Last Updated on May 7, 2024, 2:59 PM | Published: May 7, 2024
OKLAHOMA CITY — After so many years and so many restaurants, Oklahoman City may be taking pho for granted. When first-time visitors come to OKC the first thing they notice is. . . Well, probably the dispensaries.
But after passing The High School, Weed Welcome Your Business, and Grass Guzzlers, they’ll probably see that we also have a wealth of pho restaurants.
While the phenomenon used to be mainly available in the Asian District, pho shops have been spreading throughout the metro.
Everyone has a favorite (pho-avorite?) shop or maybe two or three. One that’s recently captured my heart is Pho 54.
First and foremost (pho-remost?), the pho is excellent. The broth has big, beefy notes with spicing that’s light and clear, making for a refreshing experience. The selection of cuts are the usual: flank, brisket, rare steak, tendon, tripe, and meatball. There’s even a beef variety I hadn’t seen before called pho tai bam with chopped steak.
One thing I enjoy at Pho 54 is the size of the beef cuts. Thin and smaller than spoon-sized pieces are easy to grab with chopsticks but small enough you can load it onto the spoon with noodles and broth to make a mini-pho.
There are also chicken, tofu, and seafood versions of pho available, if you’re so inclined.
P14 is Pho Choice, so customers can choose up to three protein combinations, in case you want to try flank, chicken, and shrimp in your pho.
Man cannot live by soup alone, probably, which is why so many Vietnamese restaurants go beyond just pho. The banh mi selection at Pho 54 is small but mighty. The baguettes used here are ovalesque instead of straight batons, which allows them to pack a lot more filling into the sandwich. I thought the banh mi heo nuong, with grilled pork, was outstanding.
The bread offered a nice crunchy shell and a tender crumb inside with plenty of lightly pickled vegetables, jalapenos, cilantro, and pork. The grilled pork was tender and had a nice char to it. I’m looking forward to trying the grilled chicken version to see if it lives up to its porcine cousin.
I can’t imagine not being in the mood for pho, but if that unthinkable occurrence occurs, I recommend the hu tieu tom, a glass noodle soup with shrimp and pork. The broth on this soup is chicken with a ton of greens, giving it a clean flavor with a nice vegetal pop. I was actually impressed at how well the lettuce held up to the heat of the broth, adding an extra crunch alongside the bean sprouts and green onions. The thin slices of pork and the juicy shrimp gave it plenty of heft, too. The same is available with egg noodles, as well.
While I consider pho an all-weather meal, some Oklahoma summer days call for something much cooler. The vermicelli bowl is an absolute delight for those who need something both cold and substantial.
Diners receive a massive bowl filled with chilled rice vermicelli, lettuce, mint, pickled carrots, and crushed peanuts with a side of either fish or soy sauce to act as a dressing. For my protein, I chose a stir-fried beef with ginger and onions.
This was like a vacation for my taste buds. The chilled noodles had just a little chew to them and the lettuce held on to just the right amount of fish sauce. As much as I usually love grilled pork or shrimp in this dish, the stir fry beef with its effervescent ginger flavor and the sweet-sharp onion kept me going back for more. This dish really is a sensory playground with so many contrasting textures and flavors all somehow working in concert to make an extremely refreshing experience.
One thing I recommend is the addition of chopped egg rolls to your vermicelli bowl. It’s an extra $2, but it adds so much more to your meal. The crunchy slightly greasy egg roll wrapper adds a much-appreciated richness to a bite. There’s not enough egg roll to get one in every forkful, so it’s not overwhelming the rest of the bowl. That just makes it a little more special when you do skewer a bite and enjoy the layers of crispy and crunchy veggies rolled up inside each piece.
They also serve bun bo hue, which I’ll get on a future visit (albeit without the tendon and pork blood cubes, for me), and I know the drink/dessert I’ll get with it.
The taro smoothie was so good it nearly caused a fight as my wife and I kept grabbing for the cup. I’m not sure if describing something as a coconut sweet potato ice cream does it justice, but I can tell you that purple milkshake has been on my mind ever since I left the Pho 54.
Give this place a shot along with your own neighborhood pho restaurants and try to think about how the broth differs and what little changes each shop makes to customize the experience. Because after your guests get over the shock of seeing three dispensaries at every intersection, they’ll want to know your favorite place for pho. And it might just be at Pho 54.
- Pho 54
- 15001 North May Avenue in OKC
- (4055) 608-5054
- Tue-Sat 10:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.
- Pho54OKC.com
Long-time food enjoyer Greg Elwell writes about food, restaurants, and trends. He has his own blog "I Ate Oklahoma" and has written for The Oklahoman, The Oklahoma Gazette, and others.
