The story below is from our September/October 2023 issue. For more stories like it, Subscribe Today. Thank you!
A Vietnamese family’s Roanoke restaurant legacy lives on with customizable bowls of rice noodle soup, superlative egg rolls and more.
John Park
Three years ago, Alyssa Tran didn’t know how to make pho. The traditional Vietnamese rice noodle soup was her mom’s domain, and Tran was happy to let her make it for their family. But as her mother got older, Tran decided she needed to learn, not only to preserve their family’s recipe, but to carry on her mom’s Roanoke restaurant legacy. “We would always cook at home, and everyone around Roanoke, the Asian community just loves her cooking. She always wanted another restaurant.” In January, Tran fulfilled her mom’s dream by opening It’s Pho Time in the Lamplighter Mall Shopping Center with a menu of customizable bowls of pho, superlative egg rolls and homey Vietnamese dishes.
John Park
Owner Alyssa Tran and her family
Although Tran’s mom, Lien Le, ran a Vietnamese restaurant called Nhu Y for seven years, Tran is quick to point out that It’s Pho Time isn’t as traditional. Instead of ordering composed bowls of pho by number, diners are presented with a paper menu and pen so they can check boxes to customize their bowls according to desired size, broth, meat, toppings and whether they want extra noodles. But the broth recipes are still mom-inspired and approved. Like many older generations of family cooks, Tran’s mom didn’t write down recipes or exact measurements. But the techniques she passed on informed Tran’s R&D when she developed her own signature broth: blanching both the bones and meat before simmering them, roasting the ginger and onions and toasting spices in a wok.
John Park
Beef pho, topped with sliced eye of round, brisket and Vietnamese meatballs.
At It’s Pho Time, the basic beef broth (served with sliced eye of round), features beef bones that simmer for at least 18 hours, amped up with star anise, cinnamon and cloves. If your protein choice includes beef shank, brisket or Vietnamese meatballs, those get cooked with the broth and double the flavor two-fold: the meat imparts a deeper, rounder beef flavor, and the broth infuses the meat with its aromatic qualities. (My go-to pairing is the tender, thinly sliced brisket with Vietnamese meatballs, which boast a pleasantly chewy texture.) Additional protein options include beef tendon, tripe, chicken or shrimp; on the broth front, there’s also chicken or vegetarian (which comes with vegetables and tofu). When it comes to garnishes, I recommend the works: cilantro, Thai basil, bean sprouts, jalapeños, lime and both green and sliced onions. For a couple bucks more, get the large size; like some other eateries in the Lamplighter Mall, the pho is served in takeout containers that are ideal for toting home leftovers.
The space is simplistic, but the wall décor is deeply personal: an assortment of plates Tran’s mom collected on return trips to Vietnam; a framed, hand-tiled mosaic family heirloom; a pair of nón lá (conical “leaf hats”); red lanterns printed with “It’s Pho Time” that Tran’s Vietnam-based siblings had custom-made. On one booth’s wall, there’s a map of Vietnam, with various cities highlighted, next to a cut-out in the shape of Virginia. “My mom is originally from Nham. I was born in Bà Rịa. I came [to the U.S.] when I was three, 32 years ago. My earliest memory is Roanoke,” Tran says. “We used to live in a place called Jamestown [Place] – the projects. We came here with really no money and were sponsored refugees.”
Tran says that It’s Pho Time caters to the broader Roanoke community more than an Asian clientele, which, inevitably, leads to discussions of authenticity. “A lot of people come in with expectation. They expect it exactly like ‘my mom’s,’” she says. “It doesn’t work out that way because your mom could be from south or north Vietnam or a different part of Vietnam from us. Some like it saltier and sweeter.”
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John Park
Báhn Xèo are pan-fried, savory Vietnamese crêpes.
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John Park
A bánh mì sandwich stuffed with homemade pâté, Vietnamese ham and veggies.
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John Park
But she’s noticed that on weekends, several Vietnamese-owned nail salons place large takeout orders for pho and weekend-only specials, like Bún bò Huế, a spicy, deeply savory beef noodle soup that’s offset by herbaceous lemongrass and garnished with purple cabbage and banana flowers. It comes with a side of homemade chili paste, which is worth asking for no matter what you order. Báhn Xèo is another sought-after special. Think of them as savory Vietnamese crêpes, pan-fried till crisp and filled with pork belly, shrimp, sauteed onions and blanched bean sprouts. The crêpes are accompanied by a medley of crunchy components, including romaine, cucumber slices and homemade pickled daikon and carrots.
Besides stopping in to It’s Pho Time for bowls of pho or to snag specials, the Vietnamese egg rolls are a must-order. “It took us a little while to come up with the recipe because it’s a lot of trial and error,” Tran says. “We’re used to making it for our family, not a couple hundred at a time. We hand-roll all of our egg rolls. My sister [Cindy] is a master eggroll roller.”
John Park
Lightly sweet Vietnamese iced coffee makes an ideal digestif.
The fried eggrolls arrive piping hot with a shatteringly crisp exterior and just-right filling ratio of meat-to-vegetables (or packed with all veggies). Rather than using pre-cut vegetables, Tran uses a mandoline to attain a uniform consistency, which she says makes for a superior bite. The appetizer section also includes excellent springrolls (go for the shrimp), which feature a fresh rice paper wrapper rather than a deep-fried one, and Tran’s mom’s signature savory-sweet peanutty hoisin dipping sauce.
If a bowl of brothy noodles isn’t your thing, you’ll find a solid bánh mì, where the Vietnamese sandwich comes stuffed with homemade pâté and your choice of meat (opt for chả lụa, aka Vietnamese ham, which has a texture akin to sausage), plus a flurry of fresh cilantro, cucumbers, jalapeños and pickled daikon and carrots. There are also rice or rice noodle dishes topped with either grilled glazed pork or chicken, flanked by a side of house sauce, a funky blend of fish sauce, peppers and sugar. There aren’t any desserts right now, but the Vietnamese iced coffee makes a great to-go digestif.
Tran is gradually adding more menu items and constantly tinkering with ways to improve the dining experience while working with staffing constraints. Still, she’s been floored by the outpouring of support, especially when Tran’s mother passed away a few months after the restaurant opened.
“When I went into this business, I didn’t think I would find family. But there are people that come back every week and people that actually come almost daily,” Tran says. It’s a testament to the warm hospitality she inherited from her mom and the comforting bowls of pho she serves, but it also emphasizes Tran’s choice of a restaurant name. “Our slogan is kind of like ‘lunchtime, dinnertime, anytime it’s pho time.’”
The story above is from our September/October 2023 issue. For more stories like it, Subscribe Today. Thank you!