Waiter, There's a Cockroach in my Pho

Well, sorta. Tuesday night, Seattlest hit West Seattle's Than Brothers (our favorite of all the branches, if only for the close-to-home location) to soothe our cold-ravaged sore throat with some tasty noodle soup. As usual, the service was insta-quick. The broth was a little bland, though we were veering toward that can't-taste-anything phase, so maybe it was us. (Did the small bowl recently become smaller? We got to the bottom and had room for more, which has never happened.) The cream puff was delicious. The cockroach crawling around on the checkout counter beside the tip tray? Not as good.

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By Clint in Food on December 31, 2008 4:30 PM

Comments [rss]

missgnomer

Six years ago I was with some friends at the Aurora Than Bros and saw a gigantic rat climb up the wall from a booth, walk along the rail and jump up into the kitchen. When we mentioned this on the way out they said "oh yeah, a guy is coming to fix that problem."

I haven't been back to that one since. The gray sticky line on the tablecloth where the glasstop ends really creeps me out.

j3rmzh

As someone who just got out of the pest control industry (been doing it for a couple of years) let me say that just about EVERY pho place will have roaches if you look hard enough.

I think the eggs hitch a ride on the food/packaging that they use, it seems to be a common problem in most PHO places sadly enough.

Doesn't stop me from eating it though!

Audrey

Two comments:

1) For pho with tasty, richly flavored broth, I highly recommend Monsoon.

2) For health code issues, I have taken to reporting complaints via the health department's website:

http://www.kingcounty.gov/healthservices/health/ehs/foodsafety/inspections/complaints.aspx

Bets

For neighborhood eats, Time For Pho is our around the block favourite. The broth may be a bit more bland than the best, but it has a self-serve condiment bar. (!) Super squeaky clean, too. Saigon at Pike Place Market has the broth and size down. Just enough rich, hot juice to keep you walking the next 40 blocks to wherever. Even the hair in my spring roll didn't phase me - everything's prepared fresh in full view. Shit happens. (Even to 5 star pho.)

nerdseyeview

If you're venturing south for pho, head a little further than West Seattle. We are big fans of the many White Center options, our standard being Pho Tai on 16th (?) across the street from the New Angkor Market. This place is totally charmless, but the service is super fast, if somewhat inscrutable, and the pho is delicious.

Clint

Yep, we discovered Pho Hoa (in downtown Renton) a while back, and that seems to be the one to beat. (If only we had one on California.)

westseattleblog

We are relatively recent converts to pho fandom. (As our near-teen puts it, "it's not a soup, it's a lifestyle.") Even though we've only been to four or five places, we definitely noticed Than's broth is on the diluted side. Pho 54 in White Center remains our fave, though I tried the beef-stew pho at Pho Hoa in the ID last night and that's rising high on the chart ...

bpm2000

nope the broth has definitely been getting blander every time i go in.

also one summer at the udist location i had a small grey fly in my soup and when i tried to ask for a new bowl on account of this, the server tried to tell me it was a piece of pepper and i should just eat it. needless to say i was pretty f'n pissed about that.