I Love Pho, Vietnamese Inside the Super Best Grocery Store in Laurel

[Shaho]

I have a bit of an obsession with restaurants inside of grocery stores, mainly due to the convenience of being able to get food and groceries in one trip. I first tried I Love Pho (stylized with a heart emoji), inside the Laurel Super Best, for this reason. After many takeout meals from here, however, I feel strongly that their Bun Thit Nuong is worth a trip on its own. The grilled pork is fantastic every time, nicely charred but still tender and flavorful even after the trip home. Rounding out the dish are the usual vermicelli, lettuce, sprouts, Thai basil, cucumber, carrots, radish, peanuts, and a solid nuoc cham. All of the elements blend together wonderfully (chewy, crunchy, sweet, sour, caramelized, smoky), but all highlighting the meat as the star of the dish.

The rest of the menu ranges from slightly below average to solid. The rice that came with the grilled pork chop entree was so bad the one time I tried it (dry and stale) that I've been put off from ordering any of their other rice dishes since. The pork chop itself was good, however, and they also do a pretty good Bun Bo Hue (spicy beef noodles) and Bo Kho (vietnamese beef stew). The Pho itself was not great, but in fairness I was pretty sick that day and the soup didn't stay hot on the way home in cold weather. I'm curious whether the soup dishes are improved much by dining in.

Prices are in the $8-10 range for entrees. They also do banh mi, spring/summer rolls, and bubble tea.

[nelumbo]

I believe this has now been replaced with a small taco shop, Taqueria El Costeño, still in the back of the Super Best.