[Restaurant Review] Pho So 1 Boston

Location:
51 Memorial Pkwy
Randolph, MA
02368

Style: Vietnamese
Contact: (781) 961-6500
Reviewed by: David Roshinski

I’m back with another review wrapped up to go this time.

I have been working at my new job for a couple weeks now and I wanted something else to eat that was different to take home to enjoy. I have gone and eaten at Pho So 1 Boston in Randolph before, but I wanted it to give it another go. I ordered wrong over the phone but only slightly. I received an extra large pho noodle soup with well done brisket and rare slices of rib eye.

What’s pho you ask?

Pho is a Vietnamese noodle soup that is usually served with either chicken or beef. Pho’s base is a beef based broth that is flavored with various earthy spices like clove, cinnamon, star anise, coriander seeds, black cardamom, and fennel. In addition to that spice bundle it contains rock sugar, fish sauce, onion, and ginger.

On top of that you have the noodles, made from rice and the meat usually cut against the grain in paper thin slices. The top and finish the soup usually have some onion, green onion, and cilantro all thinly cut spread around the soup and a plate of garnishes consisting of bean sprouts, Thai basil, saw-leaf herbs, lime, and Thai bird chili.

So how was the food?

The price for the extra large order I got was just over $9 with tax. The amount of food you get for that price is ridiculous! One large takeout soup container of just broth, a bi-compartment Styrofoam container with the larger bin with the rice noodles topped with a healthy amount of meat and the smaller bin with the onion, green onion, and cilantro. On top of all that, you get a small plastic bag with the garnishes. This is a very hearty and filling meal that will satisfy any appetite.

The broth is sweet, salty, beefy, earthy and herbaceous. The basil, the saw-leaf, chili, fish sauce, the spices, the sugar, the beef, the salt all melt into the broth and make it very, very complex. The noodles broke apart in the broth once you put the soup together and are bountiful. The meat warms and cooks further only slightly. The bean sprouts don’t add much in flavor but give the soup a huge contrast in texture — a great big crunch! I really liked this soup.

Does It Hit The Spot?

Oh yeah! This is the first place I have had Pho so I don’t have a basis to compare but I know what I like. The complexity in flavors bouncing from herbs, to sweet, to salt, to acidic, to earthiness, to beefiness is really an experience. Plus, you have the differences in texture from liquid, to soft, to big crunch.  It hits every note of your palate.

The last thing to note is the value alone is worth it, taste aside. I know that this place in Randolph is going to be a place I go back to frequently.

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4 Responses to “[Restaurant Review] Pho So 1 Boston”

  1. Xaquiri Daiquiri says:

    Good review! That food looks insanely delicious.

    I’ve been on this huge rice noodle kick lately. I’m not sure what sparked it, but I can’t get enough of the stuff.

  2. Davincivirus says:

    Thank chief,

    Yeah that place is dam good, been back several times since. Such a great value for a great tasting soup.

    -Dave

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