Review No. 190: Pho Huyen
1600 Dave Ward Drive, Suite H
Conway, AR 72034
(501) 504-2449
The Situation
She Said: We put this place on our list ages ago during the pandemic for the hoped-for days of our return to blogging about Conway restaurants, as I do love a good bún, as it reminds me of lunches with my ad agency friends at Saigon in Little Rock. Finally, I was able to fit in a lunch with He Said to try it out after he got out of class.
He Said: If you like Vietnamese food, this is the place for you in Conway. I did not know where it was when She Said told me to meet her there for lunch, and on Dave Ward Drive if you don’t know where you’re going, you’re taking your life in your hands. I did see it out of the corner of my eye but not soon enough to make that let turn and had to drive to the next turn about 6oo miles further on before I could turn and circle back (I’m exaggerating of course; it couldn’t have been more than 150 miles). As She Said said, this restaurant opened just before the pandemic hit and we could not remember reviewing it before things shut us down. Turns out we actually DID review it—on September 30, 2019, our review No. 175. Who knew?
She Said: Finding out we already reviewed makes me feel I’ve lost the run of my mind… well, pandemic-lock-down brain strikes again!
Ambience:
She Said: This is Bright Strip-Mall Restaurant in style, with touches of Asian décor, like jade carvings and pictures. An entire wall is windows, and going on a sunny day, we had lots of natural light in our front booth.
He Said: There are a couple of different eating areas. We sat in the one near the counter. The other room had a TV set with a soccer game going. The floor and tables were simple, but I did like the wall decorations. I particularly liked the jade horse carving that was on a shelf behind where She Said was siting, so that she was wondering why I kept looking over her head instead of at her when she was talking.
Drinks
She Said: I have had bubble teas before, and they are a nice treat, but I wasn’t in that mood today, so I ordered a Diet Coke with lemon… but here’s what I want: Three or four lemon wedges or slices in a dish on the side so I can squeeze lots of fresh juice into my soda. I’m not trying to be Sally Albright from When Harry Met Sally, because I don’t have to try to be that way. When I have a Diet Coke at home, I spritz a very healthy dose of lemon juice into it, and I really, really love it that way, so I want that when I go out. Recently, I ordered a diet cola with lots of lemon wedges in a dish on the side in a posh Little Rock restaurant, and they ignored me and brought me a Diet Coke with a lemon wedge in it. NOT the same; however, at Pho Huyen, he brought me exactly what I asked for, and my Diet Coke, with lots of fresh lemon juice was perfect.
He Said: I had a Dr. Pepper. I probably would have had a cup of tea, but our server got to us so fast to ask about drinks that I hadn’t had a chance to look at the menu to see what the options were. I’ll know better next time.
Food
She Said: I had looked at the menu before arriving at Pho Huyen, and I was glad I had, because it’s extensive with a number of choices in various categories, from the obvious pho to Vietnamese bánh mì (baguette sandwiches) and rice dishes/stir fry. Once I saw the bún options, I knew that was the key to living my best Pho Huyen life. I originally focused on the bún thịt nướng (B3 on the menu), which is the standard bún bowl of vermicelli, lettuce, carrots and peanuts with chargrilled pork, but once we arrived, I settled on the bún thịt nướng chả giò (B7), which is the B3, but with sliced, fried egg roll as well as the pork. And, dear reader, I made the exact right choice: the pork was nicely seasoned and charred, and the crispy egg roll made a lovely contrast of textures along with the veggies, noodles and peanuts in the bowl. There was no way for me to know the calories, though a mooch around Google on this showed quite a range. I couldn’t eat the whole portion, but I felt pleasantly, not regrettably, full. It was a nice mix of protein, carbs and fat, and honestly I’m craving it again just typing this up.
I did ask our waiter how to pronounce bún, but he did not know, so I looked it up. Here’s the answer. Pretty sure I still can’t say it correctly, but it’s a start, as I was pronouncing it completely wrong before.
He Said: You got that right, Jones, about the menu. It’s quite extensive, and a lot of things looked good. I opted for C8, which is the chicken stir fry, or Co’m Xào Gà in Vietnamese—mainly because I usually like stir-fried stuff. This had carrots, mushrooms, broccoli, and a few other vegetables as well as the chicken slices, and a very mild sauce, along with a bed of steamed white rice on the side. I have to say, I found the dish pretty bland, which I wasn’t expecting. I’m sure it would have been livened up if I’d substituted fried rice for the steamed rice, but I chose not to do that because it would have added another $5 to the tab, which seemed a bit much to me. The table does have soy sauce so that helped.
Interestingly, in looking back at our previous review, I find I ordered the same thing in 2019—and that time I substituted the fried rice, and seem to have liked the dish a lot better. Although I did complain about the extra $5.
Service
She Said: The service was first rate. When we entered we were cheerily greeted and invited to choose a seat for ourselves. Our waiter was patient and brought our drinks right away and gave us a bit more time when we asked, but not too much. As I mentioned above, he brought me the exact weird thing I wanted for my drink, and took very good, welcoming care of us without looming or ignoring us.
He Said: Yes, the server was quick and attentive, welcoming and good-humored without being intrusive.
What We Got and What We Paid: One Diet Coke, one Dr. Pepper, one bún thịt nướng chả giò, and one Co’m Xào Gà (stir fried chicken), all for $37.56 before tip.
Elapsed Time from Our Arrival to Food Arrival: We arrived at 12:23 p.m., and our entrees arrived at 12:36 p.m., 13 minutes after we walked through the door.
Rating:
She Said: Top honors for Pho Huyen in every category. I’m already plotting when I can reapply the bún thịt nướng chả giò to my face.
He Said: This is a good place for lunch, being quick as well as tasty. It’s not going to be the most inexpensive lunch you have in Conway, though. Next time I’ll branch out and have the actual pho or something else from the extensive menu. Or maybe I’ll have the fried rice again and just man up and spend the extra $5.
Is Pho Huyen good at what it’s good for? That bún was the best!