This is a review of the Phở Fries (Khoai Tây Chiên) and the Sparkling Salty Lemonade (Soda Chanh Muối) at a cozy Vietnamese Restaurant on Highway 99 and 128th called Lotus Pond. The fries weren’t unique on their own, but the accompaniment of a phở gravy is what sets them apart. Let’s talk about it!
I’d never heard of phở gravy before, but now I’m wondering why this isn’t more common. They use a lot of eye round and other beef cuts in Vietnamese restaurants, and it doesn’t take much to impart the distinctive flavors of phở soup into a gravy. What I tasted most prominently was the star anise, but it was rich and beefy with all the notes you’d expect. It reminded me of pot roast in the best way, but maybe if a Norman Rockwell painting depicted a Sunday night dinner in Hanoi.
The fries were thin and I measured them at 6mm. They were mostly skinless and served piping hot. I didn’t notice much seasoning on them, but they were intended to be dipped in the gravy so it was probably safer to leave them a bit light on the salt. While I loved the gravy, and I do think it’s a lovely fry dipping option, there were two things that I think could be improved. The first is the type of fry. A thin fry is fine, but suppliers sell the same thickness with a light batter. The batter does two things. First, it gives the fry a more defined crust. Second, it would help the gravy adhere to the potato.
That leads me to my second note, which is about the gravy. Again, I loved it. The flavors were fantastic, especially after I added a bit of garlic chili and hoisin sauce. My only small criticism was that it was a bit thin. Had the fries been of the battered variety then it would have clung better, but they also could have thickened the gravy with a roux or cornstarch slurry. I’m nitpicking here, but I have a reason. If the gravy is thicker you could go a step further and create Vietnamese Poutine. I’d want to use a thicker/battered fry, but you could pour over that phở gravy, toss on some chopped up thinly sliced eye round steak, some cheese curds, and cilantro. I’d squeeze a lime over the top and crush a plate of that.
UPDATE: I did crush a plate of that! I came back and made myself a version of poutine with these ingredients and some smuggled cheese. You can read about it here.
The lemonade was also delicious. I don’t drink a lot of salty beverages, but it reminded me a lot of preserved lemons that I use in some Italian pasta recipes that I make. It was more salty than sweet, but it tasted light and refreshing. It paired nicely with the other bold flavors of my food and I would order it again without hesitation. There were small bits of salty lemon swirling around the bottom of the glass and that was a fun surprise as I made my way through the drink.
I’ll need to go back and try some other dishes at Lotus Pond. These two items were amazing, and I’m sure that the rest of the menu matches up. Everything was clean, the servers were friendly, and the prices were very reasonable for Seattle ($7 for the fries, $5 for the lemonade).
Sodafry 