Pho Express replaces Rolling Spring Roll in Farmingdale
A barbecue chicken bánh mì sandwich with crusty bread at Pho Express in Farmingdale. Credit: Newsday/Andi Berlin
Fear not, Vietnamese food lovers in Farmingdale. A casual new pho shop has gone up in the Main Street space that previously held Long Island's oldest Vietnamese restaurant, The Rolling Spring Roll. The shop has a new owner and has been renamed Pho Express, and while it doesn't have the same pioneering quality of the original, it does make a decent bánh mì sandwich.
Owner Rudy Flores, who also runs Big Boss Deli in West Babylon, used his experience working in a Vietnamese restaurant to develop the menu, employee Andis Alvarenga said. The simple menu includes four varieties of the Vietnamese noodle soup pho, including a combination of beef, chicken and tofu. With its light chicken broth, the seafood pho do bien ($16.95 for a regular size) is a great pick for summer and comes packed with whole shrimp, squid and white fish balls. You'll want to load it up with the fresh basil, jalapeños and bean sprouts that come on the side, as the gentle broth is flavorful but on the milder side.
The menu also has appetizers such as shrimp, pork and veggie spring rolls, and a more substantial selection of bun dishes, the cold vermicelli noodles that are often served with grilled meats and fresh cucumber. Prices range from $13.95 for chicken or tofu to $21.95 for shaking beef.
But since the place is so casual, it's shaping up to be a solid hub for bánh mì sandwiches, the iconic Vietnamese street food that features grilled meats on a French baguette. Pho Express serves five basic varieties, including the classic combination with pork belly, cold cuts and pork liver pate. On a recent visit, the server recommended the barbecue chicken ($9.95), which arrived packed with cilantro and pickled carrots on a fluffy loaf of French bread. It did the job.
Pho Express, 189 Main St., Farmingdale, 516-586-8857, phoxpress.site. Open noon to 9 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday, closed Monday.
Andi Berlin is from Arizona and does not know where she is going. But when she gets there, she’ll find something beautiful and delicious that the world needs to taste.
