Pho Green Papaya recently opened in West Valley City, on 3500 South between Redwood Road and the I-215. I talked to the owner’s daughter, who said the family had come from the Bay Area to do business in Utah. The building, which previously housed a questionable Mexican restaurant (I once left there before ordering because of their bad chips and salsa) is an open structure of dark heavy beams and lots of windows. The new restaurant has updated the interior nicely new tables, booths, and lights, keeping a rich red and dark brown color scheme. Lunch combos are served in red and black bento boxes, soup is in white china bowls, and water is poured in pleasingly huge glass mugs.

I am excited about this restaurant. The menu is medium-sized (not huge like some Asian restaurants) and incorporates Vietnamese and Thai dishes, including quite a few things I haven’t seen elsewhere in Salt Lake. There are lots of things I want to try, but today was all about the pho, which is as good as any I have had. I ordered a large bowl with flank, brisket, fatty brisket, rare beef and tripe. The broth was very clear, flavorful, and more subtly spiced than some (someone finally told me hat’s allspice in the broth) The different kinds of meat had distinct textures and flavors, but were all tender and incorporated well with the noodles (sometimes the meat floats on the top of the soup, while the noodles lurk beneath the surface in a huge ball). I’m not a big fan of tripe, but it seems like a basic part of this soup, so I included it. The tripe at Pho Green Papaya was distinctively clean tasting, adding a chewiness to the soft noodles and cooked beef. After I added the bean sprouts, basil, saw-leaf herb (this stuff is really good and hard to find) sliced jalapenos, siracha and hoisin sauce, and squeezed lime over the whole affair, the soup was ready to eat. As I worked through the bowl, the flavors mingled, and the broth got darker and spicier. The plentiful meat and vegetables lasted nearly until the last bite. This was good pho.