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Pho Of Aurora
Rating Details »
Category: Vietnamese [Edit]
Neighborhood: Bitter Lake12752 Aurora Ave N
Seattle, WA 98133
(206) 363-5840
- Price Range:
-
$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Takes Reservations:
- No
- Delivery:
- No
- Take-out:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
12 reviews for Pho Of Aurora
When it comes to Pho my focus is always, and will always be, the soup. If you don't have a great soup you will end up with a substandard bowl of Pho. With that being said...this place has some of the best soup I have ever tasted.
Having eaten hundreds of bowls of this steamy goodness over the course of my lifetime I can tell you that the soup here has an aromatic flavor that you have never tasted anywhere else and will make you come back again and again for more. The noodles and meat served with the Pho are always cooked, or served rare in terms of the steak, to perfection.
Everyone I have brought here has agreed that this has to be some of the best Pho in Seattle.
I used to go to this place years ago when it was a Korean place for passable Jiajiang Mein. Since I don't drive this stretch of Aurora much any more, I didn't know it became a pho place until recently.
When driving by, I noticed that there were many cars parked on the side so on a free day today, I stopped in for a bowl. Instead of the scent of pho broth, there was more of a coconut milk and yellow curry aroma which led to some trepidation. The fact that it took 15 minutes to get my bowl of #23 with everything got me to worrying, too.
Not to worry. The soup was mild and fairly aromatic and there was a lot of meat but very little tendon and tripe. The iced coffee was served already made instead of having it drip while you ate the pho. The mild soup did not get overwhelming like some broths due to its mildness which is a plus. I hate it when a broth tastes pretty decent at first but progresses to being overwhelming by the end.
Overall, I will give them 3 stars for now but may give them 1 more after a few more visits. Also, nice, friendly staff.
Soup: 6 out of 10
Noodles: 7 out of 10
Meat: 5 out of 10 due to the lack of more tendon and tripe
For me, Pho Bac on the intersection of Jackson, Boren and Rainier has the best broth in town (8-9 out of 10) and Than Brothers hovering in the 4-6 out of 10 range for their broth. Like someone said, far better than Tic-Tac up the road.
As far as north seattle goes this is the best pho you'll get! trust me. i've tried it all. Dont let tic tac pho lure you in with their flashy decor and clever name. Pho of Aurora is a much better quality product served by a really nice family. Also they have like 15 different foreign sodas. SCORE!
If you go to this place, try order their specialty, the beef stewed. I believe that you can't really get that anywhere else. You can eat it with noodle or rice. Atmosphere is not fancy at all. It's very down to earth, but the price is good and the portion is big.
It's in a tiny little shack on aurora, probably not a place you'd be inclined to stop at just driving by. But if you're looking for good pho up north, give it a try. The service was so nice, the kind of nice you only get from little immigrant shops, and the pho was good too. I had a good experience here.
Decent Pho, nothing excellent... but decent.
I also base my bias on the Pho that I ordered, I am a pho newbie, and ordered the soup that had the tendons in it. Well I should've known what I was getting (I really don't turn any food down), but this just didn't cut it. The broth was also not as tasty as Pho Tran in the U-District. Maybe next time I'll come and order a different dish and update my rank. But for now, it gets a 3.
I have eaten a fair amount of Pho in my life, but this is good Pho. Than Bros. always gets the hype in Seattle, and it's good, but Pho of Aurora is definitely on par.
The food is always fresh and great, and they always let me take extra sauce. It may be on Aurora, but the food is good!
My bulgarian friend brings me here for pho and the soup is good. I don't know about the other menu items. It has a weird atmosphere to me and a dragon lady owner that wears gloves all the time. I mean the latex or vinyl kind. She is very nice but I think she died and came back to life by voodoo or something because is very very pale and thin. I hope she doesn't read this because I'm a little scared of her but remember she is very very nice.
I must say that I was impressed with the service here. The man helping us was so sweet-makes me want to come back and eat here all the time. The food was really good too, and I like that they are open a little later than most pho places in the area. It's definitely a diamond in the rough...and the bathrooms were surprisingly clean which is always, always a plus for me.
Until you actually come here, you'll never know what I'm talking about. This guy, http://jeremydenk.blog... knows what I mean.
Now, Vietnamese food, I'm not a connoisseur, but I do really enjoy it. I eat it ALL THE TIME... The food here IS delicious. Ingredients are fresh, and the marinade they use for their BBQ chicken and pork is perfect. (Ginger --- so good.) The soup broth, (I guess what most people rate the pho on) is great, even before you add in all the different sauces/garnishes. Portions and pricing are same as you'd find anywhere else.
They could work on the outside appearance a little. (I'd start by getting rid of the fishing net looking Xmas lights hanging over the windows all year long.) Not the most welcoming location on Aurora --- of course every block north of 90th pretty much ties for last place.
Two things put Pho Of Aurora one notch above everywhere else though: 1) The Vietnamese variety show constantly blaring from the TV located on top of the drink refrigerator; 2) The lovely and friendly, always present, female owner of the joint. Don't think you know what I'm going to say, because I love this lady. Maybe she treats everyone this way, but I tend to think that she really likes me (more than the other customers.) She always seems excited to say hi, ask me questions "How's my mom, how's work, chit-chat about current events... I think. You see, no one I know can actually decipher a thing she says. Not since The Gods Must Be Crazy have I been so amazed by the range of sounds that can be produced by a human mouth. Sometimes, as a funny joke, I take friends here and pretend I know what she's talking about. Crazier still, when I actually dine in, and find myself "speaking with" her for more than just a few minutes, I start believing that I really DO know what she's talking about! (Let me point out again that I love this lady!)
If you like Vietnamese food, then visit this place. If not just for the fact that it's pretty damn good food in a neighborhood not really known for that sort of thing --- then do it so that I have someone else who understands why this is the most unique pho in Seattle.
Good price and portion of the food. They close pretty late (good for me). Not much interior decorations, well I go there just because of good price and above the average quality of food and service, so I didn't complain at all.
Just a note to say we called them and they don't deliver, sad no pho tonight!
