Got Pho? You do now. Pho Kaua‘i, a Vietnamese restaurant, opened last month in the heart of Lihue at the Rice Shopping Center. The little shop has a huge menu, particularly when it comes to Pho (pronounced “Fa”), the famed
Got Pho? You do now.
Pho Kaua‘i, a Vietnamese restaurant, opened last month in the heart of Lihue at the Rice Shopping Center.
The little shop has a huge menu, particularly when it comes to Pho (pronounced “Fa”), the famed soup of Vietnam.
The beef-based soup comes in 15 different flavors, from brisket to chicken. But it’s the “rare steak” Pho that has people coming back for more. It comes so thinly sliced that it’s nearly transparent. When dropped into the hot broth, it cooks nearly instantly while still maintaining its sweetness.
The menu includes heart-healthy asaparagus crab soup, a French-inspired soup that made it’s way to the Far East in the colonial days — salads, rice plates, vermicelli bowls, and a vegetarian menu that includes egg rolls and tofu curries that will curl your toes. Every menu item comes with a huge side of leafy vegetables and bean sprouts, sure to scrub your colon cleaner than a whistle, while the mint leaves are bursting with fresh flavor. After all, they’re grown in owner Cindy Phung’s yard.
“You can eat as much as you want and never get fat,” Phung says.
But Marton Yamasaki sure is trying. The retired Kaua‘i businessman is a regular customer now, making his way through the menu item by item. “It’s a good change of pace,” Yamasaki said. He and his family are huge fans of the shop, probably because they can eat their fill and come out healthier than before.
The 30-year-old Phung moved to Kaua‘i four years ago from Dallas by way of San Jose. Her parents have moved from the mainland to be with Cindy as she starts her venture, helping with the cooking and operations. That’s good for Cindy because her folks have been in the restaurant business ever since coming to the U.S. in the seventies after the Vietnamese War.
“My father was held in a Vietcong prison for 15 years,” Phung said. You’d never know it by the smile on Mr. Phung’s face. That’s because he knows he came out on top, living out the rest of his days in paradise with his family.
