Pho. Ah, pho. The traditional Vietnamese broth and noodle soup that now, thanks to celebrity chefs like Anthony Bourdain, is now firmly established in the consciousness of American eaters. Personally, I’m not sure how I feel about the dish. I’ve never eaten a bad bowl, but I’ve never eaten a bowl so good that pho became an obsession. I’ve never had that “holy grail” experience, I guess. The beauty of pho versus “western” soups is every bowl is served with a plate of garnishments and is thus a chance to personalize the dish.
Late last week, I caught wind that All in the Phamily, started by Josephine Pham and her mother Jackie and an institution at both the Shreveport and Providence Farmer’s Markets would be opening its first brick and mortar location. Famous for their banh mi, word reached me that they would be serving pho. This past Monday, the Toups on Soups crew headed to the restaurant to try said pho.
At 920 Pierremont Rd. sits a series of nondescript office towers. I’ve passed the buildings untold times but never really paid them much attention, aside from being stuck in construction traffic on Pierremont and noticing the campus had a somewhat interesting parking layout. All in the Phamily is downstairs there in a little café. (Having an office park full of hungry employees could be a potential stroke of genius.)
My friend who’d accompanied me, Jim, informed me he very much prefers his pho beef, but I’m a few months into avoiding red meat, so I stuck to my guns and ordered the chicken. It arrived quickly and smelled amazing. One of my absolute favorite things about pho is the moment it arrives at my table. That savory scent is intoxicating and the ingredients always look so pretty when the broth swirls around the noodles. Adding in the ubiquitous cilantro, sprouts, jalapeños, and Sriracha makes for a beautiful dish full of colors. I did wish the garnishing plate would have had Thai basil, though. After tasting the broth, I decided I wanted it to be a little smokier, so I added some hoisin sauce as well.
The noodles themselves were quite good. Succulent and tender, each bite (or slurp, okay) was very enjoyable. The little pieces of scallion that were in the broth added a slight crunch which made for a nice textural change to the noodles. The chicken itself was like any other chicken I’ve had in pho—very tasty, but after being cooked in such a light broth, it needs the rest of the ingredients to really be notable. I do wish there would have been a boiled egg or two, but so it goes.
While I didn’t have the pho nirvana experience I’m seeking, I very much enjoyed the dish, ended finishing the whole bowl and likely could have eaten another. Josephine, who was chatting to us while I ate, commented that most people don’t finish the broth. I suppose it was a testament to the tastiness that I didn’t want it to go to waste.
As a quick aside, I want to thank Josephine and Jackie for being gracious hosts. My friends and I could not get together before 5:45 on the day of our shoot and the restaurant closed at 6. Despite it being their first day, the ladies were beyond accommodating. They even served us all some amazing pork egg rolls and seafood egg rolls, both of which are the best I’ve eaten of their respective flavors in Shreveport. I ended up heading back to All in the Phamily a few days later to try their famous banh mi. The series isn’t called Toups on Sandwiches, so I’ll only add that the veggie one I ordered was delicious. I’ve found a new favorite lunch spot, and one day I’ll get over to try their breakfast offerings.
All in the Phamily will be open Monday to Friday, 7 AM to 6 PM. They’ll once again be at the Shreveport Farmer’s Market, which resumes this Saturday, the 24th of October. Follow them on Facebook and on Instagram, @allinthephamily.shreveport.