Last year I posted two reports on meals eaten at Pho Tempo, the current incarnation of the erstwhile Saigon Deli, the restaurant attached to Saigon Market in Burnsville (here and here). I pronounced it easily the best Vietnamese restaurant we’ve eaten at in the South Metro and among the very best in the Twin Cities proper. In mid-2024 I can tell you that I still do not have any reason to revise that evaluation. Pho Tempo has become part of our regular rotation and indeed part of our regular monthly grocery shopping routine. This routine involves a long outing with stops at Costco (for staples), Hana Market (for Korean ingredients) and Mantra Bazaar (for Indian ingredients). In between we stop at Saigon Market to buy pompano and greens and usually also to eat lunch at Pho Tempo. Since returning from our Bombay/Seoul program in late-March we’ve eaten there four times on this itinerary. Here now is a quick report on all those meals.

As noted in my previous reports, Pho Tempo’s regular menu includes all the dishes that are part of the standard repertoire of Vietnamese restaurants in not just the Twin Cities but in most American cities. However, their menu is supplemented by a board of specials which offer things not easily found elsewhere. We would still go to Pho Tempo for their regular offerings (indeed the missus mostly eats the same version of their pho on each outing—see visual evidence below) but it’s the specials that really seal the deal. Now, I must say that on our visits this year the specials board has not been as robustly populated with dishes as it was on our visits last year. As to whether that’s just (bad) luck of the draw or because there’s been a scaling back on that front, I’m not sure. And you should also know that a bunch of the specials that may be on the board when you visit will likely only be actually available on the weekends, and some not even then. Well, it’s a reason to go back.

What have we eaten across our four visits so far this year? The missus loves their pho, and particularly the P7 option, which includes rare beef and tendon and I have not been able to prevail on her to try something new yet this year. I meanwhile have eaten four separate large dishes across the meals. At the first, I ate my favourite of their dishes: the chao long (or rice porridge/congee) from their specials board. This is chockful of offal goodness. To the second half of the bowl I added a large scoop of their chilli paste, almost rendering it inedibly lethal. I advise you to tread carefully if making a similar move. At the second visit I ate their bun bo hue, which was very tasty, even if seemingly not made with a separate, funkier/richer broth as it is at some other places.

On the third visit, I asked for and was given a custom pho: with brisket, tendon and tripe (not one of the listed options). It was also very good. On our most recent visit, on a weekend, I finally managed to eat an item from the special board that has eluded me for some time, the bun mang vit. This comes out as two components, both massive. One is a large bowl of noodle soup with bamboo shoots (and a massive blood cake) made with duck stock; the other is a large plate of hacked up boiled duck on veg. And there’s a smaller third component as well: a bowl of a very tasty dipping sauce. It was a lot but it was also very tasty.

Other things eaten at the meals: three different versions of their spring rolls (grilled pork, grilled pork sausage, shrimp and pork); their five spice chicken wings (very popular with our boys); and speaking of our boys, at the most recent meal they shared a plate of the com thit nuong or grilled pork with broken rice. They liked it as much as always.

Scroll down for a look at the restaurant, the menu and everything we ate at these meals. Scroll down for price and to see what’s coming next.

I’m very happy to say that Pho Tempo seems to continue to be quite popular. They’ve had steady turnover at lunch on all our visits. If you haven’t tried them yet, you should go to. Oh yes, they’re closed on Tuesdays, so don’t go on a Tuesday. As you can see from the menu pics, the prices are quite reasonable, especially when you adjust for quality and quantity (and for these inflationary times).

Alright, my next Twin Cities report will be of the meal I’d originally expected to report on this week: dinner at Tenant. That should show up next Tuesday. Before that I hope to have at least one Korea report and possibly another report from either New York, New Jersey or Southern California. Let’s see how it goes.