The Vistro is the latest ethnic restaurant to make the space across from Eastown Shopping Center in Riverside its home.
The site housed Al-Mandi Restaurant & Cafe, and before that, Antojitos Criollos Puerto Rican restaurant and its predecessor Mi Tierra Mexican restaurant.
Even before that, the site was home of Viet, a restaurant that featured Vietnamese food but offers Chinese as a backup.
Viet served some of the best pho around so we had high hopes for Vistro’s soups.
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First tho, the appetizers.
During a recent lunch, my companion and I ordered two shrimp and pork summer rolls for $4.
Jumbo shrimp and marinated pork were the obvious champions, but the veggies were nice and crisp.
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Nice start for sure.
A wall sign readings “pho” and it seemed an omen until my eye was caught by something else tasty on the menu.
Instead of pho, (The Vistro has a beef and chicken version) I ordered lemongrass beef and pork (Bun Bo Hue) while my dinning companion went with spicy fried noodles beef to mix things up.
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A hearty soup like pho, Bun Bo Hue traditionally has round rice noodles and is in a pork and beef bone broth flavored with lemongrass and other spices.
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Pho’s rice noodles are flat and it is typically come in clear beef broth with spices.
Bun Bo Hue, which gets part of its name from the former Vietnamese imperial city of Hue , has a broth that is delightfully murkier.
The Vistro’s enchanting Bun Bo Hue soup ($9 a bowl as is the pho) came pack with mint, bean sprouts onions, lime, jalapeno for an added kick, tender meat, mint and cabbage.
After slurping down my bowl, I wanted more.
As for the spicy fried noodles beef, they are good, but you are going to want soup.
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I for one can't wait to dive into pho the next time we are at Vistro.
WANT TO GO?
What: The Vistro Modern Vietnamese
Where: 3937 Linden Ave., Dayton
Hours: 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday to Thursday and 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday.
Connect: Facebook| 937-221-8121
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