In 1989 when I first learned there was a large Vietnamese community in New Orleans (and I was only 10+ years late on that find) and a new cuisine for me to explore, I was like a kid in a candy shop. Vietnamese food appealed on so many levels: flavor, aroma, herbs, meats, temperature, taste and plating. But it is the pho – or soup to those of us less versed in Vietnamese food names – that warms the cockles of my heart, feeds my soul, soothes an aching head and fills my stomach. And while there are many, many restaurants in New Orleans East, on the West Bank and a growing number in Metairie and Kenner, there have been scant few in Uptown New Orleans.
A Pho-nomenal Bowl of Beef Pho from Le Viet Cafe
The tide is turning, however. In the last month or so, a few “opening soon” signs have appeared on the local landscape. Two restaurants on Magazine Street are anxiously awaiting and one right on St. Charles Avenue has recently thrown open its doors.
Le Viet Cafe has taken over the restaurant space that was once known as “The Garlic Clove,” and has more recently been a spate of barbecue and soul food joints. The location has distinction for being next to iconic “Igor’s,” a bar where you can get an adult beverage while you do your laundry. But, I digress.
In the way that pad thai is the benchmark for many eating Thai cuisine, such is Pho, at least for me. If the broth is rich and flavorful, I’m in hook, line and sinker.
The beautiful condiments are almost as exciting as the Pho itself at Le Viet Cafe
Le Viet Cafe’s beef broth version is a dark, almost well-steeped tea color, and aromatic with heavy emphasis on star anise and black peppercorn. On its own, the broth is sigh-inducing. But there’s more. Tender rice vermicelli noodles swim in a tangle at the bottom of the bowl and on top there are shards of onion, flecks of scallion and torn bits of cilantro. A basket of fresh basil, more cilantro, crunchy mung bean sprouts, fiery jalapenos and wedges of lime, appears alongside your soup, for you to add as you like. To add heft, choose from chicken, rare beef , brisket or meatballs to “flesh out” the soup. I get rare beef and I ask for it on the side to keep it rare, swishing each slice quickly through the hot broth to give it a slight “cook,” before folding it on my wide-bowled spoon, dipping gently to add broth, scallion and then a few noodles. Slurping loudly and always managing to splash myself, this soup gets devoured with gusto.
Le Viet Cafe's savory and nourishing Meatball Pho
Le Viet Cafe’s pho is a winner. Celebrants of “Meatless Monday” will enjoy the vegetarian broth with tofu, mushrooms, etc. and there are non-soup options to explore. Roll your own spring rolls have caught my eye, and there are noodle bowls, rice plates and the Viet Sandwich (Banh Mi) that can be filled out with a choice of meats, pickled veggies and other condiments.
For pho-natics, Le Viet Cafe offers a close-to-hand pho-nomenal Vietnamese soup respite pho sure. And keep your eyes on GoNola for more in-pho. *Insert eye-roll here*
All photographs by Lorin Gaudin.
Lorin Gaudin is the author of the GoNOLA food column, “A Little Bit of Everything” and the creator of the culinary site, FiveOhFork.
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