Midtown Lunch

It’s been face-numbingly cold this week and as a result, foods that will help unfreeze said face sound really good all. I hadn’t checked back in with OBAO down on Water (at Hanover Sq.) since the Thai and Vietnamese food purveyor opened back in October. The menu has two noodle soups on it for $9 and I decided it was a good time to try the pho (the other option is a tom yum with shrimp). I’ll go into more detail after the jump, but it’s probably worth your time to walk up to Nicky’s Vietnamese Sandwiches at Nassau & Ann for your pho fix, or order online from Chinatown.

I’m not trying to be dramatic here: It’s not like you’re going to spit this pho out and go find something else to eat, but it’s not the best you’re going to find, even in the FiDi. The good news is they don’t skimp on the beef – there were at least six large slices that I dug out of the bottom of the container. The bad news is that even though it may have been rare at some point, it’s cooked to gray by the time you walk to your destination. Also, the rice noodles had congealed into a massive clump that was hard to dislodge from the paper takeout container they were in, but thankfully the blob turned back into separate strands once hitting the broth.

Basically, all of the pho elements were here, but the broth was the major downfall for me. It just didn’t have much beefy depth which I guess is to be expected for what is essentially a fast food Asian place. Doing this review made me realize I’ve never eaten the pho at Baoguette, although I would have a really hard time going there and not ordering the catfish banh mi. Has anyone out there found a good source of pho in the Financial District, or does it not exist?

OBAO, 38 Water St. (at Hanover Sq.), (212) 361-6311