Pho Quyen: Fish Sauce Galore in Tampa, Florida

Phở Quyên
( Hillsborough )
8404 Hillsborough Ave.
Tampa, FL 33615
Tel: (813) 885-9424

I always like to have a good Vietnamese restaurant nearby. This is a universal desire of mine, carried across state and international lines: if I can't get my fish on in a timely fashion, I get all nervous. Thus I was thrilled when a Vietnamese restaurant opened a mere five minute drive from my grandparent's house in Tampa, and was even more pleased when I discovered Pho Quyen was uncommonly good. A few years later, the food is just as tasty and the service staff just as efficient, dishing up some of the more unusual Vietnamese specialities (Salted eels and frog legs, anyone?) to an appreciative and diverse crowd. I recommend it highly.



My first visit, I ordered my beloved papaya salad with pork and shrimp, with a fish sauce dressing. A very nice and fresh rendition, though it could have used a little more cilantro (Sez I). This is about the perfect hot weather meal when you're congenitally unable to eat anything involving pork grease or fried food, and those days happen a hell of a lot in Florida. (I am amazed people actually manage to be fat down there, but humanity is a fascinating and multi-faceted thing). Yeah, I love papaya salad to distraction.



I also scored with these pea greens, a weekly special. Pea greens are my favorite Chinese vegetable, with a flavor pleasantly in between spinach and bok-choy. These were prepared perfectly, with a lovely roasted-garlic flavor, and cooked just-long enough for maximal succulent crunchiness. Aces.



My grandmother and I returned for lunch a few days later. First up was the make-your-own-spring-roll plate, a tremendous $10.95 dollar platter full of a protein of your choice (lemongrass pork for us), vermicelli noodles, daikon and carrot, bean sprouts and other vegetable fixings, and plenty of rice paper wrappers. We ended up having enough left over for two more meals, and the pork had a nice, meaty lemongrass flavor. However, don't be fooled into believing you will roll pretty lovely spring rolls yourself. It is a lie. Your spring rolls will look like misshapen abominations before God, but at least they will taste pretty good. I don't know how the hell little old Vietnamese ladies manage to roll them up into delightfully symmetrical little packages, but it probably involves a chicken sacrifice ritual. Everything worth knowing involves sacrificing a chicken.



My grandmother tried the pho and deemed it mediocre, although she said it perked up considerably when she added various condiments to the shebang. I thought it tasted pretty good post-doctoring but cannot assess pre. Finding good pho is a mysterious art, and the really annoying thing is that good pho in the same restaurant as good entrees is well-night impossible. Hopefully I will be able to taste pho in Vietnam someday soon and thus be able to haughtily proclaim that I KNOW what pho ought to taste like and that is NOT IT to all who ask. Which they probably won't, but I hold out hope, I really do.


If you find yourself suffering a fish-sauce related attack of cold sweats, vapors, and ungodly pain fathomless to man in the West Hillsborough region of Tampa, direct thyself to Pho Quyen and order some Vietnamese stuff. You'll be much happier.

Cafe de Siam in Tampa: Papaya Salad and Family Tradition

Cafe De Siam
11242 W Hillsborough Ave, Tampa, FL
(813) 855-1108 ‎

Cafe de Siam is our family's go-to Thai place, located very close to my grandparent's home in Tampa. It's a small, family run place with a pleasingly interesting menu and a basic but comfortable dining room: I believe I have been eating there for at least 8 years, possibly longer. The owners know my grandparents and are always happy to see us - we like seeing them, too.



My grandmother and I started off with some spring rolls. These were pretty unusual, with a flour crepe-like wrapping instead of rice paper. To my surprise, the crepe treatment worked very well: the filling of egg, bean sprouts, crab, and pork was fresh and crunchy. I didn't quite grasp the squiggle of Chinese mustard down the side, but then again, I have never quite grasped the Chinese mustard concept. (It just doesn't go with stuff! What the hell do you use it on? What the hell is pink "duck sauce"? NO ONE EATS THAT IN CHINA GOD okay i'm finished)



Next move: Thai papaya salad (som tam) with shrimp and peanuts. I love green papaya salad to distraction. It's one of my favorite foods: crunchy, deliciously fresh green papaya, spicy-ass fish sauce dressing, crunchy peanuts, and shrimps, in one delightful combination. In Thailand, som tam is considered to combine the four primary tastes of Thai cuisine: sour lime, hot chili, salty fish sauce, and sweetness from sugar. I've been told you can buy this stuff on the street in Thailand and dictate how much you want of each element - wish we had that going on in the USA. Really authentic versions are made with brined crabs, small and delightfully funky - order them if you see them available, as they're rather rare in the USA. This was a particularly finely grated and delicate version, with a pleasing slow burn and a bunch of crunchy peanuts. Entirely successful.



A dish of seafood in spicy garlic sauce proved to be another success - the fresh, high quality seafood was a pleasant departure from the usual soggy out-of-the-bag seafood combos most Thai places serve up. The sauce had a pleasantly powerful preserved garlic flavor, and I especially liked the chunky snow crab legs, as most places use fake krab and call it a day with this dish.



Red vegetable curry with coconut milk wasn't as much to my taste - the vegetables were a little overcooked, and the sheer richness of the dish ain't really my deal. I'm much more interested in the snappy, fresh, explosion of fresh style Thai cooking, although light-handed coconut milk preparations do have their place.

No dessert for us, although my cousin's swear up and down by their sticky black rice dish. We took back a whole bunch of leftovers. I'm always glad to see this place when I come into Tampa.

Good Asian food acts as my anchor point, the proof positive I need that I can like and thrive in a place, without it I'm adrift and confused - I must have readily available papaya salad or the world goes pear shaped, I'm lost. I am going to have to settle in California or actually finally in Asia, but this is a price I am prepared to pay up.