Pho Bowl offers pho the way it’s meant to be – with plenty of flavor.

There are too many culinary cuisines to be able to easily answer the question, “What’s your favorite restaurant?” Once my mind starts branching through categories and formats, I soon conclude that, for me, there is no easy answer. You might as well ask me to name my favorite music genre.

Case in point: A cuisine I too easily overlook is Vietnamese. And that’s a shame because it features fresh ingredients, rich flavors and a variety of herbs that just feel wholesome. Compared to Chinese, it seems less composed. But looks can be deceiving; the flavor profiles that go into simmering of the pho broth – a signature Vietnamese dish – are often very complex.

I hadn’t been to the Webster Square end of Park Avenue in several months, so I was surprised to hear about a new Vietnamese restaurant, the Pho Bowl, and was eager to join a friend there for dinner. When we arrived, we found the large parking lot mostly abandoned. The cacophony of traffic in that busy intersection was muffled by water rushing over a ladder dam. First impressions … Dam: intriguing. Empty parking lot: a wee bit ominous.

But when we walked in, we were greeted so warmly by a couple employees that my concerns immediately vanished. The dining area is long and rectangular with rows of booths – a bit reminiscent of the Friendly’s it once was in a prior incarnation. Fear not! The Fishamajig karma is long gone, replaced by the sriracha rooster.

For our inaugural visit, we decided to keep to the basics. That meant spring roll appetizers. Two to an order, we sampled the Spring Rolls with Grilled Pork and an order with Grilled Shrimp. They certainly tasted fresh, and their rice paper wrappers were damp and translucent. Our waitress had already stressed the kitchen’s insistence upon actually grilling in flavors to produce an honest char flavor.

Packed with springy vermicelli and highlighted with mint leaves, the Pho Bowl’s G?i Cu?n were generous in size and served with a cup of peanut sauce. I prefer the spring roll form to the crispy, deep-fried variety; flavors are truer and lighter, more in keeping with the warmer months ahead.

As the name suggests, this is a kitchen focused squarely on pho (pronounced “fuh”; in the English, rice noodle soup). Acceptable pho requires a rich broth that comes from simmering meat and bones and onions and spices. Eighteen varieties are offered at Pho Bowl; one fish, one vegan and one chicken. The rest are combinations of beef – steak and brisket – in varying degrees of doneness, as well as tendon and tripe.

Tendon, I’ll admit, is not what I consider a choice cut of the cow. So I had our server explain. “We simmer the tendon for hours until it’s very tender,” she said. “It’s very popular with Vietnamese.” Intrigued, I ordered a medium-sized bowl of pho with well-done brisket and tendon. My friend ordered his with rare steak and brisket.

The pho experience is more than mere bowls of soup, though. First, the table is set up with chopsticks, a ceramic soup spoon and a plate with garnishes: long stems of leafy Thai basil, sprigs of sawtooth coriander, wedges of fresh lime, slices of jalapeño peppers and a mound of thick juicy bean sprouts. On each table is a bottle of sriracha sauce, hot chili peppers chopped into a coarse paste and other sauces.

Properly kitted out, within moments our steaming bowls of pho were presented. Topped with a scattering of chopped green onions, the light brown sauce had a golden tinge; you could see the swirl of noodles and slices of meat suspended below. I prepared mine with basil leaves, sprouts and lime juice. From the first spoonful, the broth was so delicious, and the ingredients so fresh, I felt as if it were good for the soul.

Now armed with chopsticks, I sampled the brisket. Broad thin slices were tender and mild in flavor. Columnar chunks of tendon provided a soft textural contrast. They had taken on much of the flavor of the pho broth and had the consistency of firm gelatin. Would I order tendon again when I return to the Pho Bowl? Why not? It’s pure protein.

As we proceeded through our bowls, we got more adventurous with the condiments – especially as we got to the tangle of rice noodles lurking at the bottom. I particularly enjoyed the chopped chili peppers. And when I finished my bowl, I realized, with surprise, my appetite was completely sated. And we had contemplated large bowls!

So rather than asking, “What’s your favorite restaurant?” ask “What do you recommend for Vietnamese?” That’s a question I can answer in a snap. Pho Bowl.

Pho Bowl | 580 Park Ave., Worcester | (508) 757-2695 | phobowlrestaurant.com