New Vietnamese restaurant opens in Manhasset

There are blink-and-you’ll-miss-it places, and then there’s Pho Manhasset, which has taken on the unenviable task of bidding for the attention of Plandome Road while sandwiched between a pita place and an Irish pub. It doesn’t help matters that its neighbors are established players with eye-catching signage while Pho Manhasset has no sign whatsoever as of yet, only a large-print version of its takeout menu taped to the window.  As of this writing, the eatery has neither a website nor presence on Instagram or Facebook. The question it begs is pho-losophical: If a tiny restaurant falls in the forest with no social media bona fides, does it make a sound?

Like the menu, Pho Manhasset’s interior is small, narrow and favors a carryout clientele. There is a dining area populated with seven wooden tables and attendant hard stools, but its compact size delivers an unmistakable message: Pho Manhasset’s survival, not to mention success, will depend largely on whether it produces high-quality food that diners will eat at home and then rave about to their friends, who hopefully won’t blink when driving by. It’s a tall order, and yet the cooking gives one reason to hope.

That eponymous noodle soup with a beef broth base comes in six varieties (all $16), including a flank steak version that is tender and loaded with meat shards. Elsewhere, the menu features a medley of greatest Vietnamese hits, with sections devoted to banh mi sandwiches ($10), vermicelli in several flavors ($14) and a spring-roll heavy appetizer list (all $8); plus tacos. Yes, tacos (2 for $10), including one with well-seasoned morsels of fried catfish rolled in spicy mayonnaise and carefully placed onto soft mini-tortillas stuffed with cucumber spears and shreds of pickled carrots and daikon.

Pho Manhasset is at 442 Plandome Rd. in Manhasset, 516-321-9025. Opening hours are Monday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday from 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.

By Scott Vogel

scott.vogel@newsday.com

Newsday writer and restaurant critic Scott Vogel aims for a refreshing, gimlet-eyed take on the Long Island food scene, often while drinking a refreshing gimlet.