Contact Heidi Knapp Rinella at 383-0474 or e-mail her at hrinella@ reviewjournal.com.