I love pho! btw it's pronounced "fuh" like you are going to say F you to someone. LOL There's a place that's called Pho King.
Bf is is viet, so I know a lot about pho and viet food in general.
If you don't like too much fat on your meat, get the pho tai (rare steak). It comes out raw, but it's so thinly sliced that the hot broth cooks it almost instantly. I actually don't care for tai bc it's TOO lean. I prefer brisket and flank bc I like fat. Also I love tendon. When it's done right, it's so soft and just melts in your mouth.
If you want to be on the safe side you can also get bo vien (meat balls) although many places have meatballs with bits of tendon in it fyi, or pho ga (chicken pho), but real pho is made with beef. If the place has ox tail pho then it's real legit. But ox tail again is fatty.
See also if the place has banh kot, which are little roundish coconut milk pancakes (not really pancakes but more like golf balls) with a shrimp either inside or on top. These should be crisp on the outside and smooth and creamy on the inside. I love those.
And banh mi is viet sandwich. I've been bugging Lisa to try and find one in FL for years now. Usually they are very cheap, about $3. It's on an 8-10" long French baguette filled with viet meats, pickled daikon/carrots, with pate and viet mayo (more like butter) and jalapeno and cilantro sprig.
Another thing to get is bo kho (beef stew). If it's done right, the big chunks of beef are super tender. This is served with either egg noodles or french baguette. Also can be oily.
If you don't want soup, you can get bun (pronounced boon) it's rice noodles with no soup and whatever toppings you want. Usually people get grilled pork or beef with an egg roll on the side.