3591 N. Belt Line Road
Irving, TX 75062
Phone: 972-594-7259
Having lunch with the ‘rents sometimes tends to be a challenge, with mom’s healthy admonitions and cheap-date mentality constantly at odds with dad’s sometimes-adventurous-bordering-on-dangerous approach, and both totally contrasting to my “I’ll try anything once” gusto for food. Irving has become quite a mecca of different cuisines from Mexican and Indian, to Korean and Japanese, all vying for your dining dollars. But there are some cuisines that mom just doesn’t like, so that rules out some of my faves.
So, we set out for lunch looking for Korean, but eventually ended up at the Pho Republic. Situated in a North Irving stripmall anchored by a Tom Thumb grocery, Pho Republic’s clean and pretty digs makes it an approachable dining spot for all demographics. However, the restaurant just happened to be in the middle of a remodel, flushing out an unwanted guest, which fortunately came out at the end of lunch.
For appetizers, we had the spring rolls (which the parents raved about) and a plate of fried meatballs that I ordered. In truth, I didn’t expect to enjoy the shrimp spring rolls, but their emphasis on the shrimp and less on the stuffing made it a welcome appetizer. The fried meatballs however disappointed, as it was nothing like my favorite meatballs-on-a-stick which I order religiously order at Pho Que Huong. These meatballs were the bland, grey meaty balls that I normally order as extras with my soup. Oh well, I had a sweet ice drink to wash away the meatballs while I waited on the main course. It wasn’t as sweet as I liked, and come to think of it, the crushed ice came in chunks rather than fine shavings, but it got the job done. I might try the jackfruit drink next time.
Just as mom’s irritation about the slow food delivery was starting to manifest (two parties seated after us got their meals before us), the main courses arrived. Dad and I had our bowls of pho–he swears by the #19 while I ordered the meat-tripe-tendon combo #29. While my bowl of pho proved very meaty, there was something about the taste that was stronger than the plum sauce or hot chili sauce that I ladled in. Maybe the cilantro was too overpowering, or maybe my pho-senses were too tightly trained by Pho Que Huong’s. Either way, I just noticed that it was different. Mom got the vermicelli bowl with chargrilled pork. She compared it favorably to tocino, which is usually high-praise for any preparation of pork outside of Filipino cuisine. It was still a surprise for me to see her eat this dish (never having seen her eat Vietnamese before) but I guess that’s a testament to how tasty it was.
The service, except for the lag time in delivering our main meals, was good. Our drinks were always refilled, and the servers were patient and helpful, especially responsive about the hold up in the kitchen.
I remembered being at Pho Republic about 3 or 4 years ago, meeting there with my best friend to plan her wedding. The food was as nice then as it is today. She recalls that the Thai coffee was strong enough to keep her alert and on her toes.
I saw some Chinese dishes on the menu that I’d like to try the next time I’m out this way, among them, Yang Chou fried rice. Hopefully, the remodel will be complete by then, and that uninvited guest we saw during our exit won’t be around.
