pho 14

pho 14
1436 park road NW (between 14th street & kenyon street), washington, DC 20010
tel: 202) 986-2326

what was consumed: spring rolls (some people call these fresh rolls ... to each his own!), pho

yay for vietnamese food in the city!

the first time i had pho was when i was a senior in college (yeah, i know, surprising). it's even more surprising because the church i grew up going to is right in the little saigon of so.cal (i.e., westminister, ca) and you'd think that i would've had it. but noooooo. that's all right. though a late-comer to the lovely world of vietnamese food, i have quickly become a fan.

so, i move to the DC/metro area and find out that there is a dearth of vietnamese options. that is, you can get some vietnamese food in the city at these "pan-asian" restaurants, but the options are very limited. there is a pretty large vietnamese shopping center/area out in the 'burbs (eden center), but my vehicular limitations prevent me from getting out there. with the high population of vietnamese in the city, i was quite surprised that there weren't more options. so yay for pho 14!

anyway, ines and i met for lunch and we were thinking about where to go. she suggested the new vietnamese restaurant (which i had heard about in passing) and i was all about that. so, we walked over to the north side of the columbia heights shopping center to pho 14 ... and let me tell ya, i was super excited (and could barely contain myself).

now, i'm not an expert on vietnamese food. i did, however, keep asking ines about what she thought (she's vietnamese) and she said it was good. good enough for me! we started our meal with spring rolls. i love spring rolls. i think i've counted once (i made them at home) and had upwards of 15 spring rolls. yes, i eat a lot. my other point is that i love spring rolls. other pho 14 reviewers have mentioned that the pho is better in the 'burbs, blah blah blah. my retort to that is that there are more options in the 'burbs, thus allowing individuals to pick and choose to their liking; we don't have those liberties (and we'll take what we can get - ha!). but shoot - pho 14 was delicious to me and i most definitely enjoyed my meal. so there!

a couple of other comments ...
maybe it's because the restaurant is still new, but the dining area is clean and nice - i hope it stays this way.
our server was attentive and nice - always a plus at restaurants and usually missing from asian restaurants. not here! so, thanks to our server ^_^
i've heard that this place gets really really crowded during dinner (i went during lunch, so there wasn't a line and we were served quickly); just fyi.

i'll have to go and try their sandwiches and bun next time ... soon! i can't wait~