Little Saigon Pho: Couple looking forward to bringing Vietnam’s national dish to Huntingburg
Thursday morning, Wendy Truong and her husband, Khang Tran, were busy putting freshly printed menus into clear-sleeved pockets. A recently delivered sign for their new restaurant in Huntingburg sat on the floor waiting to be hung in the window. Images celebrating their Vietnamese culture and Ho Chi Minh City, their home city in Vietnam, hung on the walls as the couple worked to decorate and prepare to open Little Saigon Pho at 304 East Fourth Street by October 26.
If possible, they plan to open earlier, bringing Vietnam’s national dish, pho, to Dubois County.
Pho, pronounced “fuh,” is a bowl of flat rice noodles and meat in a broth simmered for hours with ginger, charred onion, star anise, cinnamon and cloves. “It can take up to eight hours to make,” Wendy explained.
What changes from bowl to bowl is mostly the meat. At Little Saigon Pho, the simplest bowl is ph? tái, with paper-thin slices of raw steak that cook in the hot broth. From there, diners can add brisket (tái n?m), tendon (tái gân) or meatballs (tái viên)—the combination bowl piles on all four.
Wendy’s favorite is ph? tái gân, rare steak and tendon.
Beyond pho, the menu leans on other Vietnamese staples: bún bò Hu?, a spicy beef noodle soup from central Vietnam; bún th?t n??ng, grilled pork over rice noodles; c?m t?m, grilled pork with a sunny-side-up egg, pickled vegetables and fish sauce; and fish sauce fried chicken wings over broken rice.
They also offer specialty bánh mì sandwiches with ham or grilled pork.
And of course, fresh spring rolls (g?i cu?n).
Coffee culture is strong in Vietnam. Wendy said it’s common to see people sitting outside cafés enjoying the day with coffee. They plan on featuring Vietnam’s version of specialty coffee on their menu but warned it’s a bit stronger than what you may be used to. “Stronger than espresso,” she said.
Their menu also features several different boba, or bubble tea, drinks. The sweet drinks, which have become very popular, feature chewy tapioca pearls at the bottom of the cup and come in a variety of flavors.
Wendy and Khang are excited about bringing these flavors to the area. Wendy said opening her own restaurant has always been her dream. She studied hotel and restaurant management in Vietnam and has worked on a cruise ship and in restaurants for more than 10 years. She moved to Dubois County from Vietnam about five years ago.
The couple said they love the area’s rural character. It reminds them of Vietnam’s countryside outside Ho Chi Minh City, the country’s largest city.
With Little Saigon Pho, she wants to “bring all the food from Vietnam to everyone.” She said she’s most looking forward to introducing people to pho and seeing customers enjoy her food. “They look happy, I’m happy,” she said.
Khang said there isn’t a Vietnamese restaurant in the area, and they want locals to get to know the food. That may come easier than they expected. When Wendy posted about the restaurant opening on Facebook, the response caught her off guard. Plenty of people already knew about pho. “So amazing,” she said.
It’s still the couple’s first business, and Wendy admits it’s a leap. Excitement about what they are doing is tempered by nervousness as they wait to see how the public responds.
Follow Little Saigon Pho on Facebook for updates. Wendy said hours of operation will be 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily at first, but may change after they open.
