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Asia Week
AsianWeek ?Pho Phu Quoc: Vietnamese cuisine

SAN FRANCISCO — Few Vietnamese restaurants in the Bay Area have the consistent taste of Pho Phu Quoc. For 12 years, owner Tin Truong has created an operation that features food more stylish than the decor. After graduating from San Francisco State in 1996, Truong and his family opened PPQ. He studied entrepreneurship in college, which gave him the basics to run a business and expand it to another PPQ restaurant on Clement.
Troung insists that having a passion for the food industry is key for a restaurateur, and that the knowledge to run the business is as important as controlling costs. The main reason PPQ has thrived while other Irving Street restaurants have closed is the consistency in food quality and service. When he trains his staff, he explains that the customers are in charge and ultimately the ones providing them with their paychecks. His motto is to give the customers what they need without much questioning.
Truong’s siblings are in the food industry as well and work at PPQ on Clement and at Toasties, a sandwich shop in the Inner Sunset. He remarks that working with family is great if the relationship goes well, but when things go sour, the cut is much deeper.
Located on Irving Street in the area known to some as “little Chinatown,” PPQ’s unpretentious red and white signage cannot be missed. Once seated, the table setup is reminiscent of street-food vendors in Asia: a rack of chopsticks, spoons and sauce bowls. Servers speedily take orders, so don’t expect a friendly meet and greet.
One of the most popular items on the menu is the imperial roll. Filled with pork and shredded carrot, the savory and crispy roll balances well with the tangy fish sauce. For a temperature contrast, the fried rolls can be wrapped in cooling lettuce leaves. Another appetizer, the shrimp roll ($5.25), is all about texture. Translucent, soft rice paper wrapped around poached shrimp is enhanced with a dunk in peanut sauce. For a crunchy starter, the papaya beef salad ($7.58) does the trick. Julienne papaya blends well with a refreshing assortment of basil, carrot and cucumber infused in a tart dressing, and the beef adds a slight savory touch.
There are a few outstanding noodle dishes, and my favorite is the crab noodle soup (s-$5.95, l-$7.25), a soup not typically served in other Vietnamese restaurants. Arriving piping hot, the dark red soup has a pungent aroma from hours of brewing tomatoes mixed with savory shrimp paste. Cooked al dente, the vermicelli noodles soak up the soup like a sponge. Accompanying all soup dishes is a plate of fresh sprouts, basil and lemon, which adds an earthy note. To maintain the soup temperature, I request my sprouts to be blanched.
On a foggy day in the Sunset, an order of the beef noodle combo (s-$5.95, l-$7.25) is my comfort food of choice. The combo, known as “train front” in Chinese, is a classic beef noodle dish that combines rare beef, flank, brisket and meatball. The crunchy tripe contrasts the soft tendon pieces.
The five spice chicken vermicelli dish pairs well with a hot day. Served at room temperature, the vermicelli marries well with the refreshing fish sauce and vegetable medley of cucumbers, sprouts and carrots. Accented by the citrus flavor of lemongrass, the lemongrass pork chop nestles underneath a caramelized crust. The tricolor rice plate ($6.95) is for those who prefer variety. It includes savory charbroiled pork and shredded pork with a pungent egg meatloaf. The charbroiled pork wrap ($12.95) is a great do-it-yourself dish, served with a large platter of herbs and the same condiments as the beef noodle soup. Patrons soak rice paper in warm water and then assemble pork skewers with the vegetable condiments.
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1816 Irving Street
Between 19th & 20th avenues
San Francisco
(415) 661-8869
Monday – Saturday:
10:30 a.m.-11 p.m.
Sunday:
10:30 a.m.-10:30 p.m.
Prices: $10 and up
Cash only
This story was corrected on June 13, 2008.

Attached Images

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God that looks so good

It does look good.