New Pho Cuisine

Henry Cao emigrated from Vietnam to the United States in 1996 and does well with help from his friends. The owner/manager of PHO VAN says he opened a bistro rather than a restaurant because, “My best friend said I should have something different.” The cooks are, he says, “my two friends.”

The space is an East-meets-West décor of black and white chairs, black tables, a fabric-covered wall, and lined dupioni silk drapes, all complemented by elegant floral arrangements and accents. “My friend at Madison Home helped,” he says. “I worked for him for five years. He’s a good guy.”

The spring roll appetizer ($3.50 for two, with dipping sauce) was some of the freshest I’ve seen in Spokane: The rolls’ tight, moist wrappers scarcely masked whole basil leaves while whole shrimp snuggled next to cool rice vermicelli.

My bowl of bun thit nuong cha gio ($8.75) was an experiment in gastronomic geology, with strata and substrata of colors, textures and temperatures. The top right quadrant was a generous portion of hot, thinly sliced, charbroiled pork (nuong), which encroached ever so slightly onto the cold, diagonally sliced cucumber portion. It was flanked on either side by a crispy-hot egg roll (cha gio) sliced into four pieces. Below this layer, to the right, was the nest of warm rice vermicelli (bun), and to the left, a section of cold, crunchy, bean sprouts and iceberg lettuce shreds. The whole thing was topped with bits of green onion and chopped, roasted peanuts, along with a bowl of spicy-sweet dressing that contained hints of fish sauce, vinegar and the kick of red pepper flakes.

The portion size ensured that even after 10 minutes of eating, with minimal conversation and the occasional sip of hot green tea, my bowl looked only a little less full than when I started.
Server Adelle Hurst says, “I love customer service and I love working with food and knowing people like the food.” Her favorite menu item? “Probably the pho, the No. 8 — with beef broth, rice noodles, round steak, meatball and tendon [$8]. It’s really good with the hoisin and Sriracha [chili paste]. It’ll just perk you right up.”

Perfect for a cold winter day, and enough to share with a friend.
— M.C. PAUL

Pho Van: A Vietnamese Bistro, at 2909 N. Division, is open Mon-Thu 10 am-9 pm, Fri-Sat 10 am-10 pm, Sun 10 am-8 pm. Call 326-6470.