Nha Hang Pho Viet Huong - Vietnamese Food in New York Chinatown

Welcome to Pho Viet Huong on 73 Mulberry Street in New York Chinatown (also known as Nha Hang Pho Viet Huong). The place serves up your traditional Vietnamese cuisine ranging from Pho (noodle soup), Bun (rice vermicelli), Com Dia (rice dishes), Cac Mon An Choi (appetizers) and other dishes with a variety of seafood, beef, pork and chicken.

I came here two weeks ago with a group of friends, but unfortunately I did not have my camera. So I came back alone on a revisit to order a different dish. The dish you see here is the Grilled Pork Chop with Fried Spring Rolls ($6.00). For the uninitiated, you mix this dish all together and then pour the fish sauce into it (otherwise, the room temperature noodles will stick together). If you like the sauce, feel free to ask for another serving of it (like I did).

The noodles were slightly chewy, but probably needed some more fish sauce to "wet" it more. The pork chop was a good size with a medium thickness (some places serve it extra thin and sort of cheat you). The flavors were typical of any Vietnamese restaurant and not too salty / not over marinated. The spring rolls were tasty and definitely fried to the perfect crisp. At some places, (Nam Son) the spring rolls can be fried to a dark brown crisp, almost over-fried to a point where you're eating fried dough - perhaps to mask the taste (ick!). However, Nha Hang Pho Viet Huong had a good coloring and good flavoring to it. This dish is a smart way to order, especially for the "lone" eater who can try two items without ordering them separately. Note: There are peanuts in this dish (it comes in the vegetables that are on the side), but you can ask them to not include it.

On my prior visit I had a tasting of the usual Vietnamese entrees:

Pho #23 - The Extra Big Bowl Beef Deluxe Soup ($6.50) - All I tried was the soup, which was flavorful. My friend enjoyed this dish very much and he's a regular at this restaurant for the Pho. You can order the "regular"/smaller bowl for $1.00 less.

Grilled Pork Chop, Shredded Pork and Crabmeat Patty ($7.50) - the pork chops were the same as mentioned above; the shredded pork, which sounds very odd -- were actually a nice surprise. Crabmeat Patty was VERY good. I think its a combo of pork, egg and I suppose crab. It was very good. they should sell the crabmeat patty separately!

Summer Rolls (aka shrimp summer rolls) (2 for $4.50, aka Goi Cuon) - average; the sauce I thought was a bit runny/thin.

Spring Rolls (fried rolls) aka Cha Gio (4 for $4.50) - mentioned above - also, has decent amount of meat so you don't feel like you're just eating the skin; a bit pricier than other establishments.

Surprisingly, this restaurant also has Banh Mi sandwiches (french bread sandwiches) There are only a few sit down restaurants with full vietnamese menu that serve Banh Mi sandwiches. I didn't try it, but it may be worthwhile to do a revisit to see how it sizes up to my favorite Banh Mi sandwiches in New York Chinatown (post about banh mi sandwiches to come at a later time).

As depicted in the photo on the right, the Nha Hang Pho Viet Huong is large and can easily accommodate large groups. The day we went we had about 15+ people and we sat in the back. Every time I've been here (3+), its never been extremely crowded -- but I haven't been at peak lunch or dinner hours -- but do not think you will have to wait at this restaurant. The restaurant staff are friendly and speak moderate English. The staff can also speak Cantonese, Mandarin and Vietnamese.

On Mulberry street, south of Canal, you'll find a few competing Vietnamese restaurants, including Xe Lua (orange sign). However, Nha Hang Pho Viet Huong Restaurant is nearly the last restaurant on the street before you hit Bayard (on the west side of the street).

Pho Viet Huong Restaurant
73 Mulberry Street, between Canal & Bayard
(212) 233-8988

Top two photos were taken with Canon 5D Mark II; Last photo with Canon SD880 IS