Pho Thanh Lich

This is one of my favorite spots… The people are really nice and helpful… I always get the phở combination… with shrimp and meat balls and my boyfriend always get the phở with well done stake plus extra stake on the side and yes they do pack a lot in a regular bowl and large bowl… I guess that means they are not greedy with the noodle and meat… the broth is very tasty compared to other phở place I’ve tried… overall I Love it… and always go here before going to other phở place… So I Recommend checking it out and let me know what you think.(:

Driving down Anaheim St going East, I was looking for a Phở place I haven’t been to yet for dinner.
I drove slowly when no one was behind me so I can catch the store front signs, got one stare from a police car that passed me by as I came to a near stop couple of times (God, there were tons of police cars cruising this street, something happened today?).

I found a Phở sign! New Phở Long Beach? Cool!
I don’t know if they officially changed the name to New Phở or new owner or what but there was an old sign somewhere that said Thanh Lich (Didn’t occur to me to ask at the time but when I got home there’s no Thanh Lich name anywhere on the business card, just says New PHO.
On to the food.
The Phở was actually very nice. No strange aroma and the price was $ 4.50 for small (Sounds like it used to be $ 5.50 for small according to Wanugee’s review). I also had the Stir Fried beef & rice plate, and used the Phở soup to wash down the rice, it worked ok).
The noodles were firm and didn’t soften quickly, not bad.
The soup was semi-​rich style with mild flavor. It was flavorful enough that I didn’t need to add any sauce but the taste became a tad monotonous half way through.
The vegetables were wilted looking with lime slice that looked like it was out too long, but otherwise no complaint. Unfortunately that expired looking lime slice stuck to my mind for whatever reason, not good.
The beef slices were ok. I thought there were lots of beef flavor at first but tasted average overall, not a standout but you get plenty of them.
The service was polite and fast. No complaints here. The parking lot was ample (Nice, no tight street parking).

This is a little Phở place (with some other traditional Vietnamese dishes) in the LBC, not far from St Mary Hospital and the Metro line.
Also, not too far from the home of the Long Beach Poly Jack Rabbits, a football factory who has sent more kids to the NFL (mostly defensive backs) than any other high school in the country.
Phở Thanh Lich is actually a Cambodian-​Vietnamese place, as the owners are from Cambodia but are Vietnamese. I ordered my Phở Tai (rare beef) noodles and watched the large projection TV. On it was a video from a Karaōke DVD, where the words were highlighted as the large asian dance group did song after song of hypnotically boring, medium tempo songs while doing a sort of group Hustle or Electric Slide. 5 guys would sing, smile and shuffle, with a double line of beautiful young girls behind them following along. Then a male solo, a female solo, and another boy group would sing, all to the same slow Electric Slide music and dance. I thought, this is not Vietnamese (duh, the writing looked more Thai or Cambodian with squigly script vs. multi-​accented romanized letters!). So I found out afterwards the ethnicity from the owners, who spoke something I knew wasn’t Vietnamese.
The Phở broth was pretty good tasting, but the meat was not right, more flank steak than rib eye, and they stuffed too much into my small bowl. There should be adequate broth and room to add garnishing. They did serve the greens with two types of greens, the leafed basil and the long, scratchy minty veggie I don’t know the name. Lime, green chilis and sprouts as normal were also served.
The neighborhood is a mix of African-​American, Latino, and Cambodian, turns out, with few caucasians and the occasional Filipino, Japanese or Chinese mixed in. The service was polite and friendly, the entertainment interesting, but the phở was so-​so. $ 5.50 for a small bowl wasn’t bad, and the group Electric Slide was free!
They are open 7 days a week from 8am, but close early at 7pm
PS — To all talented Jack Rabbit football players, consider following DeSean Jackson to Cal!