Sunny Pho continues the streak of Asian-cuisine restaurants located at the corner of Park Street and Emerald Street but isn’t an improvement over its predecessors.
Let’s start with the main dish: pho ($10.25 for regular, $11.95 for large). I hate to say it, but the Sunny Special Combination, which includes everything you could add to pho, was very disappointing. The broth was flavorless, and that’s the whole point of the bowl. Plus, the broth wasn’t hot enough to cook the raw beef, and the fish balls were undercooked.
On the other hand, the drunken noodles ($11.95) were a hit. The thick rice noodles had a delicious sautee and soy sauce flavor, and I enjoyed the tender beef. For some reason, shrimp and pork were included, and both should have been separate meat choices (not that I’m complaining).
I love Vietnamese egg rolls more than any other kind. The pork egg rolls ($3.85 for two) here seemed larger than average and were indeed tasty but lacking in meat. You also can order vegan egg rolls ($3.85) as well as spring rolls ($4.25).
Based on its description, the Vietnamese sandwich ($5.75)–filled pork headcheese, pork meatloaf, pork sausage, cured pork ears, liver spread and veggies–should have been labeled a banh mi. However, there already is a banh mi ($6.50) on the menu, and it includes grilled lemongrass beef, chicken or pork. Anyways, the former is satisfying, with good portions of all the ingredients, a firm but soft roll and fresh-tasting vegetables.
The last item on the menu I wanted to try was the laab, which is basically a meat salad accompanied by various accouterments like cilantro and mint. Unfortunately, the restaurant said it wasn’t available.
Sunny Pho is open for lunch and dinner on Sundays and Tuesday-Saturday.
Tags: south side, Vietnamese
