Egg Roll #1 / Pho #1

Ah, Egg Roll #1.  You are MY #1 for pho and other Vietnamese dishes--in Indy, anyway.

Not long before I left the south side of the city to move in with Tim, we discovered Egg Roll #1 and their wondrous Rare Beef Pho.  (It's located at the Emerson St. exit off of 465 on the south side.)  We went through a phase where we'd visit every couple weeks for a big, steaming bowl of the stuff.  Rich, fragrant beef broth; thinly sliced, tender beef added at the last moment before serving; rice noodles with just enough 'al denteness'; a lovely plate of Thai basil, lime wedges, bean sprouts, and jalapenos to add as desired; and of course the requisite bottles of sriracha and hoisin sauce on the table.  We'd mix it all in until we felt it was just-right.  It was magical.  (I love it so much that I made it my profile picture on this blog.)

Once I moved, I had trouble dragging Tim back down south to visit the restaurant.  Instead, I started getting take-out because it is still on my way home from work.  We get take-out from there every couple of months--often enough that we registered for two large pho-worthy bowls for our wedding.  And luckily, the soup holds up pretty well to travel.  I was on my own for dinner earlier this week and ended up getting that ($6.25, a bargain) plus some Vietnamese spring rolls ($3.95 for 3), carry-out.

The pho is always best when eaten in the restaurant, but it really does hold up well.  They package the broth in a styrofoam container that keeps it pretty warm, and then put all of the condiments, the noodles, and the beef (yes--raw) in a separate container.  If you're squeamish, you can request that they put the beef in the broth for you, but it won't be *quite* as tender by the time you get home as it would be if you added it yourself later.  Just put some (or all) of the noodles in a large bowl w/ the beef, pour the broth over it, add your desired condiments and you're good to go!  The meaty broth is seriously hearty, and I usually have a hard time finishing all of it in one sitting.  If you want to keep some for later, definitely refrigerate the noodles separately from the broth--I made the mistake of putting it all together for lunch the next day, and the noodles soaked up a lot of the liquid.  Not ideal.

 The spring rolls are also yummy, if fairly standard.  Each one has two shrimp, one on each end, plus some pork in the middle (you can see it in the picture), plus the requisite noodles, basil, and lettuce.  They're served with a peanutty dipping sauce that is sweet but also ever-so-slightly spicy.  (Side note:  These do NOT refrigerate well.  If you do, be sure to wrap them tightly in plastic wrap to keep the rice paper wrapping from drying out, as mine did.)

We've tried a few other dishes off of the Vietnamese menu, and they have all been good (the 'lemongrass beef,' i.e. #8 on the bottom part of the Vietnamese section, is particularly delish).  The Chinese dishes seem fairly average.  Our boys love the sweet & sour chicken, minus the sauce, and usually share an order of that plus rice.  The chicken has a tempura/beer batter style coating, and is really pretty flavorful even without any neon red sweet & sour sauce.  I often steal a couple pieces for myself--and the amount of food is large enough that they still have plenty.

Website:  Egg Roll #1