Pho V-Nam & Vietnamese Sanwhich

Recently, I relocated to Tulsa, OK. The blog name will remain the same because I LOVE Albuquerque and that's where the blog started. One of my criteria for me to live in a place is that pho has to be available. I tried another establishment than the subject of this blog, so I knew that it was available in the Tulsa market and the pho I have had prior to going Pho V-Nam & Vietnamese Sandwich (PVVS) was good but not great, I'll write that blog another time.

So PVVS opened up less than a year ago to the best of my knowledge. It's tucked away in a nice strip mall in south Tulsa. I've been weekly since I've moved to Tulsa because the pho is that good and it's comfort food to me. The decor of the restaurant is nothing to write home about, but it's a very simple design with part of the kitchen exposed to the dining area. The modest restaurant is pretty clean, but I wouldn't eat off the floor. The menu is very small and simple. They seem to mostly sell what the name is, pho and Vietnamese sandwich or banh mi.

The service here is not always fast, but it's always friendly. The owners will sometimes sit at a nearby table and chat with you if they're not too busy. As I understand they are from Houston, moved to Oklahoma about 10 years ago, and came to the states about 20 years ago. If I recall correctly, they used to run Vietnamese restaurant in Houston, one of the most competitive markets for Vietnamese food.

In this visit, my dinner companion and I split an order of spring rolls and each had a bowl of pho and iced coffee. The spring roll, pictured above, was good, but not great. The protein was a combo of shrimp and chicken which was pretty standard for spring rolls, but I felt that they had put too much noodle in. The veggies of the spring roll were good, it was nice to see some daikon and carrots, but again, too much noodle. This appetizer is served with peanut sauce, but I asked for a side of nguc chum. The nguc chum here is good, but not great, I like my nguc chum hotter than fire so don't listen to me. I like the show of hot water coming through the metal coffee filter, but I have yet to see this in the Tulsa market. The iced coffee here is good, but I miss the showmanship of the hot water dripping over the condensed milk as well as the ability to control the strength of coffee.

My friend ordered a bowl of the pho tai, pictured to the left and above, which is pho with thin sliced beef the portions here comes in three sizes and pictured is the small or the medium which is a great size for a medium appetite. I always get the pho dac biet, pictured to the right, here which is the pho and various cow parts. I know it may sound gross to many of you out there, but I love this stuff.

The backbone of a good bowl of pho is the broth and the broth is the best I've had in Tulsa. When I say this this is huge, because I've had pho at most of the Vietnamese restaurants in the Tulsa area. The noodle portion is generous, but not an overkill.The veggie plate is pretty thin but I suppose you can as for as more if your heart desires; the veggies are always pretty fresh. The pho here is so good, I have not bothered with the other menu items, but I read the bahn mi is killer. It's a few dollars more than your average Vietnamese joint, but no MSG is used here. I would give Pho V-Nam & Vietnamese Sandwich a rating of three and a half stars out of five. It's currently the best pho I've had in Tulsa. 

8122 S Harvard Ave

Tulsa, OK 74137

(918) 574-2888