Pho, by the way, is pronounced "fuh", making the restaurant name akin to "Fer Sure"; pho puns are a dime a dozen but new enough they still tickle me.
Pho Sure has a rather extensive menu. There are, of course, several varieties of pho, but you'll also find a vegetarian section, a few sandwiches, lemongrass and teriyaki sections, and some more traditional Chinese-American choices like lemon chicken and sesame chicken, and even some sushi in the appetizers section.
There is also a lovely little Pad Thai section, and though I love pho, I had never had Pad Thai before, so that's what I went for: the combination Pad Thai, to be specific, which combines firm tofu strips, chicken, steak, and shrimp.
I liked it so much that when Erik and I went yesterday, I had the same thing but added in an eggroll.
I seriously think Pho Sure is one of the best restaurants in San Antonio. The building itself is small and charming (it has two dining rooms, so there is plenty of seating even if you have to park half a block away & walk like we did yesterday), the staff is efficient if not overly friendly--something I actually appreciate, by the way, and the food...oh, the food! The Pad Thai was so incredibly flavorful, the meat well-cooked, the tofu actually edible. They even managed to give it some flavor, which I've heard was possible but never experienced! Also, I am not a big fan of eggrolls, because they're usually gummy and nasty, but that one had an excellent wrapper-to-filling ratio and wasn't dripping grease.
It's not a place to go if you have a peanut allergy, because Thai peanut sauce is everywhere, as are little dustings of chopped peanuts. It's probably also not a place to go if you're not in the slightest bit adventurous in your eating--my first visit there were two men a table over who were pretty clearly both baffled by the offerings.
Now, not everything was perfect. Mark & I ate the fried tofu appetizer the first time we were there, and it was notable not just for its lack of flavor (I think they toned down the peanut sauce served with it, which is a questionable decision in this city) but its amazing ability to suck all the moisture out of your mouth. Definitely not a pleasurable experience. The fried banana dessert, while as tasty as the rest of the food, wound up striking me as a bit overpriced--the dish was $4.50, for which price you got half a banana coated in sticky rice with a coconut sauce. I'm perfectly okay with paying for talent, but that's a heck of a markup when you consider the ingredients per serving were probably less than $1. Still, it tasted fantastic, and I don't regret it at all.
One last thing of note: they serve bubble teas. I never got into these in Hawaii where they were everywhere, because while I love tapioca pudding I'm no fan of the idea of balls of the starch floating around in my drink. But I saw that they have taro bubble tea, and I just might make an exception one day for that.
1 comment:
The building itself is small and charming
I do believe Pho Sure is in an old gas station.
I've eaten there, by the way. It's tasty, but have you tried Saigon Express on McCullough (two blocks north of Armadillo's)? That's a place with some real good pho, and the owner is a former pilot for the South Vietnam Air Force. He's a nice guy, too.
And the summer rolls rock, too.
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