I saw a friend on social media checking in at a Vietnamese restaurant in Luodong that serves raw beef pho, and it looked really delicious. I wasn't sure when I would get the chance to try it, but later I found out they have a location in Jiaoxi, so I decided to stop by.

I'm not very familiar with Vietnamese food, but I went with the mindset of giving it a try. They use a machine for self-service ordering, and besides raw beef pho, they also have dry rice noodles, French bread, appetizers, and more. The machine provides both text and images for reference, which I found very convenient, but it only accepts cash, which was a bit disappointing.

After some indecision, I ended up choosing the signature raw beef pho. The raw beef was quite tender, and it came with onions, cilantro, scallions, bean sprouts, and Thai basil among other herbs. There were quite a few condiments available on the table, and I later noticed they suggested adding fish sauce, lime juice, and pepper to enhance the flavor according to personal taste. The broth was quite smooth, and the rice noodles had a nice QQ texture, overall I liked it a lot.

My friend ordered the mixed beef pho, which included not only raw beef but also stewed beef and beef balls. The stewed beef tasted like braised brisket, and I found the beef balls to be better than I expected. This dish had a more diverse texture, but between the three options, I still think I preferred the raw beef pho the most.

The environment was pretty clean; there weren’t many tables, but it wasn’t overly crowded. There were parking spaces at the entrance, but finding a spot was a bit of a luck game. There are two parking lots nearby, and it took me less than five minutes to walk there, so parking was relatively convenient. Overall, I had a nice experience dining here, and I would like to try the dry rice noodles and Vietnamese bread next time.