This newly opened pho shop has a more modern feel than many of its well-established Asiatown neighbors. The dining room features rattan-style lighting and a wall lined with coffee, fish sauce, and sriracha. A short menu focuses solely on pho. You can often watch 70-year-old chef Hung Van Tran ladling shimmering golden broth into bowls from the open kitchen. A server will proudly tell you that the beef bones simmer overnight, leaving barely a trace of fat. The chicken version, pho ga, shows off a consommé-like base with a gingery kick. Tran inspects each bowl before it arrives at your table. Every detail feels intentional, not just in the fresh ingredients, but in thoughtful touches like letting diners take home a handsome pair of wooden chopsticks after their meal.
Cơm Gà Thượng Hải
4010 North Sam Houston Pkwy. W.
Between a tangle of freeway overpasses, next to a gas station, is one of the few Vietnamese restaurants in Houston specializing in poultry. Diana Ho, who immigrated to the US in 1998, says her love for Vietnam’s chicken dishes inspired her to open the North Houston restaurant with business partner Khoa Nguyen. They feature chicken and duck in overflowing rice plates, congee, and banana flower salads. Besides an order of shaking beef, there’s no pork or seafood to be found. Pho ga arrives as a crystal clear broth cradling a mound of rice noodles and gently poached chicken. The meat is shredded into paperthin wisps that float on the surface like confetti. It may not be as popular as pho bo, but this light soup is just as satisfying.
Phơ Prime
A spread of dishes at Pho Prime in Pearland, TXPhotograph by Arturo Olmos
Multiple locations
Kiet Duong and Julie Nguyen built a following with the success of their Viet-Cajun restaurant Crawfish Cafe. At their two locations of Ph Prime, they continue to pay tribute to Texas-inspired flavors. Of their nearly two dozen variations of pho, two protein-packed servings in metal bowls steal the spotlight: The Cowboy includes slices of smoked brisket, Fred Flintstone–size short ribs, and bouncy meatballs. For the Prime, they throw in a marrowbone that amps up the bold and beefy flavor of the soup. Families share these bowls in the sleek, plant-lined dining room on the other side of an open kitchen where cooks assemble each order. It’s equal parts Vietnamese comfort food and Lone Star spectacle.
Ong Jas Viet Kitchen
Hot Stone Pho at Ong Jas Viet Kitchen in Pearland, TXPhotograph by Arturo Olmos
Chef Jas Phan, who also runs Migo Saigon Street Food in Asiatown with his wife, Thanh Nguyen, brings theatrical flair to pho. He serves his steaming, fragrant soups in dramatically sizzling stone bowls. Wisps of steam add to the ambiance of the colorful dining room lined with communal tables and hanging fish sculptures. Each volcanic bowl arrives bubbling furiously. The noodles, filet mignon, brisket, meatballs, and herbs are served on the side. Diners can add the ingredients all at once or little by little—so the noodles don’t get soggy and the meat cooks just so. This pho has gone viral online, rightfully wooing diners while honoring its Vietnamese roots.
