Pho and alfajores in Irving

(I originally wrote this in response to a Scott--DFW query about area Vietnamese, but there’s some other stuff too, so I decided to start a new thread.)

I don't have the experience necessary to place this in much context, but I enjoyed the pho at Pho Vina in Irving last night, close to Beltline and Northgate.

I went in looking for a menu of beef seven ways. No luck.

Got the pho vina (#1) and found it quite nice, good depth of flavor, maybe a little more five spicy and less beefy than I'd prefer. The sliced round was still nicely pink, brisket was fatty, tendon was a pleasantly gelatinous beef jell-o, and the tripe was at a minimum, which I minded not at all.

I liked this better than the much-hyped bowl at Pho Grand in St. Louis a few weeks back.

My sister got a bowl of bun bo hue. I may have liked this even better, though it's hard to say on just a bite, as soups really seem to develop flavor over the eating. Had a nice, meaty ham hock right in the middle of the (small...ha) bowl.

Plated accoutrements included sprouts, shredded cabbage, holy basil, and jalapeno, along with the fully stocked condiment tray.

I also got a pork banh mi for an, um, appetizer. No pate or anything, but the bread was very good, the pork was jerky-like, and this was my favorite ever banh mi. That says much more about me than the sandwich, as I've not had great luck with banh mi in the past, but this was really a terrific sandwich by any measure.

Not sure how our treatment or dishes may have differed from other customers…we were initially steered toward the chicken noodle pho…gringo food. Everyone else eating appeared to be Vietnamese, and it's in a mall by the TNL supermart (which I regrettably failed to scope out) and a number of other Vietnamese businesses.

This actually seems to be a fairly promising stretch of strip malls on Belt Line for good eating. I don't know if this is recent (I doubt it) but that fact was sadly lost to me as a tunnel-visioned college student 10 years ago. Luckily, I get to make it back once in a while.

Two additional notes:

1) There's a place called Argentina Bakery in the Target strip mall, at Belt Line and 183, just behind Starbucks, actually, and next to an appealing Middle Eastern place with a really unappealing nameplate called Dunes.

Handful of pastries sampled were terrific...brought a box of alfajores home for the kids. I'll bet they make a darn good cup of coffee too, with a welcoming bar. And you could do much worse than spending a little time in the company of the attractive young Argentine tending the bar this past Saturday morning. They also have a small selection of Argentine groceries, including a number of kinds of yerba mate and some Argentine chorizo and blood sausage.

2) Had lunch on Sunday at Mi Cocina in Village West. Quite good actually. Ordered brisket tacos, and while the brisket was not smoked, it was pretty good meat, good tortillas, very nice salsa served with the tacos (good heat, good chili depth). Fairly trendy seeming place, but I liked it pretty well and prices seemed surprisingly acceptable. I’d go back. I don’t remember this place having so many locations across the Metroplex, but it’s up to about 15. Surprisingly, they also have one in Kansas City on the Plaza. I’d seen this place and a) wasn’t sure if it was related to the Dallas restaurant(s) and b) didn’t know if it was any good. I’m quite pleased to have a local place (chain or no) to scratch my Tex-Mex itch.


Pho Vina/VINA Noodle Shop
3109 N Belt Line, #142
Irving, TX 75062
972-871-9555

Argentina Bakery
3401 W. Airport Frwy, Suite 112
Irving, TX 75062
972-252-4809

Mi Cocina
3699 McKinney
Dallas, TX
469-533-5663
(and many other DFW locations)

Mi Cocina
820 W. 48th Street (on the Plaza)
Kansas City, MO 64112
816-960-6426

With a little additional (and too late) research, I may have made a strategic error. Not sure without trying of course, but I was within spitting distance of Bangkok Orchid, which looks appears promising:

http://www.bangkokorchidtx.com/pdf/ThaiMenu.pdf