5/5 stars
Located centrally in downtown Nearnothing, Song Long is what we call at Claire's Jewelry a "diamond in the rough." Or "hidden gem." Or even sometimes, "Ruby in the Alley."
Song Long, which roughly translates to "Length of Any Awards show," has definitively the best Pho in Cincinnati. Just take a look at the facts:
1) Making their Pho broth is a 6-7 hour process, which they self-declare is impossible to do at any of the "higher volume/smaller kitchen viet spots downtown." They didn't want to name names, but it rhymed with Pho Lang Thang.
2) Speaking of their Pho, experientially it can go head-to-head with Phollacio.
3) It also comes with fat side plates full of sprouts, basil, and lemon, so you can choose your own adventure.
4) And though you can park on the street and enter through the front, I highly recommend you park in their cozy lot behind the building and enter through the back. Amongst other scenery, the back entrance gives you direct access to their bathrooms, for those who value pee before seats.
5) This place also pays significantly more attention to ambience than most Asian restaurants you'll visit in this lifetime. They play what can only be described as great (but un-Shazamable) Vietnamese EDM and folk. Plus the walls are fully covered with cultural art, the highlight being a Clifford-sized family photo from the 1990s that can do nothing but warm you from your heart to your butt.
6) When the waiter saw us writing on a napkin, he unsolicitedly brought out a stack of full 8.5" x 11" looseleaf for us to write out the constitution. (confusion on which party had a citizenship test the next morning? anyway, it's the gesture that counts)
7) We told that same waiter that we were in the mood for pan fried dumplings to start. He said that's not the menu, but he can make it happen. Then in he went with a pan fried order, and out he came with pan fried magic.
So if you're hosting some friends or veterans from Vietnam, take them out for pizza because they don't have that there. But if they're craving Pho, take them here.