There are few things that will motivate a college student to walk nearly an hour across town, but the promise of warm broth, crispy rolls, and juicy meat? That might just do the trick.
Wonder Pho is a newly opened restaurant in the Princeton Shopping Center that serves its namesake dish alongside other Vietnamese offerings like banh mi and banh xeo, a crispy crepe with various fillings. The restaurant was founded by four cousins, who sought to reimagine Vietnamese comfort food with a modern twist. With midterms coming up and papers to be finished, I was in serious need of a tasty meal, or at least a change of scenery. Since Wonder Pho recently had its soft opening, I braved the journey there last Tuesday to see what they had to offer.
The exterior of Wonder Pho.
Caroline Naughton / The Daily Princetonian
After walking through the neighborhoods of Princeton and across a multi-lane roadway, my friend and I reached the Princeton Shopping Center. Beware: the Apple Maps location will bring you to a random Dunkin’ Donuts. The actual restaurant, I discovered, is located next to a lovely outdoor seating area with white picnic tables and Adirondack chairs. The outside is clean and modern, but once inside the restaurant, you are greeted with a colorful accent wall contrasting dark teal and warm-toned wooden tables. There are plants lining the seating area and woven lamps hanging from the ceiling. At lunchtime, Wonder Pho was surprisingly busy for a newly-opened restaurant, but we were seated quickly at a small, inviting table in the corner.
A dish of Spring Rolls with a side salad and sauce.
Caroline Naughton / The Daily Princetonian
Service was prompt, with mason jars of cool lemon-mint water swiftly greeting us. Wonder Pho was abuzz with the background chatter of happy diners and the restaurant’s soft pop playlist. For appetizers, I ordered the summer rolls and spring rolls. The summer rolls came out within a few minutes. The shrimp was fresh, perfectly cooked, and the hints of mint and strips of cucumber added a refreshing taste and good crunch. The peanut dipping sauce was the perfect addition to the plate, adding a rich, creamy taste and tang that complemented the light flavors of the roll.
After a couple more minutes, the spring rolls arrived. Four of them were plated with a sweet Nuoc Cham (fish) sauce. The spring rolls were the perfect level of crispy. But while the pork and shrimp filling sounded good when I was ordering, the flavors overwhelmed each other, and the dish was much greasier than I had expected. However, I did enjoy the taste of the sauce, as its slightly sour taste somewhat offset the greasiness of the rolls.
A dish of Summer Rolls with a side sauce.
Caroline Naughton / The Daily Princetonian
For the entree, I ordered the namesake Wonder Pho. With thinly sliced raw beef, cooked, braised short ribs, and Vietnamese-style beef balls, the dish sounded like a meat-lover's dream. I added bean sprouts and lime and ate away. I am normally happy with any pho dish, but this one was especially good. The broth was served at the perfect slurpable temperature, and the umami taste was very strong. I honestly could have just had the broth and been satisfied. The rice noodles were the perfect thinness for slurping, and the various kinds of beef were fantastic. I was not a fan of the beef balls, however, as I found them too spongy and a little tasteless. A big bottle of hoisin sauce was available on the table, allowing me to add the perfect amount of sweet and salty to the meat.
A glass of ube ice cream.
Caroline Naughton / The Daily Princetonian
For dessert, I attempted to order the mango sticky rice. Sadly, I was informed that they were all out and the wait time would be around an hour. Instead, I ordered the ube ice cream, which was recommended by the waiter as a popular item. When it arrived at our table, it looked unreal, a shade of purple that only exists in sci-fi fantasies. The ice cream was topped with little purple cereal bits and two rolled wafer cookies to complete the dish. I was excited to try it but was disappointed by the taste of the ice cream. It had almost no ube flavor at all, tasting exactly like the vanilla ice cream available in Princeton’s dining halls. If I had wanted perfectly purple vanilla ice cream, I would have been ecstatic, but it lacked the ube flavor I was seeking.
Wonder Pho’s menu offerings were tasty but not mind-blowing. If you need an escape from campus or have the time to kill, Wonder Pho, with its quick service and pleasant atmosphere, may be worth the trip. But since the 40 minute trek (and $12 Uber back) was my introduction to Princeton’s food scene, I’m looking forward to trying other restaurants that are closer to campus.
Caroline Naughton is a contributing writer for The Prospect and a member of the Class of 2029. She can be reached at cn8578@princeton.edu.
Please send any corrections to corrections@dailyprincetonian.com.
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