Ristorante Phở 1 — Restaurant in Rome

What seems too appease the eye may not always taste so. My husband and I on our long vacation wanted to get our type of comfort food (got kind of tired of heavy Italian food) and it was a battle between Chinese or Vietnamese food. I have a nasty cold and wanted something spicy and soupy so we opted for Vietnamese. Of the little choices we found on Google, this particular restaurant gave us so much hope. We were on our way back to Rome from Naples and looked forward to eating here. After reading other peoples’ reviews about how tasty and authentic this Vietnamese restaurant was, we were sold. We took a taxi from our hotel to eat at this establishment immediately after check-in.

We ordered Nem Ran (in the states, it’s simply Fried Egg Rolls), Mango Salad, Pho bo Bum, and Bun Bo Hue.

Nem Ran: it was greasy and not crunchy. The sauce wasn’t even house made. It’s a sticky sauce that comes from a bottle. It was not very hard to make nuoc cham.

Mango Salad: it was on the sweeter side but it was ok. Seems like it was marinated and sat inside a jar until ready for consumption. It seemed pickled rather than a fresh mango salad.

Pho Bo- the broth was such a disappointment. It was not flavorful or beefy and for some reason it was super sweet. Did you guys even used aromatics?????

Bun Bo Hue- where do I even start? You can NOT called your version of Bun Bo Hue a Bun Bo Hue if it does not resemble Bun Bo from HUE!!! From the pictures, it actually looked like a bowl of BBH. There were no sate, no lemongrass, no spice. I won’t even get into the toppings. The most important part of BBH is the flavor and spices. None of that. You cannot use the same pho broth and throw annatto seed oil in it and call it Bun Bo Hue. Also using the WRONG noodles.

Nonetheless, we ate all of it because we were hungry. I felt like I wasted stomach space for a disappointing meal.

I know how to cook the food I’ve ordered at this restaurant and you guys are doing it all wrong. Some techniques I’ve learned from family and some I’ve learned from Helen on YouTube (she’s from Vietnam.) I don’t believe that the flavor that I’m use to is only “catered in the states.” I’ve been to other places in Europe that had delicious AUTHENTIC Vietnamese food. Paris and more recently Florence. I’m so disappointed at the reviews filled with LIES these Vietnamese folks claim this restaurant to be. Authentic? Far from it.

1 star for the...

%100 AUTHENTIC Northern Vietnamese Phở.

I have been a regular customer here for 3 years now, and never in these 3 years I saw someone non-Vietnamese working here. Not that it matters but seeing someone claiming this is a Chinese place????? If you are used to the mainstream Southern style Phở -which is common in America, you will not get that experience in a NORTHERN place. Duh. There's no shame in admitting ignorance but accusing a small business of inauthenticity when you are the ignorant one is very disgraceful behavior.

For those who don't know; Southern style Phở is served with Hoisin sauce, Thai basil, bean sprouts. It's much sweeter. Northern style Phở on the other hand is NOT sweet, it's hearthy, lighter and simpler. It's close to the way Phở first originated in Vietnam, enjoyed with lime and garlic vinegar (there is also Sriracha). You can taste the delicious broth and meat very clearly. The broth is the star, it has so much flavor.

To be honest, it took me a few visits to get used to the non-sweetness. Because I was also used to the Southern style Pho, which is also beautiful but different. Actually you don't even have to get used to it, this place has many incredibly delicious meals you can choose from, other than Phở. The shrimp peanut noodle is otherworldly. The summer and spring rolls are always fresh and loaded. We tried every single dish in the menu over this 3 yearsand it does not disappoint. You cannot find this level of quality for noodles and ingredients in most other Asian restaurants in Rome.

I felt the need to write this since this place has a special place in my heart with its warm environment, kind and genuine workers and delicious meals. Also the prices are very very affordable and haven't changed since the first time I was...

Since moving to Rome, we have been on the lookout for some delicious Vietnamese cuisine, so you can imagine our excitement when we had an opportunity to try this Pho restaurant on via Merulana. The sidewalk is usually filled with diners, as is the inside, so I was pretty confident it would be good and I wasn’t disappointed.

This was not our first visit to Pho1, but it was the first time I brought my camera, so I wanted to capture the moment to share with others. This visit, like our last one, was in the scorching heat of the summer, so we decided to get something other than Pho, but that will be at the top of our list when we return after it cools down a bit.

We shared the summer rolls, which as you can tell from the picture was filled with vegetables and shrimp and accompanied by a simple, but tasty, dipping sauce. The service was pleasant and very fast as our main dishes arrived immediately after finishing the rolls. I had the Bún nem, which were fried spring rolls split lengthwise and arranged on a bed of rice noodles and salad with the same sauce. It was refreshing and light and the rolls were fried perfectly. The other dish we got was the Bún bò nam bộ, which was a deliciously seasoned beef mixture with rice noodles, peanuts and sprouts. Both of these dishes were flavorful and refreshing dishes that pair well with the summer heat.

We are looking forward to returning when it cools down so we can enjoy their Pho, have a beer, and be grateful there are so many fantastic restaurants to try...