Vital Information wrote:Of course, having been won over on the tendon, I am still eating the meatball mostly because it is there. There is a slight appeal to that fishy flavor intermingled with the pork, but I've never grown to like the bounce in these balls.

pdaane wrote:The new Tank seems to be doing huge business. I ran into Eric M. last Sunday while I was picking up a togo order. My wait was so long, Eric was served and finished his meal....BE CAREFUL ON WEEKENDS.

Cathy2, February 15, 2004 wrote:Jumped the Shark - is a website which catalogs old television shows and what story plot line diversion caused the decline and cancellation of a show. Though the concept can apply to restaurants and relationships --- where do we draw the line and say never again.

In early December, Evan reported a decline in Pho 777, which RST restated just before Christmas. The following is RST's report which links to Evan's original:

http://www.chowhound.com/midwest/boards ... 35991.html

In the spirit of JeffB's declaration to take one for the team, I visited Pho 777 today with my Mom and friend to see if this negative trend remains and why.

I ordered my usual: Goi Cuon (Spring rolls) with peanut sauce, cigar-shaped Cha Gio (egg roll) with a vinegar dipping sauce and Pho 777 Special #1 which has eye of round steak, well done flank, fat brisket, soft tendon, bible trip and meatballs. My Mom and friend also ordered Pho.

The Spring rolls seemed normal except for the sauce. The sauce usually had a heavy layer of chopped peanuts on the surface, this time it was a bare sprinkling. The sauce itself was heavy on the hoisin, very light on the peanut butter, consequently not its' usual thick, luscious, peanut sauce I adore.

The cigar shaped egg rolls seemed smaller than normal and didn't come with several sheets of lettuce. It is not unusual to wrap the lettuce leaf around the egg roll and dip into the sauce for extra taste and texture. We had one lonely sheet of decorator lettuce which none of us took because who wanted to look selfish? Though I did later eat it as-is to put it out of its misery!

At this point, the waitress drops off the fresh vegetables for the soup. I began to make my baby step inquiries into the changes at Pho 777. I commented things are not quite the same as we have normally come to expect here, has anything changed? New owner! My heart sank; I was hoping the cook went on vacation. We started to look over the vegetables to find the jalapeno peppers drying around the edges, the generous quantities of greens were no longer: only 2 strips of the long jagged edged leaf and a small sprig of basil. Limes. Not enough bean sprouts to support 3 large bowls of Pho.

After a long wait, the Pho finally arrived. I plucked out the meatball first and immediately detected a cold center. The soup stock wasn't the pleasantly somewhat sweet stock but salty and foreign to our recollections. The tripe was roughly cut, under cooked thus it was like chewing on textured, fishnet leather. The other meats were barely present. I never found any tendon nor fatty brisket nor eye of round steak slice, which 'cooks' in the broth. I also had a very large quantity of noodles, where my Mom and friend had substantially less. Therefore after all the solid bits were eaten and only the stock remained, I had a lot less stock and my guests had a lot more. Everything was off, off, off.

After we received our bill, we waited for too long for someone to take interest in collecting our money. To have an excuse to linger at the cash register, I pocketed the cash and walked up with my credit card. Often while you're standing there waiting for the bank clearance, the owner makes small talk like "How was your dinner," the trap was set. He asked the question. I debated to tell the truth or just smile and say fine. I then noticed some picture business cards on the counter's edge. At a glance, I learned the fellow in front of me works for a financing company and his wife, the distracted waitress who spent more time admiring herself in the mirrors than acknowledging my wave, was a realtor. I decided to narrow in on the truth with specific grievances as outlined above. In conclusion, I said I was here today because of my long patronage however the meal was not up to expectations. He promised I should talk to him in the future. I then commented I had (chow) friends who have been here recently and according to their information the food has sharply declined. I didn't want to believe it, but indeed their opinion is true. I VERY POLITELY opined if your offerings don't improve, then you are tanking your investment (trying to appeal to his business sense).

Immediately in front of the door was a table waiting bussing with a substantial amount of abandoned food including a chili-tofu soup, which only had a few nibbles extracted. What a waste.

It really pains me to reconfirm RST's and Evan's negative impressions. Clearly, Pho 777 JUMPED THE SHARK in my book today.

Now if someone can clarify the situation at Silver Seafood, I think I have made my sacrifice for the team laurels for a while.

Best regards,
Cathy2

Pho 777
Argyle east of the el on the south side of the street
(The take out menu has no address!)
773/561-9909

ab wrote:Is there a consensus on a 2nd place carry-out joint on Argyle? I've never been to 888, I did think 777 was decent last time. While I'm on this Vietnamese thread, how much do the whole ducks hanging in the window across from Pho Hung cost? Do they lop-off the heads?

Their cook phones it in, sometimes routing the call through the microwave.

Mike G wrote:

Their cook phones it in, sometimes routing the call through the microwave.

Oh man, how did I miss that 9 months ago?

G Wiv wrote:Cafe Hoang is one of my favorites, with my favorite dish being Goi Ca, which could be best described as Asian chicken salad.

I first heard about Cafe Hoang's Goi Ca 4-5 years ago in Monica Eng World Eats column.

Erik M. wrote:A Public Service Announcement:

In an attempt to better serve their patrons, Tank now requires their floor staff to wear camouflage t-shirts.

Nghe wrote:

Erik M. wrote:A Public Service Announcement:

In an attempt to better serve their patrons, Tank now requires their floor staff to wear camouflage t-shirts.

I know it's quite a stretch but that's their attempt to stay close to the theme
Tank Noodle --> tank = military --> military = camouflage clothing

Get it?

Erik M. wrote:Their express wish is to make it easier for their patrons to identify the members of the floor staff, and they have chosen to do so with the use of a patterned fabric which was specifically designed to make recognition of the person who wears it more difficult.

E.M.

Nghe wrote:
Must be a typo.

Goi Ca = fish salad
Goi Ga = chicken salad

Cathy2 wrote:About ten days ago, a friend called to advise Tank had a new menu with lots of pictures.

TonyC wrote:for the best banh cuon on this side of the planet:
Banh Cuon Tay Ho (all they serve is banh cuon, with 4 branches?)
9242 Bolsa Ave.. Westminster, CA 92683.

Cathy2 wrote: BTW - the proper pronounciation of Pho rhymes with duh!

JeffB wrote:fuh

stevez wrote:I thought it was more like fuh????

Saint Pizza wrote:

stevez wrote:I thought it was more like fuh????

Ah ok, so it's like ValleygirlSpeak or BlondeSpeak with the uptalking at the end? Please may I have a bowl of fuh? Like that?

JeffB wrote:Peter,

Interesting point. I have been corrected thusly by Viet folks in Houston pho shops. But upon asking around on Argyle, I've been told it's more like one syllable. Not sure if there are regional differences (within Vietnam). This is any easy one for many knowledgeable folks here, I'm sure. I'd like to get the correct way down.