you used to be alright

i don’t feel like coming up with a clever pho pun

frequent readers of youusedtobealright.com know that i enjoy my pho. those that live in shanghai should also know that pho here is often disappointing or unauthentic or otherwise not fulfilling.

with the recent opening of pho 26 on wujiang road, i think there’s a new solution for all of us pho deprived masses in shanghai.

pho 26, opened opposite the yet-to-be-opened krispy kreme is, at least to my taste, the best and most authentic pho place open yet in shanghai.

first we started with some deep fried spring rolls. super flavorful, crispy skin and a little bit of spice even. done very well. in fact, i’m kind of craving another order right now.

then the pho. let’s go over all the ways pho can fail – meat, broth, noodles. well, pho 26 hits all the right notes. the meat is high quality – i ordered the pho 26 special (or in chinese, the “train engine” special) which came with rare beef, cooked beef, beef balls, tripe and tendon. the portions were ample and each piece was quite good. the broth – it was the best part of the bowl. tasty, with enough meaty flavor. the noodles were firm with a pleasant texture and slurped up nicely.

so, it’s not an entirely positive review. for one, although i don’t want to sound like a cheap english teacher, 34 rmb for a bowl of pho is a bit dear – especially when in the us, $5 would get you a bowl twice as big, and in vietnam itself, pho is less than $1 us. also, they were very light on the pho preparation materials – the hot sauce, plum sauce, basil and extra bean sprouts just were not served and the waitresses seemed clueless to what we were referring to.

but the menu looked to have a good variety of vietnamese food, including vermicelli and rice plates. as much as i loved rice plates when i was in saigon last month, com was my favorite dish, so i’ll definitely be back to try out the rest of the menu.

pho 26
wujiang lu number 178, 2nd floor
phone: 021-52286597

price: about 50 rmb per person for lunch/dinner