TO>Pho Golden Bowl, on Murphy St. in Sunnyvale's old town, receives the highest TO>marks from a friend of mine who hails from South Viet-Nam (Saigon).
TO>They are also my favorite for pho. I also like Pho Xe Lua in SJ for chao TO>(porridge) and bun bo hue (Central Viet-Nam beef and pork soup, but try a TO>place on 4th St. just south of Santa Clara St. in SJ for the real deal), and TO>Pho Hoa for pho bo kho (beef stew).
The place for bun bo hue is called Ca Mau. The seasoning is
exceptional: the lemon grass is averwhelming. In my experience this is the best bun bo hue around here. There are three things I find at fault. First the soup is sometimes too salty. Second the boiled pork blood is cooked too fast. I think this place might have purchased pre-cooked blood though. In order to get better texture, my Vietnamese friends tell to cook the blood at lower temperature. Lastly the pork feet has too much hair. SO I end up not eating the thing I find at fault. All the other ingredients are very good.
Pho Xe Lua in SJ used to be my favorite place for pho especially
late (probably later than I my sleeping hour). Recently I find the place distasteful (unsanitary that is): employee picking nose then use the unclean same hand to pick open a plastic bag of bean sprouts. Then the person grab some bean sprouts and some nearby herb to put on a plate for me. I assure you, I did not touch the dish. On the same visit I saw roaches running around on my table, finally disappearing somewhere on the bottom of table. Those roaches probably surface for someone else. Obviously this is just one incident for one person. Perhaps the place might be a bit cleaner by now, but since that time I do not have the desire to find out.
PalSan Jose, CA