When the weather turns chilly, we turn to soup. When it gets chilly and wet, very little beats a bowl of Vietnamese beef stew, pho no. 20, at Vietnam Restaurant on Cleveland.

This hearty soup has long been a favorite, a cure for everything from the sniffles to a plain old bad day. It’s a perfect fusion food: My grandmother’s pot roast and someone’s tom yum soup.

The soup is bo kho and it’s full of bites of tender chuck roast, carrots and even a bit of potato here and there. But where Nanny might’ve used a packet of onion soup mix, the cooks in the Vietnamese kitchen turn to an arsenal of ginger, lemongrass, star anise, cinnamon and chiles. Where she roasted it for hours in the oven, at the restaurant it’s cooked in a broth that takes on all of these flavors and is, quite truly, the magic in the bowl.

It comes served over your choice of rice or egg noodles and either is fine—but plain white rice on the side is how I prefer mine. A plate of sliced peppers, bean sprouts and fresh herbs is served alongside, and you either need to order a small baguette for dunking or spring for the banh mi and have a feast. You'll have too much food, but this packs up nicely to go.

Banh mi is a fabulous sandwich, done simply at Vietnam. Here’s more fusion food for you, a marriage made during the French occupation of Vietnam. A slice of pork pate and a smear of mayo are on a baguette, and to that crisp grilled pork, sliced hot peppers and a tangle of fresh herbs are added. Is this the best one in town? No, but it’s still very good and it costs all of $4. It is the best one in town when dunked in your bo kho? You betcha. Still $4.

The menu is lengthy at Vietnam, which used to be Pho Vietnam on Poplar. The vermicelli is a hearty bowl good for sharing or for a big meal, a big bed of thin rice noodles topped with pork, shrimp, carrots, onions, herbs and so on. Pour on the slightly sweetened fish sauce that comes on the side, add a little Sriracha or peanut sauce if that’s your thing, then dig in.

There’s plenty more, from $6.95 lunch specials to stir fry dishes, lo mein, a fresh and fragrant lotus root salad and another favorite, a Vietnamese pancake called banh xeo that looks an omelet and is filled with shrimp, pork, vegetables and served with plenty of fresh herbs.

It’s nothing fancy, but it’s good stuff. Taking beef stew leftovers home? The trick to a second meal is in the packing. Noodles or rice need to go in one container and the broth in another; otherwise the noodles will soak up the broth and while they’ll still taste fine, you won’t have soup. So get it packed in two containers, ask nicely for extra broth, and don’t forget your herbs. If you want to eat it for breakfast, I won’t be judging you.

Vietnam Restaurant, 74 N. Cleveland, is open 10 a.m.-9 p.m. daily. For more information, call 901-249-5349.