There ain't no vista and there ain't no view. But ...
It's been a long hiatus, but I recently got motivated to explore new neighborhoods again, and, boy, did I pick a new one. My latest adventure was at Pho Tay Ho in Bath Beach, a few blocks from the Bay Parkway D stop in Bath Beach, Brooklyn. Up until this weekend, I'd never even heard of Bath Beach. And, in order to justify my reference to White Man Can't Jump (which no self-respecting person should be quoting), I should say that there ain' no baths and there ain't no beach.
There were, to be fair, an intriguing-looking mix of Russian sushi joints, halal food stores, a Nyonya branch, various meat-touting storefronts, and even a taco stand. And there is the City's best Vietnamese restaurant. Better than Sunset Park. Better than Chinatown. Better than just about anything I can remember in the East Coast.
Now, I should temper some expectations. I do love Vietnamese food, and even spent some time around Hanoi, eating catfish for dinner, pho for breakfast, and snake bits some time in between. But I'd still call myself a relative newcomer to the cuisine, having only tried about 9 or 10 different dishes before. So while I may not be the most qualified judge of Pho Tay Ho, I found it to be a good sign that one of my friends, who is Vietnamese, declared it to be the best he's had in New York. And took two orders to go.
The pho is, as the name of the restaurant might suggest, superb. My pho tai nam, a basic oxtail broth with eye of round slices, was silky and strong, resting on the beef to carry the flavor instead of salt. The canh chua tom, a spicy shrimp-based soup, was even better, with a nice herbal tone to balance to sharp but not-overpowering heat.
I was also a fan of the bo luc lac, the marinated, slightly sweet, slightly caramelized cubes of beef served over lettuce and diced tomatoes. I've always had mixed feelings about ordering this dish at other Vietnamese places, because I've often encountered perfunctorily sliced bits of pink tomatoes and pale iceberg lettuce, but the vegetables here had some surprising zest, especially for this time of year. It was also very lightly dressed, which helped with the body.
Since we were a large crowd, we took a slightly more adventurous route and went for the fried frog legs, which, if you didn't know better, looked exactly like chicken wings. Although the texture of frog legs never really agreed with me (think of a really stringy fish) the batter that came with the legs was nothing short of spectacular, being sweet, crispy, and garlicky but never overpowering. You could batter strips of paper in this, and I would still eat it.
The frog legs weren't on the menu, but on a list of specials that, I imagine, is a pretty reliable bet--we also scored some pretty impressive beef balls from that list. The few chicken dishes we ordered were fairly lackluster (they were good, but something is definitely amiss when the supporting vegetables are the tastier part of the dish), as were the pork chops, which was sadly lacking in any smokiness.
At its best, Pho Tay Ho may be the Vietnamese answer to Sripraphai. While they may not be as consistent as the Woodside favorite, they're certainly not as crowded, and if you'd be headed towards Sunset Park anyway, it's well worth the few extra stops to a neighborhood that, lack of beaches aside, might turn out to be a hidden gem.
Pho Tay Ho
2351 86th St. (map)
Bath Beach, Brooklyn
D Train to Bay Parkway
There were, to be fair, an intriguing-looking mix of Russian sushi joints, halal food stores, a Nyonya branch, various meat-touting storefronts, and even a taco stand. And there is the City's best Vietnamese restaurant. Better than Sunset Park. Better than Chinatown. Better than just about anything I can remember in the East Coast.
Now, I should temper some expectations. I do love Vietnamese food, and even spent some time around Hanoi, eating catfish for dinner, pho for breakfast, and snake bits some time in between. But I'd still call myself a relative newcomer to the cuisine, having only tried about 9 or 10 different dishes before. So while I may not be the most qualified judge of Pho Tay Ho, I found it to be a good sign that one of my friends, who is Vietnamese, declared it to be the best he's had in New York. And took two orders to go.The pho is, as the name of the restaurant might suggest, superb. My pho tai nam, a basic oxtail broth with eye of round slices, was silky and strong, resting on the beef to carry the flavor instead of salt. The canh chua tom, a spicy shrimp-based soup, was even better, with a nice herbal tone to balance to sharp but not-overpowering heat.
I was also a fan of the bo luc lac, the marinated, slightly sweet, slightly caramelized cubes of beef served over lettuce and diced tomatoes. I've always had mixed feelings about ordering this dish at other Vietnamese places, because I've often encountered perfunctorily sliced bits of pink tomatoes and pale iceberg lettuce, but the vegetables here had some surprising zest, especially for this time of year. It was also very lightly dressed, which helped with the body.
Since we were a large crowd, we took a slightly more adventurous route and went for the fried frog legs, which, if you didn't know better, looked exactly like chicken wings. Although the texture of frog legs never really agreed with me (think of a really stringy fish) the batter that came with the legs was nothing short of spectacular, being sweet, crispy, and garlicky but never overpowering. You could batter strips of paper in this, and I would still eat it.
The frog legs weren't on the menu, but on a list of specials that, I imagine, is a pretty reliable bet--we also scored some pretty impressive beef balls from that list. The few chicken dishes we ordered were fairly lackluster (they were good, but something is definitely amiss when the supporting vegetables are the tastier part of the dish), as were the pork chops, which was sadly lacking in any smokiness.
At its best, Pho Tay Ho may be the Vietnamese answer to Sripraphai. While they may not be as consistent as the Woodside favorite, they're certainly not as crowded, and if you'd be headed towards Sunset Park anyway, it's well worth the few extra stops to a neighborhood that, lack of beaches aside, might turn out to be a hidden gem.
Pho Tay Ho
2351 86th St. (map)
Bath Beach, Brooklyn
D Train to Bay Parkway
posted by Dave Lee at 11:23 PM
2 comments
