I’d said I would have a Twin Cities restaurant report up on Wednesday and there’s still 15 minutes to go till Thursday in Minnesota. Never call me a liar again!

I’m now closing in on my Twin Cities metro area backlog from the winter. After this one, there will only be two more to go, I think. This report from Burnsville’s Pho Tempo actually encompasses two meals: one I ate by myself in November ’25 and another with the entire family and a couple of friends in February of this year. The first was eaten on the go after a quick shopping stop at Saigon Market—inside which Pho Tempo is located; the second was the reason for the trip. I clarify this in case you think I mean that Pho Tempo is a place to eat if you’re going to Saigon Market for groceries; in fact, it’s one of our favourite Vietnamese restaurants in the Twin Cities metro.

The restaurant remains—at least at time of the second meal in February—as it’s been for a while now. The large dining room is usually crowded for lunch on weekends, less so on weekdays. At least that’s the case when ICE is not laying siege to the metro. At our lunch in February we were one of only a few tables occupied on a Sunday. The food, I’m glad to say, was as good as ever.

At my first solo outing all I ate was a bowl of pho. They were kind enough to make me a combo with raw beef, tendon and tripe (the menu lists bowls with beef and tendon or beef and tripe but not all three). It hit the spot on a cold November day. At the second outing we ordered quite a bit more. A bunch of appetizers to start: Vietnamese eggrolls, fried potstickers and five-spice chicken wings. All were tasty, the wings were the pick of the lot. Next up were three bowls of noodle soup and two rice dishes. The missus and one of our friends each got a bowl of pho: the missus, the Pho Tai, Nam (raw beef and flank) and our friend, the Pho Tai, Gan (raw beef and brisket). I meanwhile got the Mi Vit Tiem (duck noodle soup) from the specials board. The older boy got a Com Gua Nuong (rice plate with grilled chicken) while his brother got the Pork Fried Rice. Our other friend got a Banh Mi with Grilled Pork.

I ordered the Mi Vit Tiem mostly because it’s usually sold out when we see it on the specials board and it wasn’t on that occasion. When it arrived I remembered my usual response to it, which is that it is nice but really I should have got a bowl of pho or bun bo hue. The pork fried rice was no great shakes either but the two bowls of pho, the grilled chicken plate and the banh mi were very good.

For a look at the menu and the food across both meals, please launch the slideshow below. Scroll down to see how much it cost and to see what’s coming next.

My bowl of pho in November was $13.95 before tax and tip. Our larger meal in February was a little less than $150 all-in (but please note that we ordered rather a lot of food).

Alright, next week’s Twin Cities report will also be of a meal eaten in February but this one was at the high end of the market. Before that, however, I will have another report each from Seoul and Los Angeles this week and another report from Delhi early next week.