By Don Perez / El Camino Eats
You’re sick and can’t tell if you’re hungry or still queasy.
Mild lunch is the best call, something like broth. A Yelp check on what’s by El Camino College shows several Vietnamese pho restaurants offering bowls of broth, rice noodles, herbs and a variety of meats.
A catchy named place named What Pho? is unfortunately closed on a Monday, but the next highest-rated Vietnamese soup joint is Daily Pho, just south of Marine Avenue on Western, a short drive from the college.
You arrive to a strip mall of Asian restaurants. The Daily Pho menu is handed to you by a friendly. elderly Asian man in a uniform that would probably double for work clothes in an auto garage (it’s clean, though). The sound of Mexican music and CNN in the background and a decor that looks like an Asian diner and a boba drink bar eloped are the opening impressions.
Quite quaint.
It’s pleasing amusement. And so is the pho, which comes in a variety of ways with many meats. Rare steak, brisket, tripe, meatballs, chicken, squid, ox tail and more.
But today, the pho is kept simple: shrimp.
A few minutes later, a half dozen big, fat shrimp arrive in a giant bowl, and they’ve been thrown into a kelp forest of noodles with some cilantro, onions and other greens, along with a platter of basil, bean sprouts and chilies on the side.
A ladle will easily scoop the broth and diced greens. Chopsticks, however, are the only way to work with the mass of noodles, which dam up more of the succulent broth and the occasional shrimp that has soaked the flavors in.
The noodles are thick enough to double as wiring for a computer lab.
The broth hits the spot, the shrimps are plump and the noodles are … well, chewy and plentiful. What more could you ask for under $10 with a Thai iced tea with whipped cream on top?
Well, there are rice dishes, banh mi, boba drinks and other things to consider. But that’s for another time.
Pho Daily is located at 15126 S. Western Ave. in Gardena and is open from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily. Wi-Fi is available on the premises; ask for the password. Phone: (310) 630-4915. A menu can be found on its Yelp page: https://www.yelp.com/biz/pho-daily-gardena.
For more of Don Perez’s food blog, check out Donperezmedia.wordpress.com
Article published in The Union on May 8, 2017.
Photo by Don Perez.
Don Perez 