On a cold Saturday night in January (remember those?), the line outside Kang Ho Dong Baekjeong in Buena Park was about an hour longer than I could tolerate. That’s how I discovered Súp Noodle Bar, a few doors down.
Súp, pronounced “soup,” is mostly a Vietnamese pho shop. It’s an homage to the chef/owner’s late uncle, who operated a pho house in the 1960s.
Although there is no shortage of great pho in Little Saigon, this might be the best pho in Buena Park and North County, at least as far as the beef broth goes. The beef pho in its various renditions here is fantastic. My favorite is the one made with beef ribs. The meaty ribs hang out of the bowl like something Wilma Flintstone might have served. The bones are so big and heavy I’m afraid that if I pick up one of the bones to chew on it, the remaining bone might cause the bowl to tilt and spill.
They make chicken pho, too. But it’s made with beef broth, not chicken broth, so if you’re a fan of the awesome chicken pho at Hien Thanh, for example, you’ll probably want to stick with beef here.
What might be even better than the pho, though, is the lomo saltado. This is basically a Peruvian poutine, which seems randomly out of place in a Vietnamese noodle shop. The randomness turns out to be a very good thing indeed. They actually serve several french fry dishes, but the fries for this one appear to be made from scratch — as opposed to the unmistakably frozen skinny fries used in others. The thick-cut fries are topped with charred onions, cherry tomatoes and Peruvian green chili sauce, plus a choice of meat. I tried it with the stir-fried short rib, which is cut into thick meaty chunks, like steak, and proved to be excellent.
All in all, this is a charming Vietnamese noodle shop, with Peruvian fries on the side.
Contact the writer: bajohnson@ocregister.com or Instagram @bradajohnson
