Pho-tastic Vietnam Cuisine in Queens

PHO BAC (82-78 Broadway, Elmhurst, NY 11373, (718) 639-0000)

Staffed by a multitude of attentive and efficient waiters (all smartly turned out in black pants and Indochine-era starched white Oxford shirts), air-conditioned to a freezing chill, brimming with tantalizing aromas of briny fish sauce, pungent vinegar dressings and floral top notes (fresh basil, cilantro and mint leaves delivered to each table on heaping platters), PHO BAC is mere miles from the Manhattan Chinatown Vietnamese dross, but a distance of light years in both quality and authenticity. When in doubt - and whilst earning foodie credentials - always venture to Queens for the Real Thang!

Cafe Drake adored a lunchtime starter of Pho An Choi, or Heaven in a Soup Bowl as we like to nickname the signature first course. A thin but loud broth bursting with sweet spices (clove, cinnamon, star anise) comes packed to the brim with clear cellophane noodles, thin slices of broiled beef and tangy, spicy meatballs - all for $2.50! Wishing to switch out our starches, we followed up with an intriguing mixed platter entitled Com Tam Su-on Bi Cha ($5.95), a heaping mound of broken rice decorated with radish pickles, cucumber salad, a crab patty cake (akin in texture to cat food but profoundly redolent of the deepest seas), shredded pork and sliced pork chop - the latter having marinated for hours in hoisin and chile sauces, packing an incendiary yet sweet punch to the taste buds.

Unusual for us, we ventured to the dessert menu for the Avocado Milkshake ($3.50); the creamy froth arriving in an old-fashioned ice cream soda glass from the Roaring Twenties, and smooth and mild without forsaking the sweetness desired from a final course (so often the case we find with lightly sugared Asian sweets).