Pholicious

7582 W. Cactus, Peoria

This review may not even be fair to the restaurant. This being my first Vietnamese food all I can comment on is what I liked without being able to compare it to other Vietnamese restaurants. Until Yelp I was under the false impression that Vietnamese food was too hot and spicy for my tastes so I never even tried it, it certainly wasn't the way it was served to me.

I ordered the vegetarian spring rolls ($3.00) and Pho with beef brisket and meatballs ($7.25). The wrapping on the spring rolls was labeled as rice paper. It was similar to the wrapping I didn't care for on some of the dumplings at Dim Sum so I guess I either need to develop a taste for it or find something else on the menu. I think part of the filling was rice noodles and I didn't care for them cold either. The sauce was, I think, Hoisin based with some chopped peanuts. It was pretty good as is and I left it alone because I wanted to sample the entire meal the way it comes. I think I would add a light splash of fish sauce and another of red pepper sauce, both of which were at the table. I normally do not order appetizers because the entree is more than enough to fill me up but this time I am thinking I am just getting a bowl of soup. This is probably no surprise to most of you, I have bowls this size in my kitchen, I use them as serving bowls when feeding multiple people family style. At this point I wish I was with somebody who knew the ropes better than I. I wasn't sure whether the bean sprouts and stuff that came on a separate plate were supposed to be tossed in the soup or eaten off the plate they came on, I tossed them in the soup. I am no stranger to chop sticks but rice noodles have got to be the hardest thing I have ever eaten with them. I am sure there is a better way than I was handling it and I must have been the source of some humor for the staff as about halfway through one of them quietly laid a fork on the table. Other than spooning the broth out towards the end I finished the meal with chop sticks. I did not care for the meat balls but I tend to not like pork in any meat ball.

The restaurant was not very busy. The Asians occupying a few tables on one side and me, seated in the far corner (the host's choice). The basketball game was on the tv and all of the staff were following it. Even though not a sports venue I was fine with this as that is about all I think a tv is good for. Definitely a family run affair, one corner of the dining room had been set up with a laptop and I could see what looked like homework type stuff near the computer. I was greeted and seated immediately upon entering. and as I got up to leave my server came over and thanked me for coming in.

I wouldn't mind coming here again and I will add Vietnamese to my list of acceptable cuisines.