Four Guys Pho, Casselberry - Closed

I tried this new (one week) Vietnamese restaurant on 436 yesterday at lunch. It used to be a Greek place. I grabbed a 1 item (sliced beef eye round) pho for $8.75 and an order of summer rolls (2) for $3.75 to go. They are offering a limited time 15% grand opening discount, so, they were less. The rolls were fine. I've never had a shrimp with any flavor in one of those. Still haven't. The peanut dipping sauce was very dark and thick. The beef in the pho was medium rare as advertised. Alot and of a good quality. Very lean. The noodles were plentiful. A little over cooked and spongy. Not freshly cooked. Cold. The veg was fresh. I didn't add the jalapenos or basil or black sauce (is that duck sauce or tamarind or neither?). The beef broth was light and sweet. I discovered a way to eat this thing. You take a slice of meat in your mouth and chew and then take a spoon of broth and repeat until the meat is chewed up enough to swallow. I have found it hard to eat this dish as a whole. It's always - let's chopstick some meat or noodles or veg - now let's put those down and pick up the spoon and sip some broth. It's really difficult to get those solids to not flip off the spoon. I left the noodles out and ate them with the left over (diluted with water) peanut dip later in the day. They also have brisket, tendon, meat balls and tripe as add ins to the pho. Plus a lemongrass beef soup, wonton soup, chicken noodle soup and "Vietnamese" chicken noodle and egg (Mi) noodle soup that you can add pork, shrimp, wontons or squid to. The menu is standard. Some Asian cross over. Rice vermicelli bowls, spring rolls, rice platters, etc. A surprise was clay pot dishes. Pricing is in line. The place looks like I remembered it. They painted and added some decoration (Vietnamese field hats, posters, paintings). It was clean. It seats about forty. There were three tables seated (all women) while I was there. Service was lickity split. Would you believe my home town had an ice cream place named that? Not pho-nomenal, but, not pho-geddaboutit. Better than average. I'd go back. They seem to be trying to impress.