finally, authentic pho. we have eaten vietnamese food since the 80s in vietnamese population centers such as houston, northern virginia, orange county, ca, arlington, tx, etc. moving back to the indy area recently, we had been searching for the real thing (pho and other vietnamese cuisine) within a reasonable distance from the westfield/carmel area. what do you know, we ended up living in westfield and found this new place. we tried it last night and - yep - it is the real thing. the beef broth was rich, the noodles and cilantro fresh, and of course, the traditional plate of "additions" - fresh basil, sprouts, lime wedges, and jalapeño slices - along with hoisin and siriacha sauces, were fresh and ready to drop in the soup.
thespringrolls (summer rolls as they were called in some other locales) were fresh and the peanut dipping sauce very tasty. i ended the meal with cafe sua da - the french-influenced iced espresso coffee with sweetened condensed milk - and it was perfect - sweet and rich over ice after drip brewing at the table.
we are anxious to try the banh mi (vietnamese sandwich) next time for lunch.
we think the owner has this right and we are no neophytes when it comes to vietnamese food. we encourage those who have not tried vietnamese food - pho in particular - to give this place a try, especially during this cold season!