Mekong

7952 SE 13th Ave, Portland, 97202

I've been to Mekong twice, on Tuesday most recently. I don't remember what I ate on my first visit, which leads me to believe it couldn't have been outstanding. On Tuesday I had the chicken pho, recommended by my lunch companion.

What struck me most about the food, not just the pho but what the other patrons had on their plates as well, was how fresh and...well, clean the food looked.

Even once I added the sweet brown sauce to the soup, even with a few oily patches of chicken fat swimming around on top, I couldn't escape the feeling that everything had just been hosed down to achieve that "just cleaned" look. Perhaps an effect of the small dining room bathed in natural light? Fresh, clean, clear, crisp: that's how Mekong strikes me.

Although the pho lacked an intensity that I've come to expect from my food, it was pretty darn good. The vermicelli noodles were done just right, and the brown sauce added a nice little kick to what would otherwise just be chicken noodle soup with basil and onion in.

The portions were enormous too; had we not gotten full long before the bottom of the bowl, there's no way my companion and I could've finished our meals within her lunch hour.

In terms of atmosphere, the dining room is decorated in stark modern furniture that is not my personal taste but which does contribute to that sense of "clean" that pervades the restaurant. The woman who took our order was friendly and had a sense of humor, which I especially appreciate. I don't remember music playing, but there must've been because there wasn't that eerie quiet that leads me to become paranoid about people eavesdropping on my conversation.

I can see possibly developing a craving for pho, just as I did for miso soup, and I can guarantee that I will be going to Mekong to satisfy that craving for only $6.50. I think it's mainly due to that "clean" feeling: it gives one the impression that everything's right out there in the open, that one will be able to recognize every ingredient, that no nasty little surprises are going to pop up in one's soup bowl, no mystery meats will be used. Just the right environment in which to expand my food horizons.