Last night I tried a new East Atlanta restaurant, So Ba. Over the last week, I kept hearing and reading friends use the phrase “Pho in East Atlanta…,” almost under breath like it was a coded message from “1984″, or perhaps a Little Rascals secret handshake.
Seems the place opened quietly about three weeks ago, according to the waiter. They haven’t even had the grand opening yet, and the place was packed. Everyone appeared quite pleased with their meals as I walked to our table. The little girl waving a hand at her gaping mouth in a vain attempt to cool it was a good sign.
I had what has become, in the restaurant’s short three weeks, a signature dish: Vietnamese Fried Rice with Marinated Cubed Filet Mignon. (I would have written the dish name in Vietnamese, but I don’t have 30 minutes to find the right keystrokes for all those characters.) Not sure I remember ever having such tasty, tender, smoky beef. With the somewhat salty, savory fried rice and a bit of Sriracha hot sauce, it was spot on.
My dad and his wife both had versions of Pho, the traditional Vietnamese soup. They’ve traveled in Vietnam and said the Pho at So Ba was probably better than what they had there. Or Buford Highway.
We all did note that the dishes as served seemed a bit toned down in heat–or whited down, as my brother and I like to say (normally used in reference to the “safe,” bland Mexican piles of mush served to honkies at places like El Azteca). Luckily condiments and jalapeños helped bring it up.
I’m no food reviewer; I know what I like and what I don’t. So Ba will be one of those places where I’ll go too often at first until I make myself sick of it (like I did with Holy Taco), then a normal-person pattern of every couple of weeks will settle in. All in a great place and I’m glad it’s there.
I’m sure I’ll be craving it this time next week, as I tear open another instant REI meal outside a tent in Haiti.
