Mekong Plaza Vietnamese restaurant tour
After three visits to the new Mekong Plaza on Main and Dobson, hoping to find decent Vietnamese food in Arizona. For clarification purpose, what we look for is authentic taste like food found in Orange County and South San Diego (those are the closest in taste and texture to the food found in South Vietnam). We were testing the basic dishes like Pho (beef noodle soup), spring roll, and broken rice dish. The first restaurant we went to was Un-Pho-gettable. There was a line out the door so we were very hopeful. We ordered the regular lean beef, tripe & flank, spring roll and ice coffee. The Pho was almost the worst we've ever experienced in Arizona. The broth tasted like it was from a can. The spring rolls were served without lettuce, but at least the ice coffee was excellent. Interestingly, the broth was so full of MSG that we were dying of thirst one hour after consumption. But since it was opening week, we decided to give it one more try. Second time around, there was no line and the food was just as bad as the first. Our recommendation is to avoid their food. We don't see much future for Un Pho gettable since they charge more than other pho restaurants and deliver a sub-par product.
Now the good news, the restaurant across Un Pho Gettable that serves broken rice dishes. Their menu is fairly complete and serves an assortment of meat combinations. If this is your first time, I recommend the 7 meat combination so you can try different dishes and see which is to your liking. For the unintiated, the rice is supposed to be broken. Most local Vietnamese restaurants in Phoenix serve similar items but with regular grain rice. While there, you also need to order the Shrimp Spring rolls, they prepare it the way it's done in Vietnam. Do not be alarmed with the nearly white color wrapper or the small size, that's how it's done in the old country. This is as close as it gets in Phoenix, I'm happy to say that Arizona finally have a decent Vietnamese restaurant.
