Description
While the San Gabriel Valley has more than its fair share of phở joints, El Monte seems to have a particularly dense concentration of places where you can satisfy your craving for a steaming hot bowl of Vietnamese noodle soup. If you're driving along Garvey Avenue, withstand the urge to stop at the first one you see as you roll past the tire shops and used car lots; keep driving, rather, until you get to Phở Filet. Located right across from a laundromat and an auto repair garage -- one or both of which may be blaring KLVE -- Phở Filet makes makes some of the best bowls in the L.A. area. Its specialty is phở bac, a Northern-style soup with thick, wide noodles and a light broth laced with especially pronounced hints of cloves and ginger. Most everything on the menu comes with generous slices of filet mignon; lest the precious meat overcook in that boiling hot broth though, ask for the raw meat on the side so you can add it to your bowl as you please.
