Columbus Square is becoming the Northeast Side's Kenny Centre, what with its 4+ Asian restaurants (including the already-reviewed Mi Mi Cafe). After reading about 5 Star Asian Cuisine and its page of pho dishes, I knew it was time to drag Husband on another lunch excursion. Fortunately, Husband was suffering mightily from a cold, and I knew some hot pho would be just the thing.
Here's a side note for those who haven't had the pleasure of pho: pho (pronounce feu, or fah, depending on who you ask, but I like to go with the first, similar to the French feu for smoke, since that is how we are instructed to pronounce it in one of my favorite cookbooks, Hot Sour Salty Sweet
So let's commence, shall we? 5 Star Asian is housed in a free standing building in the Columbus Square shopping center (NE corner of Cleveland Ave. and 161; the restaurant actually faces 161); Husband and I couldn't recall what had been in the space previously, but the architecture suggests another Asian Restaurant. The interior is typically "fine dining" Chinese with ornate gilded ceilings set into the office-style dropped ceiling - I'm not poking fun here, I love this combination of functional and over the top aestheticism. The tables feature tablecloths and goblet style water glasses. They have 2 menus, one for Chinese offerings and one for Vietnamese and Thai dishes.
We started off with an order of Vietnamese Spring rolls, which contain rice noodles, pork, shrimp and herbs and are wrapped in a steamed rice wrapper - much healthier than the fried Chinese alternative. The rolls were served along with a nice dish of sweet, peanutty nuoc cham for dipping:
Husband and I both chose pho dishes, although I didn't write down their entire names, and I have only included a picture of one because they look very similar. I opted for the pho with shaved flank steak and meatballs, which reminded me of the hot dogs our butcher used to make for us when I was growing up and we would have a cow slaughtered - a rather coarse texture with a meaty flavor. The broth was rich and satisfying, slightly spicy after a good dose of sriracha (Thai chili sauce), sour after a few good squeezes of lemon, and crunchy with bean sprouts. Husband, being the kind of man he is, chose the pho which featured tripe (cow's stomach) and beef tendon. He felt this was the best tripe he's ever had, which, all things being equal, I'm not sure is a compliment or not. I wasn't brave enough to try it, as I have had tripe and found the texture left a little to be desired. I did, however, try my first beef tendon, which has been cooked down and isn't the chewy bit of connective tissue I have envisioned, but was rather like a soft gummy bear (Husband gets credit for that analogy), only meat flavored:
The requisite plate of condiments was included, along with an herb I have never had before (to my knowledge), culantro (koo-Lahn-tro). Culantro is a long, spiky leaf (it's in the center of the picture, stem ends up) with a pungent aroma of mint and citrus. Although the website where I looked it up compares it to cilantro, they don't really compare to me. Our server said it was a variety of mint, and explained that many restaurants serve cilantro in its place because it is cheaper, but that Vietnamese much prefer culantro, but it is expensive. I felt compelled to eat it all, and it was very tasty. It really complimented the spiciness of the dish:
We also ordered pickle lemonade, made with salt-pickled lemons; not my favorite drink, even though I love salt. It reminded me of this electrolyte drink my sister used to make after visiting her best friend in Costa Rica when we were young - all salt and not enough sugar. I guess this is an acquired taste.
From the Chinese menu, I ordered the Sichuan string beans, just so that we could have some veggies along with lunch. They were very good - not too spicy, and cooked just right. I forgot to photograph them, however, so you'll just have to imagine how good they are.
The only think I didn't really care for at 5 Star Asian was their steamed rice. It might seem like a petty complaint, but after eating in so many Japanese restaurants, where steamed rice is prized and harshly judged, the version at 5 Star seemed like instant Uncle Ben's.
Service was very friendly, knowledgeable, and helpful.
Info: 5 Star Asian Cuisine 2680 E. Dublin-Granville Road (Northeast Side) 614.818.4444
