Just smell that wonderful broth

 We moved out of Englewood in the summer of 2007 and stopped going to Saigon, the Vietnamese restaurant where we first encountered pho when the place opened about nine years ago.

I remember how I met owner K.T. Tran in the checkout line at the ShopRite and she showed me the lease she had just signed on a Palisade Avenue storefront. Yesterday, we returned for an early dinner after deciding against fighting traffic to eat at Aleppo Restaurant in Paterson -- the fourth postponed meal there since it was reviewed Feb. 17 in The New York Times.

When Joe the waiter set down my bowl of pho with shrimp, I leaned close to the anise-scented beef broth and breathed deeply. Wonderful. You'd be hard put to find a broth that matches the aroma of this one. The rice-noodle soup and fried vegetable dumplings made a satisfying meal, even though we knew the broth violated the spirit of our meatless pledge.

And we really enjoyed catching up with Joe and K.T.

Saigon R, 58 W. Palisade Ave.,
Englewood; 201-871-4777. Closed Mondays.
www.saigonmopho.com