Phő Nomenal Vietnamese Noodle House
7504 N. May Ave.Oklahoma City, OK
(405) 608-4151
Pho Nomenal Vietnamese Noodle House is aware of the fact that many people in northwest
Oklahoma City like to eat Vietnamese soup and noodles, but it is not always convenient to
travel to Classen Boulevard where the majority of pho restaurants are located. Pho Nomenal
is a little more expensive than most of the Vietnamese restaurants in the Asian District, but
not when the extra gas and travel expenses are factored in. I am one of the ones who benefit
from having Pho Nomenal closer to me than the Asian District restaurants, and I am very glad
it has opened.
Pho Nomenal is located next door to a Japanese restaurant on May Avenue south of
Wilshire, and the two restaurants are connected by what seems to be a common kitchen (and
I have heard the two restaurants have the same owner). Both of these restaurants have upscale
interior, and seem to be following the trend of most Asian restaurants that have opened
recently to have a nicer decor and to be somewhat more expensive than the small neighborhood
"hole in the wall" restaurants. In the case of Pho Nomenal I found the high prices to be mainly
on the drinks rather than the food. Regardless of how they do it, though, I end up having to pay
more than in the typical Asian District restaurant.
Many consider Pho Nomenal to be the first pho restaurant in far northwest Oklahoma City, but
I have actually been ordering pho at Kim Wah, about a mile to the north on May Aveune, for quite
some time. Kim Wah has a giant Chinese buffet so their Vietnamese food tends to get overlooked,
but my feeling is that it is probably better than Pho Nomenal (although this is relative, since both are
very good). The problem with Kim Wah is that they only sell one kind of pho, while Pho Nomanal
has a large variety of beef and chicken soup, as well as rice and bun noodle dishes (although
Kim Wah also has several varieties of bun).
When I visited Pho Nomenal for the first time I took advantage of the fact that it serves soup
other than beef by getting the Hu Tieu Ga (chicken and rice noodle soup). This is in addition
to the chicken soup with egg noodles, and other types of meat that are served in a chicken broth.
This soup was not bad compared to other Vietnamese chicken soups I have tried. I did not consider
it to have a rich flavor, but it had a good one. The vegetables were fresh, and the seasonings were
good.
The best feature of the soup was the quality of the chicken, which tasted fresh and had a good
flavor. I will say that this chicken was better than the one I sampled at Pho Hoa in the Asian
District (which I consider to be the city's best pho restaurant), although the broth tasted better at
Pho Hoa. It seems that at most Asian restaurants that serve noodle soup I have to judge the
different components separately, and as a rule no restaurant excels in all of them. At Pho
Nomenal the best part of the soup seems to be the meat they use.
Missing from my order was a garnish of Thai basil that I have found to be normally served with
Vietnamese soup, although it looked as if there was a little bit in the soup. In any case, the fact that
Kim Wah always includes a large amount of fresh leaves to put into the soup would make it my
preference. I plan to make more visits to Pho Nomenal, and perhaps I will have something
different to report when I order other types of soup.
I would consider Pho Nomenal a decent pho restaurant even if it were located in the Asian
district, but for northwest Oklahoma City it is certainly something well worth trying.
Chicken & rice noodle soup
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RESTAURANT DETAILS
RATING: 21
Cuisine: Vietnamese
Cost: $$
Hours: Open Daily
Accessible: Yes
Tea: Jasmine (bags)
MSG: Yes
Smoking: No Smoking
Alcohol: No
Buffet: No
Most Recent Visit
Mar. 26, 2009
Number of Visits: 1
Best Item
Rice Noodle Soup
Special Ratings
Chicken & Rice Noodle Soup:
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