Best PHO in Metro New Orleans

In recognition of my 5000 post I'm gonna rank my top 5 place to eat pho. Now I'm not claiming to be a pho maven by any means, I'm just a junkie who has 2-3 bowl a week habit.

5. Frosty's Cafe- Good broth, good noodles, and ok meats. I like that they include those little friend onion pieces in the soup and that it's served with cilantro. Pretty small place with only a few tables but I never seem to have trouble getting a table. Very nice people who own and operate this Metairie spot.

4. Magasin- Good broth and noodles. Great meats although they can be a lil skimpy. Biggest con about this place is it's stupid hours. You would think a place thats always pack would open more hours. I would love to stop by on my way home from work and pick up a to go order but I can't because they close after lunch and reopen at 6. I'll call in an order right at 6 go pick it up and its already a complete cluster frick in there. PITA just to pick up a to go order. They do however do a really good job of packaging the pho to go. Best I've seen anywhere.

3. Tan Dinh- Really good broth, meh noodles, and a good portion of delicious meats. Does anyone know why their broth is so yellow ? The best thing about this place is the hours. They open up at 9 am even on Sundays. They are my go to spot for early morning hangover relief. Only con is the service can suck and it's on the west bank. Really looking forward to them opening up shop on Maple St. I hope they have the same early morning hours.

2. Lilly's Cafe- Awesome. Great large bowls of deliciousness. Small quite place on the busy Magazine strip. No cons with this place although I wish they were open on Sundays. I refuse to work on Sundays so I understand. They also have a really good spicy shrimp version.

1. Kim Ahn's- Broth so good you don't want to put anything else in it. Best noodles of any place I've been and very good meats. They've made some changes, bowls have gotten smaller, prices have gone up a little, but they still can't keep me out the place. It's been my pleasure of paying for their kids college. Their hours suck and they are not open on weekends, but this doesn't really bother me since I'm no where near Harahan on the weekends. I think they might have these limit hours because of the murders but I'll never ask. If you don't know about it google kim ahn murders. It was even on one of those crime TV shows.

So go ahead and agree to disagree. I know not all of us like the flavor blue.

kim anh's broth tastes different to me every time. its weird. its stil good though

nice write-up Wise. I haven't been to Frosty's but the rest of your list is spot-on with my opinion of Nola pho. I'd rank my top 5 thusly:

5. Ba Mien: best standard pho broth I've had so far but the meat quality was lacking

4. Kim Ahn's: all around just a solid bowl of pho. the noodles are great and the broth is different .. has a more of a star anise/clove flavor than most places.

3. Lilly's: spicy shrimp pho.. holy balls is that good

2. Magasin: has the freshest, herb-flavored broth I've found. meat quality is the best in the city, IMO.

1. Tan Dinh: the broth in the more exotic pho dishes is rich and luscious and utterly delicious. Meats have deep flavor, vegetables are so fresh they taste like they were picked from the garden that day and everything is well-cooked has a great balance of flavors. Good service and the rest of the menu is baller.

*honorable mention: Pho Orchid, Pho Tau Bay

Our favorite pho is Pho Bang in NOLA East.

I've only eaten Pho on the westbank so I can't comment on any of the other ones. But I like Pho Bang and Pho Tau Bay.

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i like the shrimp also. the beef is very hit or miss for me

the pho nam (brisket) is much tastier to me

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Does Nola have anything like the Eden Center we have here, an enormous Vietnamese strip mall.

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There is a strip-mall complex on the Westbank in an old Walmart that has several stores and a full on grocery, and there are several other smaller groupings of businesses at other parts of the Westbank and out in NO East as well. I wouldn't say that any of them are as large or seemingly organized as the Eden Center website makes them out to be.

Pho Bang would be 6 if I made a top 10 with Pho Orchid rounding out the top 10. Pho Bang is a good early morning alternative to Tan Dinh. Pho Tau Bay good restaurant but I don't care for the pho. Ba Mein only place mentioned that I haven't been to but I will try them soon.

No I've only been to the Kennairie and West Bank locations.