We sample phở bò and phở chay at this well-liked Montrose Vietnamese counter-service restaurant. Both are outstanding.

1717 Montrose Blvd, Houston, TX 77006
(832) 582-6122
11 am–9 pm, 7 days a week

Visited on October 10, 2018

Located in a renovated house on Montrose Blvd (formerly occupied by Les Ba’get under the same owners), Les Noo’dle is a small counter-service restaurant offering beef, chicken, and vegetarian phở, as well as small plates. The interior has a semi-upscale/reclaimed wood/urban gentrified feel, but flaunts some personality with a collage of interesting photos tacked to the wall and colorful wads of international cash affixed to the counter near the register.

The soup system is simple: bowls of phở are available in one size at $10 each. Each bowl includes your choice of three add-in proteins or vegetables from a list of five or six targeted to the soup base, or you can have a combination of all for an additional $1.50. We arrived for lunch early on a Wednesday afternoon and ordered phở chay (vegetarian), phở bò (beef), and two iced teas ($2.00 each).

Two bowls of phở: Hefty bowls arrived at our table with their own small plates of raw bean sprouts, leafy stems of basil, a fat wedge of lime, and slices of red-ripe, semi-hot jalapeño. These accompaniments stood out for their high quality; the prominent anise/licorice notes of the basil and the sweetness of the ripe jalapeño each contributed to the strengths of the vegetarian and beef broths. Both bowls submerged a generous nest of perfectly cooked, well-separated rice noodles.

Les Noo’dle’s vegan phở chay presents a mushroomy, vegetal, oniony, and fairly sweet flavor profile, which, as noted, pairs well with the fresh lime, basil, and ripe jalapeño. The bowl came with plenty of each of the add-ins—chewy fried tofu, crunchy lotus root, and savory slabs of king mushroom—all worthy additions to the soup’s overall character. We both agreed this rates among the best vegetarian noodle soups we have consumed in a restaurant. It is obvious this is a thoughtfully constructed dish, and in no way suggests a lame stand-in for vegetarians. If you want to substitute zucchini noodles for rice noodles, Les Noo’dle has your back for an additional $2.50.

Just as delicious as the phở chay, the phở bò at Les Noo’dle plays polar opposite: the cheesecake/seven-layer dip/luxury liner of Vietnamese noodle soups. The long-simmered, slightly cloudy beef broth had a half-centimeter-thick layer of oil collecting at the rim, and the soup delivered a one-two punch of deep, savory beef flavor and a buttery mouthfeel. Like the vegetarian phở, the broth veered towards the sweet side, but not overbearingly so, and a squeeze of lime cut the sweetness and fattiness just right. We selected filet mignon, beef shank, and lean brisket from the available group of six, and these toppings were all tender and delicious. There seemed to be a little less of the rare filet mignon than the shank and brisket, but no big deal because it was all great.

In fact, we liked Les Noo’dle so much that we went back for dinner a few days later. This time we ordered bone marrow soup ($10), phở gà (chicken phở) with everything ($11.50, including shredded chicken, chicken livers, chicken gizzards, chicken hearts, and quail eggs), and a vermicelli beef spring roll ($5). The bone marrow soup delivers two split marrow-rich bone sections, generously seasoned with coarse red pepper, basking in a bowl of the beef phở broth. Phở gà presents a clean-tasting chicken broth, less sweet than the other broth options (particularly the phở chay). It was an adventure exploring a bowl loaded up with all the available goodies, so we suggest going that route if you’re into consuming interesting bits of chicken offal. With its fresh rice wrapper and a notably tasty bowl of nước chấm (mixed fish sauce) on the side, the spring roll satisfied, but it did not excite us as much as their other offerings. What did look spectacular was an off-menu item we observed other customers ordering: a giant metal cauldron of phở, meant to be shared and referred to as the “royale.” One of us, having spent some time in Southeast Asia, was also overjoyed that they serve the elusive Beerlao.

We both feel strongly that Les Noo’dle serves some of the best phở that we have slurped in Houston. It is safe to say their execution of your $10 bowl of phở will be on point. Montrose residents, living well outside of Houston’s main concentrations of great Asian food, should count their lucky stars of anise to have this restaurant in their neighborhood. We have seen some complaints in online reviews that $10 is way too much to spend for phở, but disagree with these sentiments. Houstonians are obviously spoiled for cheap, tasty phở, and we also love a giant $6.99 bowl of noodle soup, but we don’t believe any sort of food must be cheap. Everything we sampled at Les Noo’dle bespeaks time, care, and quality ingredients, so we’ll be back for more soon. The tea was good, too.