No  soup for you! Sadly for Taste My Soup, their concept didn’t last in Encino. However, that closure allowed Jib Puangkham and boyfriend Owen Sutin to open Pho Rider instead, serving modern Vietnamese food between a dry cleaner and nail salon.

The couple opened Pho Rider to start September in an area that was weak on pho. They’re both from Thailand, but Jib is half Vietnamese and developed signature recipes, none of which use MSG.

The space features wood tables, a Rooster Crossing sign, highway signs, a guitar wall mounted above a black ROCKSTAR license plate and a Pokemon statuette. They’ve painted a handlebar image that represents their love of riding a range of vehicles, including motorcycles, bicycle and snowmobiles. They also ride horses, but of course horses don’t have handlebars.

Pho is the backbone of Pho Rider’s menu, with noodle bowls available with beef, chicken or vegetable broths. Premium bowls come with oxtail or seafood. They also serve bowls of dry pho with poached eggs, chile paste and sidecars of broth.

Rice plates and cold vermicelli salads come topped with proteins like marinated pork, lemongrass beer, pork chops and pork belly with basil. Starters include egg rolls, prawn papaya salad and Sriracha glazed chicken wings.

They’ve devoted an entire menu section to bao—the steamed Chinese clamshell buns with fillings like five-spice pork belly, spicy fried chicken, beef bulgogi or spicy tofu. The Hot Chicken Rider Bao ($4) includes glazed fried chicken, ground toasted rice, mint leaf, green onion and shallots.

For dessert, Pho Rider serves banana bao or fried Oreo cookies.

15608 Ventura Blvd., Encino, 818-783-4204