Pho Grand’s Pork Chop Pho, One of Our 100 Favorite Dishes


No. 52: Pork chop pho from Pho Grand

It’s surprisingly difficult to find decent pho in this city, though a small handful of spots do it right. And one of the best is Pho Grand, a grubby joint on Grand Street in Chinatown that slings a sizable menu of soups in addition to a tome-like list of other Vietnamese entrees. We barely glance at the menu, though, instead making a quick order of the pork chop pho with $1 of extra steamed veggies. Moments later, we’re bestowed with a bowl of stretchy noodles and crisp cabbage and carrots swimming in a beef broth steeped with, we presume, the remnants of broths gone before it in a well-seasoned pot, which add complexity and savory depth. We punch it up with fiery chile sauce and fresh bean sprouts and basil. And while you can add your chop directly to the soup, we prefer to nibble the pork from the bone as if it were a side, savoring the chewy meat encased in a caramelized crust imbued with char from the grill.


No. 100: Taqueria Lower East Side’s carnitas
No. 99: Tartine’s steamed mussels
No. 98: Malu’s Cookie Monster ice cream
No. 97: Coppelia’s Havana salad
No. 96: Falansai’s clay pot catfish
No. 95: Uncle Boons’ Khao Soi Kaa Kai
No. 94: ABC Cocina’s salted caramel “impossible” flan
No. 93: Shu Jiao Fu Zhou Cuisine’s peanut noodles
No. 92: Distilled’s country-fried duck and waffles
No. 91: Calliope’s octopus salad
No. 90: Charlie Bird’s diver scallop crudo
No. 89: Silver Moon Bakery’s fig and pepper bread
No. 87: Manzanilla’s Marbella’s Full Moon
No. 86: Bia’s Cary Ga
No. 85: La Newyorkina’s pineapple jalapeño paleta
No. 84: Empellón Taqueria’s skirt steak tacos
No. 83: Sugar Sweet Sunshine’s pistachio cupcake
No. 82: El Chivito d’Oro’s skirt steak
No. 81: Saro Bistro’s satarash
No. 80: Oda House’s adjaruli khatchapuri
No. 79: Hill Country Chicken’s pie milkshake
No. 78: Fletcher’s Brooklyn Barbecue’s chili mac
No. 77: The Musket Room’s steak and cheese pie
No. 76: Battery Harris’ Baked Patties
No. 75: Legend’s Dan Dan Noodles
No. 74: Pure Thai’s Nakorn-Patom duck noodles soup
No. 73: Melt Bakery’s Morticia
No. 72: Calexico’s Baja Fish Taco
No. 71: Sushi Dojo’s Omakase
No. 70: Bear’s smoked whitefish
No. 69: Locanda Verde’s corn ravioli
No. 68: Ghenet’s Ghenet Combination
No. 67: Ample Hills Creamery’s ice cream
No. 66: Burger & Barrel’s Burger
No. 65: Radegast’s Munich pretzel
No. 64: Mighty Quinn’s Burnt End Baked Beans
No. 63: Cho Dang Gol’s spicy galbi jjim
No. 62: Tacos Mexico’s chorizo taco
No. 61: Pork Slope’s loaded nachos
No. 60: Pine Box Rock Shop’s bloody mary
No. 59: Franny’s antipasto plate
No. 58: Num Pang’s curry red lentil soup
No. 57: Khe-Yo’s Jurgielewicz duck salad
No. 56: Dough’s doughnut (any doughnut)
No. 55: King Noodle’s ma po tofu fries
No. 54: Terri’s green power smoothie
No. 53: Estela’s beef tartare

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