Sure, Pho Binh by Night is the new hotness -- and who wouldn't love it, with its late-night hours (open 'til midnight during the week and 3 a.m. on Friday and Saturday nights) and bone marrow pho? But it's the original Pho Binh">Pho Binh -- owned by the same family -- that's still my favorite.
Starting at 8 a.m. nearly every morning, people line up outside the restaurant -- ramshackle pairing of a single-wide trailer and a tumbledown house -- on Beamer in South Houston, ready for their pho fix. That a pho place should be open at 8 a.m. may be surprising in the States, but pho is traditionally just as much a breakfast item as it is a lunch or dinner dish back in Vietnam. And don't expect to get your pho for dinner here -- not only does the small place close at 4 p.m. each day, it's usually sold out of the noodle soup by 1 or 2 p.m. anyway.
Pho Binh has been a staple of the South Houston dining scene since 1983, long before foodies began trumpeting its majesty all over town. And that's because the family who runs it makes the anise-scented broth from scratch, boiling down beef bones and seasoning it with rich cinnamon and caramelized onions. You can often see the pots bubbling away if you're seated close enough to the kitchen.
The bowl itself is a festive blend of that tawny broth, slippery noodles, crunchy bean sprouts, and thinly sliced ribbons of rare beef (I usually avoid the meatballs here), all topped with boisterous slices of jalapeños and freshly torn basil leaves.
In the face of its fiercely fragrant broth with a silky sheen of beef fat floating on top, all other pho becomes a distant and slightly disappointing memory. This is truly how pho should taste. And should that oil slick of beef fat not quite do it for you -- you can always order more luscious fat on the side.