The search for a perfect or a near perfect Pho in Tokyo is unfortunately not yet completed. Com Pho, located not too far from the Shimokitazawa station (the Keio-Inokashira line from Shibuya will take you there within two stops only -or one stop with the express line), offers a clean and modern interior with dark brown furniture in a long clean line of vision from the entrance to the back of the restaurant. About 2/3 of the way the space was broken by a see-through divider made of stained wood slats, which made me think that there was a smoking and non-smoking section, but I was mistaken.
The menu offers six entrées, three appetizer, desserts, and several drinks. Out of the six entrées, the last one was a combination of two of the previous entrées; I chose that one: Pho Ga and Vietnamese rice. My exposure to Vietnamese restaurants has always confronted me with a long list of entrées, appetizer, desserts, and drinks, but this place not only has limited entrée selection but also not the one that is the most representative of all Phos: the one with beef. Maybe this was just the lunch menu, and maybe they rotated the items. There might be some days that they would serve Pho Bo Vien, as one could clearly see in the website.
(Vietnamese, not unlike Japanese restaurateur, usually name their business according to what they serve or what they mainly feature. Japanese, for example, would focus on a tonkatsu or a curry; Japanese pasta or okonomiyaki; sushi and sashimi only and so on. Only in some restaurants can you find all kinds of Japanese food offered [this seems to be more common in California or outside of Japan, where the survival of the restaurant may hang on the restaurant serving many different types of food to satisfy the customers' different wants]. Thus, in California, a restaurant that has the name "Pho" in it will no doubt offers an endless list of Phos, and then it may offer other things, but the dominating feature will still be the variety of Pho.)
The key to a good Pho lies in the broth, but unfortunately, that was not to be found in my Pho. My partner ordered a full bowl, while my bowl was half of his because mine was a combo with the Vietnamese rice. Neither of our Pho Ga came with the traditional serving of basil leaves, fresh bean sprouts, and sliced green chili peppers, although it did come with a small slice of lemon and one slice of red chili pepper. The Vietnamese rice was good. The tiny slices of barbecued meat that came with it tasted like any BBQ meat I have ever had in other Vietnamese restaurants. I would not mind returning to Com Pho for this entrée, but not for the Pho.
Too bad we did not have the space in our tummy to try out the desserts, but perhaps I will do an updated review when I will finally get to order the dessert, if I return to this restaurant. There is actually two branches of the restaurant: one in Toranomon and another inside the Maru-biru in the Marunouchi district. For more information, go to their website (see the URL down below).
Com Pho
Vietnamese Canteen
2-13-4 Kitazawa
Setagaya-ku, Tokyo 155-0031, Japan
Tel & Fax: (03) 5481-0564
M-Su: 12:00-16:30 and 17:00-24:00
Closed on Tuesdays
(Accompanying photograph was taken from the Com Pho website)
