PDX Phở

Origins

This adventure was born out of two points of inspiration: a reddit post and the low quality of ratings on Google/Yelp.

In 2023 I came across the Seattle Area Pho Rankings post by u/FallenHierarchy on reddit. Everyone enjoys a ranking list, but it's even better when someone puts metrics to that list. While reading the post I thought "You know Portland has a lot of Phở restaurants, but we only ever go to a couple. I wonder if there are better ones out there we've never been to."

The decline of the modern web has been written about a lot lately and one thing I've noticed is that while trying to find a place to eat with Google Maps it won't surface results that are right next to me. Even places that have high ratings. Furthermore the entire basis of getting ratings crowd sourced by people that are mostly only visiting once is flawed. I figured that having a rating system where people have to visit a restaurant at least three times before their rating counts would be a better system. There are obviously issue with the system, mainly it being time and cost intensive, but I still like the idea. Why not narrow that down to just the Phở restaurants in Portland? So here we are, I'm trying to visit every Phở restaurant in Portland three times, I don't plan to release the number ratings until I've visited a place at least twice.

For a full-length review that is subject to the star system (whether the restaurant ends up getting any stars or not), Times critics always visit the restaurant at least three times. At least.

Methodology

Taking the inspiration above I decided to come up with a method to the madness of visiting all the Phở restaurants in Portland.

Note: This is all of course based on my specific tastes. Different people like different things and so many people will probably disagree with my ratings and that is OK. I have no qualifications that make me better suited to rate all these restaurants.

Location

The restaurant must be located within Portland. Using map from the official PortlandMaps - Open Data I cross-refrenced their location from Google or website to determine if they were within the boundary. While there are plenty more restaurants outside of the boundary I've decided to focus on Portland proper in order to make the project feasbile.

Phở Type

For now the goal is to only include Phở Bò (beef phở) as this is the most widespread type. While there is chicken and vegetarian it is not common enough to warrant inclusion at this time, perhaps after I've rated everywhere twice I might venture into other types.

The other rule is to try and order the Dặc Biệt and if they don't have it ask the staff what their special is. I also default to a "regular" size bowl if the option is presented. If there is an option, but the price on the menu only shows one price I get whater size that is and will note it in the review.

Rating Categories

There are five categories that I rate a bowl on, all are rated on a scale of 0-5 with 5 being the best. I do not take the environment/vibe, customer service or value into account. My rating process is to rate them in the below order without making any modifications to the bowl. After I've made initial ratings I'll write any notes as I go back and retry each component, possibly adjusting the ratings. Finally, once I feel that I've covered everything I'll eat the bowl as I like: Adding herbs, bean sprouts, jalapenos, and possibly lime. Then dipping meat in a combo hoison/sriracha sauce. I might tweak the rating while eating the rest of the bowl, but typically I do not.

Herbs

I'm looking for the freshness of the herbs and that a proper quantity is provided. The herbs category includes:

Aroma

How does the broth smell? I'll generally mix up the bowl to help release the aroma. Is it beefy enough, but still clean? What spices stick out. I typically lean towards a more clove forward broth rather than cinnamon.

Flavor

Does the broth hade a deep beefy flavor? Is it too sweet, salty or bitter? Does the flavor of the spices come through?

Noodles

I'm partial to noodles that still have a tad of a bite when the bowl first comes out so that by the time I'm done they haven't softened too much. The worst sin are noodles that break apart, they should be long and together the entire time I'm eating the bowl.

Meat

Does the meat taste clean and beefy? If it is steak/brisket is it tender, but not dry? Is the tendon cooked enough to be succulent? Are the meatballs seasoned well and have a coarser texture? Typical meat cuts include, but are not limited to:

Todo List

There are a few things that I plan to add to this website over time. In no particular order they are: