Iowa Pho brings Vietnamese specialties, fusion of Asian flavors to Coralville Strip

CORALVILLE — When Tiffany Vo came to Iowa 12 years ago, she didn’t see much of her culture reflected on menus in Eastern Iowa.

With experience helping at her family’s restaurant growing up in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, the Iowa City resident decided to do something about it.

Since then, a few Vietnamese restaurants, pho shops and Asian fusions have popped up here and there in the Corridor. But Vo, who opened Iowa Pho on the Coralville Strip in October, hopes her food stands out from the rest.

“It’s my culture, and I know a lot about pho,” Vo said. “We were looking for a taste of Vietnam.”

The food

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With a moderate price point and table service, Vo’s first restaurant is doing brisk business serving tried and true recipes from both her family and her friends with successful restaurants in other regions around the country. Soon, her mother will be moving to Iowa to further infuse authenticity with her oversight.

The offerings on the two-page menu manage to serve a distinct duality. Vietnamese specialties have entire sections to themselves, but influences of other south Asian cuisines are in the amalgamations presented on each page.

“I want to have the Vietnamese and Asian food connected together,” said Vo, 34.

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While some other restaurants with pho seem to serve it as an afterthought to menus full of other popular cuisine, like sushi, Iowa Pho lives up to the name with a strong focus, while serving as the mouth of other tributaries, like Korean and Thai.

The 100 percent beef bone broth, a 10-hour endeavor, imbues a healthy array of spices — star anise, cinnamon, cloves, fennel seeds, coriander seeds and ginger — into a savory, brown-tinted soup base. But even in the broth’s quality, the real star of Iowa pho’s namesake is in its additions.

Aside from the meatballs and sliced tenderloin that are standard fare at pho restaurants, the well-edited soup selection offers the Pho To Tho, served bubbling in stoneware that further tenderizes a large chunk of brisket and ribs.

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At $28.95, it’s at least $10 more than the other options. But with high quality meat you can cut with a spoon, diners get their money’s worth.

“What you see is what you get,” Vo said.

Fresh daikon and vegetables are abundant across the menu and noteworthy in their presentation, from banh mi sandwiches to vermicelli served with well-seasoned grilled pork or chicken, and thick white noodles.

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The drinks

While there is no cocktail or beer menu at Iowa Pho, diners won’t be left thirsty.

A varied tea menu offers another spot to get boba in many fruit flavors and intriguing options like the Butterfly tea, which tastes a bit like taro milk tea. They also offer Vietnamese coffee and brown sugar coffee.

All drinks are available with rainbow jelly, crystal boba or black boba toppings.

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Comments: Features reporter Elijah Decious can be reached at (319) 398-8340 or elijah.decious@thegazette.com.