There's a new pho restaurant on Curry Ford Road. It's called Pho Curry Ford. I'm wondering if the name might be a bit confusing to people not from these parts. They might think the restaurant is part Vietnamese and part Indian, so you can have the beef noodle soup or maybe a curry dish.
Maybe not.
Pho Curry Ford occupies the freestanding building at 3334 Curry Ford Road that has been a number of restaurants over the years. It was Spanish — real Spanish, not Cuban — back in the late '80s. Most recently it was Regional Grill & Bayou. It was a Thai restaurant for a short time, but those owners never thought to call it Curry Curry Ford.
Pho Curry Ford doesn't offer anything unusual from the myriad other Vietnamese restaurants specializing in the traditional soups other than to offer freshness and flavor. I did appreciate the grilled pork roll, a variation of and welcome alternative to the omnipresent shrimp roll. The coolness of the roll with the sweet spice of the peanut dipping sauce was pleasant.
I couldn't decide which of the meats I wanted to be featured in my pho, so I chose option #36, which essentially got me all of them: eye round steak, fatty brisket, flank, soft tendon, tripe and meatballs. Very little tripe in there, but the others were well represented. The broth was sufficiently beefy, the noodles long and al dente, and the accouterments of fresh basil leaves, crispy mung bean sprouts, devilishly hot jalapeno slices and lime wedges were nice additions.
Service was OK — I think the three-week-old business is still finding its way. The space is tidy and pleasant enough.
Pho Curry Ford is at 3334 Curry Ford Road, Orlando. It is open for lunch and dinner daily. There is no website. My fully loaded pho was $8.95, the pork rolls $3.50. The phone number is 407-930-6267.
