Pho 168 Vietnamese Cuisine...1932 Grayson Hwy.

Today we had our first experience eating Pho. We have been wanting to try it because of its growing popularity in the food world. We picked Pho 168 because it opened not to long ago and is just around the corner. The decor was nicer than we expected, there were only a few customers but it was only 12 on a Monday afternoon. When we see independently owned restaurants open in Gwinnett County we always start the count down to when they are going to close. It's sad but most people would rather eat McDonalds or Chilli's where they know what to expect. Our waiter was friendly but a little pushy and not very helpful with explaining the menu, which is impossible to understand if you've never been. We wanted to try a traditional appetizer, but the waiter insisted we try the egg rolls... Which were good. We tried to ask the waiter what things were but again he insisted that I order what he suggested for me. Jonny wanted to try the signature dish Pho 168 which was a soup that was supposed to contain filet mignon, flank, brisket, tendon, tripe and meatballs. When the food came out we were excited, it looked great. However Jonny's bowl only contained a few slices of the flank and non of the other meats that were promised to come in the soup. The Pho was overpowered by star anise and Chinese five spice. we loaded it up with all the condiments and chili pastes to help disguise the flavor but it didn't work. We don't know if this is how all Pho tastes or just this particular one???????

My dish on the other hand was great but it didn't resemble the description on the menu. It was described as combination rice & egg noodle soup. But it was noodles topped with bean sprouts and sweet steak, chicken, shrimp and tripe.... Nothing that resembled a soup. It was our first experience with tripe not as gross as I thought, Jonny really like it but he'll eat anything. Overall we would like to go back and try more Vietnamese food, my dish was good enough to give it one more try..... But Jonny feels a little sick and says he has to go take a Pho...HAHA