Soup Report: 9021-Pho, Beverly Hills & No. 1 Noodle House, Rowland Heights

Beef Noodle

Soup #1: Sunday, October 10.

No. 1 Noodle House., Rowland Heights. Beef Noodles, spicy, $6.90. This hit the spot, slurped outdoors on a warm Sunday evening with the Reds/Phillies sport match on the patio big screen. Some don’t like spicy food on a warm night; I do. Fair sized bowl with a lot going on in it, texture and flavorwise. Maybe a bit heavy on the chili oil. Good noodles, decent cuts of beef. I asked for spicy and they delivered–put me in a good sweat and drained my sinuses. Of course, as much as I dug it, a quick search on Chowhound shows that 3 years ago I would have had an even better bowl, as the original chef went back to China in 2007. Duh. (I previously had only hit the now-gone Kyochon chicken in that nook of the mini-mall before.) Bonus points on the hubris in their name. Thumbs up.

Pho

Soup #2: Saturday, October 9.

9021-Pho., Beverly Hills. Pho Bo (Beef). Solid enough bowl, but a bit steep at $8.95. (Something tells me Tommie Moonshine would not approve.) Broth not all that rich or flavorful. A bit stingy on the sliced meat; beef balls cut in halves. Some nice Long Jin tea but at $3.95/pot, perhaps not transcendent enough. But willing to accept a bit of a Beverly Hills tax on the prices for location convenience. Somewhat annoying Jason Bentley-esque up-tempo ambient soundtrack running off someone’s iTunes. Lovely young hostess on duty this lazy Saturday afternoon. Extra points on the forced pun in the name. Mild thumbs down/sideways.

NB: When I throw something up about food I won’t even attempt expert-level culinary exegesis of ingredients and regional authenticity and whatnot like the likes of champs like sinosoul and the rest of the food blogger scene. The most I can tell you is if something is basically worth hitting in my estimation–is it tasty, served efficiently and reasonably affordable. Maybe the equivalent of a thumbs up or thumbs down. As always, someone with deeper knowledge is welcome throw in their own two cents in a Comment section.

P.S.: I don’t particularly go out of my way to hit a spot and don’t advise that. Both these joints were nearby where I had some business to conduct over the weekend while I was battling a goddamned post-Vegas stuffy head for about a week (still am).