Madame Vo

Summary

I haven’t frequent the heart of the East Village for quite some time. Walking through St. Marks, it’s pleasant to see that the city is slowly coming back alive. People still walk around with masks for the most part, and some restaurants have closed. Despite all this, the energy is slowly coming back alive. Since we were in this area and because now everyone is out and about, it’s getting difficult to do walk-in dinings. Next door there was Curry Ya, but there were too many people. So we decided to try out this Vietnamese restaurant since there weren’t many people.

The Taiwanese lychee beer was actually pretty good. Taiwanese beer is similar to Bud Light, so just imagine that with strong hints of lychee in it. At the time, my partner had desired other sweetened drinks, but they weren’t in stock for some reason.

The cua lot rang muoi was salt toasted soft-shell crab served with avocado sauce. This probably could have used a little more salt, but the fry and batter on this was pretty good. The creamy avocado sauce wasn’t necessary, and it did not add too much.

The Madame Pho came with beef broth simmered for 24 hours with rice noodles and was topped with cilantro, rare brisket meat, beef eye round, and some beef balls. The broth was pretty flavorful, albeit not the best I’ve ever had. Along with the soup bowl, they also gave a dish of jalapeños, bean sprouts, mint leaves, and a hoisin and siracha like medley. The meat was pretty tender, and the broth definitely has its unique flavor for this restaurant in the city.

The ga xao xa ot came with chicken stir fried with lemongrass, peppers, onions, and chili sauce. This was very similar to orange chicken but using chili and Vietnamese flavors in it. The crust on the chicken had a nice char from the hot pan. The chili was very pungent, so the bowl of rice helped soak the flavors up.

Service was super fast, and they take COVID seriously. Each table is socially distanced, and they require you to take a temperature screen and sanitize your hands.

Final Verdict

Good Vietnamese pho is pretty difficult to find here in the city. I think compared to my favorite in LA (Phorage), this one is not even close to that. If you need pho, this one definitely is reasonable.

Yelp Jabs

The brisket was put in undercooked. I was chewing it like a steak since the collagen was not broken down.

Believe it or not, many pho customers prefer the brisket rare. In Los Angeles pho restaurants, this is a very common thing. With good thin brisket, it will almost melt in your mouth. The collagen this person is describing is probably not the brisket but the round. The round is definitely chewier and takes more effort to break down.

I decided to try this spot and order some takeout on the recommendation of a co-worker who raved about this place and convinced me… Now, let me say this…I could not sleep at all because I spent the entire evening until next day with acid reflux and heartburn

How many knocks does it take to knock some sense into people? Takeout is never a substitute for dining in let alone rating a restaurant based on it. Regarding the acid reflux and heartburn, that seems more of a personal issue.