Pho King at the 5th Street Market is not reminiscent of traditional Pho restaurants. A casino-style TV behind the bar and spacious dining room offers a modern environment for traditional Vietnamese cuisine.

Owner Ha Nguyen’s family has been in the restaurant business for decades. The Nguyen family owned the now-closed Vietnamese restaurant, Saigon, from 2001 to 2013.

Inside, old photos of three generations of the Nguyen family bring the restaurant authenticity. So while there is a modern feel inside, Pho King’s menu is rooted in family tradition.

“We have a lot of family history in the food industry,” Ha said. “It touches my heart to know that I came from that.”

While she said working with family can be difficult, her family history in restaurants drives Ha to continue creating authentic Vietnamese dining.

“My dad was a really good cook. I moved back from Seattle to help him run [Saigon],” Ha said.

Ha drew inspiration from her dad’s cooking for the menu at Pho King. “I learned a lot through my dad,” Ha said. “A lot of his recipes are in the recipes that we have. I’ve modified them a little bit for the Eugene palate.”

Ha believes that the longer pho is cooked, the better it tastes. Pho is bone broth usually cooked for at least a day, but Ha prefers it after a full forty-eight hours.

“You actually let all the ingredients that we use marry in and it becomes a very rich flavored broth,” Ha said.

But what’s just as important as the herbs and ingredients used in the Pho, is what Ha casually refers to as “TLC” (tender love and care).

For Ha, plating reflects the care for Pho. Most of the staff are family or close friends. Ha’s husband cooks in the back, her mother prepares vegetables and her son bartends, so family is a big part of Ha’s craft.

When coming up with a name, Ha thought Pho King applied and was funny.

What Ha had seen in Vietnamese restaurants around town led her to open up an aesthetically pleasing space. “Most of the Vietnamese restaurants are kinda dark in this town,” Ha said.

Inside Pho King, the lights are often turned brighter, and EDM music fills the large dining room. Noodle houses rarely play music in the first place, but Pho King’s choice to play “Faded” by Zhu certainly stands out.

At the front of the house is the bar, captained by Ha’s son Kahlil. Pho King offers a cultural spin on classic cocktails. Kahlil fuses Asian ingredients with classic drinks. After serving in the Air Force for six years, Kahlil loves learning as a new bartender.

“I kinda just sat down and looked at what we had, and thought of how we can make it ours,” Kahlil said. “Little ingredients like cinnamon sticks make it different from the classics.”

One unique cocktail is Pho King’s Jade Cooler. Kahlil’s favorite drink is his spin on an Irish Maid cocktail. The whiskey cocktail contains lemon juice, cucumber and Irish Whiskey. Kahlil’s version adds muddled mint, giving the cocktail a smoother sensation.

The minty twist to a whiskey drink offers a cool pairing with a warm bowl of Vietnamese comfort food.

Whether you’re craving comfort food or trying something new, the Nguyen family will provide lots of tender love and care to their ingredients and recipes. Good food and a close family staff are strengths that hopefully lead Pho King to years of success.

The post Eugene’s new Pho restaurant is really ‘Pho King’ good appeared first on Daily Emerald.

The ASUO Street Faire has come and gone, and hopefully, you found something new that you want to check out around town. The faire is a great opportunity to discover a restaurant that’s local to Eugene.

This guide will help you if you’re looking for a new spot for pastries, barbecue and even kombucha.

Crema & Bloom bakery

You might have missed Crema and Bloom’s tent at the Street Faire, given that it was set up closer to Allen and the far end near the EMU.

Crema and Bloom is located on Marcola Road in Springfield. Crema and Bloom’s sister company, Sugarmama’s Baking, bakes traditional goods but specializes in kolaches. The kolaches are available at Crema and Bloom.

Originating in the Czech Republic, kolaches can be savory or sweet. Kolaches are a yeast dough recipe and contain different meat or fruit fillings. The sweet kolaches can be bought at Crema and Bloom for $36 for a dozen and $18 for a half dozen. Dozens of the savory will be $54, with half dozens priced at $30.

“The savory ones are basically like pocket sandwiches,” stand representative Anna Hanson said. “There’s bacon, sausage, brisket, and chicken as the options; and the sweet ones, there’s a merry berry, lemon, and apricot.”

The chicken kolache was my personal favorite. The ingredients wrapped in a single piece of folded yeast make it easy to eat on the go. You can’t go wrong with the fruit pastries either, which will pair better with coffee at Crema and Bloom.

Homemade Fried Bread
If you venture down the concourse at Autzen Stadium to the food trucks and vendors, you’ll run into UO alumni Katie Brown’s family-owned stand.

Homemade Fried Bread is known for its “elephant ears” family recipe. ”We make our dough from scratch,” Brown said. “Some elephant ears booths will cook it all ahead and put it under a light, we make it when you order it and top it in front of you.”

Funnel cakes and corn dogs from Homemade Fried Bread are a fun alternative if the Autzen dog isn’t doing it for you, or if you just want to skip the long lines at the student section concession stands.

The Bold Flavor

Eugene has a few good barbecue spots, with restaurants like Bill & Tim’s and Hole in the Wall BBQ being popular for catered events.

The Bold Flavor brings a Créole twist to barbecue classics. Owner Johnny Jean Louis said he is passionate about bringing Haitian influence to the brisket, the kitchen’s benchmark.

“We are a slow process, how you cook our food,” Jean Louis said. The Bold Flavor uses a Haitian paste, called the epis, to marinate the brisket.

The Bold Flavor can be found at the Eugene Saturday market, which offers live music, food carts and local handmade goods. Grabbing a serving of brisket while listening to a local band is a must-try for a fall Saturday.

BNF Kombucha

If you’re looking for a way to kick-start a new health regimen, look no further than BNF Kombucha. BNF has been in town for ten years and is Eugene’s exclusive taproom.

BNF is sold at the Eugene farmers market, as well as in grocery stores like Whole Foods and Market of Choice.

I sampled the Raspberry Reishi, which is a whole lot lighter than traditional kombucha. “The [Raspberry Reishi] is actually a Jun, so it’s sweetened and fermented with honey, rather than organic cane sugar,” Troy Keys, retail manager at BNF, said.

BNF also has three flavors of a unique energy kombucha made with a Mate base and extract. Keys says the energy kombucha is a good alternative to energy drinks.

If you’ve never tried kombucha before, go for a Jun, which is often called kombucha’s classier cousin. It’s less bitter,as it’s made with green tea and honey instead of black tea and cane sugar.

There are tons of great local spots around Eugene for all different palates. But if you need somewhere to start, these are solid places to check out.

The Ducks joining a new conference means many new fans from across the country will visit Eugene. For those visiting for the first time, here are some of the best spots to grab a meal in Track Town U.S.A.

McMenamins East 19th Street Cafe

McMenamins is an Oregon-based brewpub chain with three locations across Eugene. With locations on High Street, Club Road and East 19th Avenue, McMenamins has been operating in Eugene for forty years.

McMenamins district manager Jamie Dundon cites how the conference realignment may pose challenges.

“We’re trying to figure out how [new teams] travel,” Dundon said. “For instance, we’d always know that Stanford travels well, or Washington travels well.”

Dundon said that the East 19th Avenue location is well-equipped to welcome larger crowds on game days.

McMenamins is one of the oldest establishments for pubs and breweries in Oregon. The High Street location is the oldest brewpub in Eugene, having operated since 1988.

When asked what item visitors should try, Dundon said McMenamins’ cajun tots are what it is known for.

Rennie’s Landing

Located steps from campus on Kincaid Street, Rennie’s Landing is a Eugene staple.

Being the closest bar to Autzen stadium, Rennie’s is a convenient spot to grab a drink and eat before walking across the Willamette River.

Jasmine Gilmore has been bartending for two and a half years at Rennie’s. Rennie’s opened in 1981, and Gilmore said that the tradition of Rennie’s is what makes for a fun atmosphere on game day.

“All of our events definitely draw people in,” Gilmore said. Rennie’s has a bar on both its two stories and an outdoor patio open from 10 a.m. to 2 a.m. every day.

“You gotta go for the classic Rennie’s lemonade, that is our house cocktail classic,” Gilmore said. “On tap, we’re always going to have Hop Valley Bubble Stash, and it’s made just two miles down the road.”

The Bier Stein

The Bier Stein is a restaurant and bottle shop located on Willamette Street.

During this football season, Bier Stein is partnering with Ninkasi, a microbrewery based in Eugene. On game days this season, food specials will be one hour before the game and one hour after the game. Fans can also get five-dollar pints of Ninkasi Gold all day long.

Ali Hudnall is the front-of-house manager and events coordinator at The Bier Stein. Hudnall says there are a variety of beers to try at The Bier Stein.

“Ninkasi and Hop Valley, you can kinda find those beers all over,” Hudnall said. “I really love Gratitude, they’re super small, by campus, [and] they don’t ever make the same beer twice.”

If you’re in Eugene this fall, especially on gameday, check out these restaurants and bars for the full Eugene dining experience.