I can’t believe it took me so long! This Saturday, I finally had pho. Jay & I were craving something reasonably healthy but tasty, and I suggested going to Basilic Vietnamese Grill since I had a newly purchased Groupon. Even though this place is only a few miles from us and 2 years old, I hadn’t heard of it until a few months ago. My foodie radar was way off. It’s a small restaurant and was crowded, but we only had to wait about 10 minutes. I loved the metal chopsticks!

Jay started off with a Newcastle and I started off with Chardonnay.

They entice your appetite with a basket of shrimp crackers. These airy, crispy crackers are a great way to start the meal. They have a mild shrimp flavor but nothing crazy.

We had to order an appetizer. They have lots of good options, from wings to calamari. We settled on the Shrimp & Pork Imperial Roll. It was a crispy, thin wrapper stuffed with goodness. The only thing I would have changed is that the sauce could have been thicker and more a little more flavorful.

Now it was time for the pho! I saw a few HUGE bowls of this stuff stroll by me while we were eating our spring rolls. When it was my turn to get one of these bowls of goodness it did not disappoint. I ordered the Beef Pho, which had uber-thin slices of beef sliced rare onto the hot broth and cooks almost instantly. On the side was siracha, hoisin sauce, jalapeno, sprouts, and thai basil. I tasted the broth and it was delicate and fragrant. But I still needed to adulterate it. I added half the sprouts, 1/3 of the siracha, most of the hoisin, and most of the basil…and if the heat wasn’t enough I added 1 slice of jalapeno.

I mixed it all up and it was a bowl full of beefy, noodly, spicy yumminess. After slurping away for about 15 minutes, I was only half way done. For only $9, I got 2 meals out of it, yay! Now that is way better than a value meal.

We will definitely be back to Basilic! Great service, nice atmosphere, and reasonable prices. I wish it didn’t take me two years to go there.

Have you had pho?