Wine Dine and Play: Simply Phở

Authentic Vietnamese

Tampa, Florida, USA

Dined in December 2016

By Sean Overpeck (CFE)

Phở (pronounced fuh), is a word from a cuisine that is taking America by storm. It seems that on every street corner next to a McDonald’s there is a Chinese buffet restaurant. The automatic assumption to some if not most is that when you think about Asian cuisine, they think the Panda Express. Then Pad Thai came along in the 90’s and broke the barrier to show that there is more to Asian Cuisine then just General TSO chicken. Around the same time Pad Thai made its break through, the barriers were coming down with the introduction of Vietnamese Cuisine to America as well, and the dish of choice; a street food called phở. My wife and I stopped into a small Vietnamese restaurant in Tampa called Simply Phở and enjoyed some of this nice broth dish.

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Main review:

Phở is a Vietnamese noodle soup consisting of broth, rice noodles called bánh phở, a few herbs, and meat, primarily made with either beef or chicken. Vietnamese people usually consume it at any time of day. Phở originated in the early 20th century in northern Vietnam, southeast of Hanoi in Nam Định Province. The traditional home of pho is reputed to be the villages of Vân Cù and Dao Cù (or Giao Cù) in Đông Xuân commune, Nam Trực District, Nam Định Province.

With the Partition of Vietnam in 1954, over a million people fled North Vietnam for South Vietnam to avoid the Communist takeover. Phở, previously unpopular in the South, suddenly took off. At this time additional garnishes, such as lime, bean sprouts, cilantro (ngò gai), cinnamon basil (húng quế), Hoisin sauce (tương đen), and hot chili sauce (tương ớt) became standard fare.Phở tái also began to rival fully cooked phở chín in popularity.

In the aftermath of the Vietnam War, Vietnamese refugees brought pho to many countries. Restaurants specializing in Phở appeared in numerous Asian enclaves and Little Saigon's, such as in Paris and in major cities in the United States, Canada and Australia.In 1980, the first of hundreds of Phở restaurants opened in the Little Saigon in Orange County, California, and from there became mainstream during the 1990s, throughout the United States as relations with Vietnam improved. One such example was here in Tampa with Simply Phở.

The home web page to the restaurant misrepresents them. As you load the page, It looks like you will be eating in a Michelin star restaurant, but you are not. All of their social media icons link you back to this false home page. They need to do some work on the website. They have false pictures on the website as well showing five course meals, croissants and more!! To make sure I had the right webpage I confirmed the address and the restaurant logo from the business card to the webpage itself. It was all correct.

My wife and I cam in for lunch and each had a Phở bowl, but first some Crab Rangoon which had a combination of cream cheese, chopped carrots and onions, scallions, and as they specify - crab meats.

From there my wife had the chicken, and I had the beef Phở lunch entrees along with the saké you see pictured above.

Other Noteworthy Asian favorites:

Rock 'n Raw at the Hard Rock Casino, Tampa, Florida

Morimoto Asia in Disney Springs, Orlando

Ambrosia in Key West, Florida

Sushi The Grand Hyatt, Dubai, UAE

Basil Asian Bistro in Canton, Ohio

Osaka Sushi Thai in Seminole, Florida

Chinatown Restaurant in San Francisco, California

Final notes and observations:

The webpage being incorrect was a disappointment and false advertising to who the restaurant is and what they stand for. Outside of that the service and food were both very good.

Over all from this experience taking the six factors I use on Wine, Dine, and Play to produce my rating, I give Simply Phở a 1 out of 5 stars, meaning that they were an average dining experience compared to most restaurants. The six factors used to get this rating include reviewing of their wine selections; overall customer service from host, bar, service, and management; the restaurant ambiance, noise level, lighting, and bathroom quality; plate presentation, which includes garnish, color, and art; quality of the food, where it is produced, and how it is prepared; and finally the “wow” factor. Did the restaurant wow me in any way not listed in the five factors above? Some restaurants do, but most do not.

Overall Star rating by Wine, Dine, & Play:
Ambiance:	3 of 10
Quality of the Food:	6 of 10
Plate Presentation:	5 of 10
Customer Service:	7 of 10
Wow Factor:	1 of 10
Wine Selection:	N/A

Other Tampa, Florida reviews on Wine, Dine, and Play:

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Copperfish in Tampa, Florida

Edison Food + Drink Lab in Tampa, Florida

Yacht Starship in Tampa, Florida

First Flight Wine Bar at the Tampa International Airport, Tampa, Florida

Kona Grill in Tampa, Florida

Rock 'n Raw at the Hard Rock Casino, Tampa, Florida

Ulele in Tampa, Florida

First Watch in Tampa, Florida

Food Prices

(excluding, alcohol, taxes & gratuity)

$£€¥ - Under 50.00

$£€¥ x 2 - 51.00- 99.00

$£€¥ x 3 - Over 100.00

$£€¥ x 4 - Over 200.00

$£€¥ x 5 - Over 400.00

**Currencies chosen reflect the world’s major travelers and restaurant connoisseur’s**

My food bill:	Currency:	Price chart:
$24.00	United States Dollar (USD)	$
$32.00	Australian Dollar (AUS)	$
£20.00	Great Britain Pound Sterling (GBP)	£
$31.00	Canadian Dollar (CAN)	$
¥166.00	Chinese Yuan (CNY)	¥¥¥
€23.00	European Union (EUR)	€

Currency rates as of January 2017

Alcohol Prices:

$16.00

Simply Pho:

13149 North Dale Mabry Hwy

Suite F

Tampa, Florida 33618

Contact Information:

Maître d or host:	+1 813 960 5678
Restaurant website:	Simply Phở
Serving hours: Eastern Standard Time (GMT - 5:00)	Sun-Thur 11:00 am - 9:30 pm Fri-Sat 11:00 am - 10:00 pm
Email or webpage contact:	Contact Simply Phở
Social Media & Accolades:	Facebook link
Social Media & Accolades:	Instagram

Review basics:

5 stars	is Extraordinary
4 Stars	is Outstanding
3 Stars	Exceeded Expectations
2 Stars	is Above the Average
1 Star	is an Average Dining Experience
No Star Rating	The Restaurant is Basic, Poor, or Appalling

Overall Star Rating:	1 of 5 Stars: Outstanding Experience
Corkage fee’s:	The Restaurant does not list any corkage fee’s however, most American restaurants charge $25.00 per bottle
Restaurant style:	Casual
Reservations:	Not Required Walk-Ins: Accepted
Child policy:	The Restaurants reviewed on this site may have a child’s menu or cater to them; however for full enjoyment of food and wine, it is recommended for children not to be in attendance, unless they have been trained in proper etiquette. Hire a Babysitter!
Dress code:	Casual attire
Cuisine style:	Contemporary, Asian-fusion, Vietnamese, Japanese, Chinese, & Vegetarian
Experiences:	Hole-in-the-wall, Intimate, and a Neighborhood gem.
Payments:	Visa, MasterCard, Discover, American Express
Parking:	Public lot
Wifi	The restaurants reviewed on this site may have Wi-Fi, but do not require you to go online, because the excitement of the food and wine alone will keep you too entertained instead of checking your social media and emails.
Noise level:	Low
Smoking:	Nonsmoking restaurant
Patio:	No

****

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Reviewed by:

Sean Overpeck (CFE)

Picture below was taken in St. Emillion,
Chateau Toinet Fombrauge, in 2010

About Sean:

I am based out of St. Petersburg, Florida working in the food service industry for the past twenty years, and am currently with the American Embassy as the Executive Chef in Basra, Iraq. Formally I have worked with groups contracting in Afghanistan, and Antarctica, also working in restaurants in and around Atlanta, Georgia prior to the wars. I have also owned a catering company and served proudly in the United States Army Food Service Program. The idea for Wine, Dine, and Play started in late 2012 after a trip to Jordan, when I was asked by friends to write down the experiences from a few Jordanian restaurants, wine from the region that I tasted, and locations of interest such as Petra. Since that time, over 250 articles have been written on restaurants, including fifteen from the worlds top 100 lists of San Pellegrino and the Elite Travelers Guide. There are articles on exotic world locations such as Victoria Falls, and South African Safari’s; food recipes & Grand Food Dictionaries; ethnic country cuisines such as Afghan, and Peruvian; tasting tours of world cities like Charleston, Cape Town, and Dubai; and of course wine from vineyards in California, Oregon, the Carolina’s, South Africa, New Zealand, and Australia, with much more to see and write about.

Who is John Galt?

“Culinary perfection consists not in doing extraordinary things,

But in doing ordinary things extraordinarily well.”

-Angelique Arnauld (1591-1661)