Egg Roll #1

Egg Roll #1 has been on my list For-EVER. So I finally got motivated to go. I was in the mood for pho, heard theirs was good and convinced the BFF to check it out with me. It’s a bit of a hike for me, but I am always willing to travel for a food adventure.

The first thing that sort of surprised me was how sort of new the place looked. It was much larger and more modern than the sort of dive spot I was imagining. When you walk in, there’s a large counter where you order. I appreciate the large pictures to the right of the register of most of the menu items as well in case you aren’t sure what they all are. They do a lot of different stuff—Thai, Vietnamese and Chinese food, but I was always told about the Vietnamese food being good, so that was the direction I was going.

I felt like in a place called “Egg Roll #1,” that it would be just wrong to go in there and not order an egg roll right? There was a Vietnamese option on the menu (item # 1) ($3.95 for 3) so I ordered those as well as a bowl of Pho. I got the Pho Tai to be exact ($7.25) which is the rare beef pho.

I thought the egg rolls were just okay, actually, which was kind of a bummer. They were filled with what seemed to be ground pork and some veggies as well. They were wrapped in rice paper and fried. They were on the smaller side and cooked very, very crisp. I don’t know—even with the seasoned fish sauce to dip them in. One of those items that aren’t worth the calories for me.

My pho was good—I mean, it was solid pho. It had all the required ingredients—beef broth, lots of noodles, onions, thin slices of beef and onions and hunks of scallions. You got the side plate with a lot of bean sprouts, a few pieces of jalapeno and some Thai basil (no cilantro, boo). There was a little bit of cilantro on top of the soup, but none on the side plate. There is a little area by the front register where you can get some extra onion/cilantro mix (and more limes! Yay!) so I did that.

Like I said, it was decent pho, but it certainly wasn’t the most flavorful broth I’ve had. It helped after I threw the peppers in, as well as some Sriracha and soy.  After it sat a bit and the flavors of the peppers and basil kind of melted into the broth, it got better for sure. It’s the kind of thing/place that if it were in my neighborhood, it might be a solid pho option. But being so far away, it’s probably not going to hit my radar again although I am interested to know if the Thai stuff is good. Some of the pictures on the wall were intriguing.

The BFF had a small bowl of hot and sour soup ($2.75) and another dish off the Vietnamese menu, the name of which I cannot recall (#15 perhaps?). It was egg noodles on the bottom with sautéed pork and shrimp on top. It was a decent dish too—even if the pork and shrimp were a touch on the tough side. I actually thought the hot and sour soup was egg drop soup when they first set it down. It was heavy on the egg and not a lot of other stuff in the soup. It was also heavy on the sour part of the flavor and not so heavy on the hot part. It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t really hot and sour soup to me.

It was an enjoyable lunch, and I am always up for trying something new. Did anything blow me away? No. Can you find better pho around town? Yes. But it’s not a bad option if this is your side of town. The place did a decent business and while the staff was very business-like, they also came around to check on you and make sure you didn’t need drink refills.

So who else has been here? You know I want to hear what you think is good.

Egg Roll #1

4576 S. Emerson

Indy  46203

317/787-2225

www.eggroll1.com