pho-king

reviews!

We're hurting for content here. Come on, people, it's still cold out; I know most of you are eating pho pretty regularly. Take some pictures and send us a paragraph on your favorite local bowl & I'll put it up right here!

The Embodiment of Pho

These are the things that run through my mind while enjoying pho at Lucky's pho in Mira Mesa Black Mountain Road, just north of Mira Mesa blvd (connected to Lucky Seafood). Daily treat that can't be beat from North County to San Y'sid' ... best pho in the land from Alabama to the DMZ From Hanoi to Houston. The master was preaching these and other great realizations in this morning pre-pho meditations and I thought that I should share the pho-losophy with you...

East Bay phở

Jonathan Kauffman profiles Huong Que, an Oakland restaurant that specializes in the non-beef variety of our favorite dish in the most recent issue of the East Bay Express. Anyone eaten here yet?

phở virgin

This just in from our friend Nik Martin in Mobile, Alabama:

I've been looking for a phở restaurant since the launch of this site, and today while thumbing through the yellow pages for something to eat, came across "Phở 88." BINGO. I call to make sure they are indeed a phở restaurant (they are) and if they are indeed open for my culinary curiosity (they are). I jet over, and after stopping outside to snap pics (which prompted the owner to rush out in a paranoid fashion to determine my reasons for doing so) I went in to make my purchase. The menu was entirely in an English printed Vietnamese dialect, but the descriptions were readable. I got a number 1, which had every type of beef available in it; flank steak, tripe, round steak, meatballs, and brisket. While waiting for my food, I ask what the "88" in their name means. Nothing, says the owner, he just liked the way it sounded. Good enough for me. After a few minutes, the owner returned with a very large sack of food and rang up $5.75. WOW, what a deal.

perfecto phở

Over at royby.com, you can read about one person's attempt (or rather, walk around the corner - in Saigon, you never seem to have to go any further than that!) to find the world's most perfect phở.

Phở Cuong in Tacoma

Our friend Xortch, of Seattle WA, offers this short but sweet review of the excellent Phở Cuong in Tacoma.

Tots Need Tendon Too!

Global phở chain Pho Hoa deserves some credit for creating a phở-based "kids meal." Comprised of phở with brisket and meat balls ("no scallions") and a soft drink, it's a worthy competitor to those other, so-called "happy meals." But, wouldn't kids be even happier at Phở Hoa with some scallions in their soup (not to mention lime and basil)? And such limited meat options, to boot. C'mon, tots need tendon too!

Photo: Phở Hoa.

Portland's Best

I conducted an informal poll last night regarding the best places in Portland to get a bowl of the most delicious phở.

Of the ten or so people I asked, all agreed that the best phở is served at Phở Hung on SE Powell. Everyone also agreed that the second best place is Phở Oregon on NE Sandy Blvd.

So, there you have it, ten out of ten Portlanders agree.

Phở L.A.

So there's Pho 79, Pho Bac, and then ... there was Phở Hoa. The other two get these great reviews every now and then, especially 79 (which is my less favorite of the two), but Phở Hoa was always head-and-shoulders better.

Now it's closed, and I fear for my Sunday-morning hungover self without a phở standby in town.

Suggestions, please!

Another Perspective of Pho

I'm Virtual-Doug. While most of you who read this are on the west coast, I am way down in deep south Texas - right on the Rio Grande. Not exactly pho country, eh?

But, I came by pho the way God intended - I first tried it in Viet Nam.

'I Can't Move To A City Without Pho'

Currently, I live in Pho Heaven, aka the beautiful San Francisco Bay Area. I can indulge my pho whims everyday and still not hit every pho restaurant in the area. Is there anything better? Soon, though, we will be moving from San Francisco to Portland, Oregon. We are moving for my husband J.'s job. When we were considering Portland, we knew almost nothing about the city and knew absolutely no one that lived there. Since then, we've visited twice, met some nice people, and explored the city fairly thoroughly. Before he accepted the job, however, I told J. that there was absolutely no way I was moving to Portland if they didn't have pho. I can't live in a city without pho. That simple fact would have been the deal-breaker for me.

Parisian Pho

On a quaint street in the charming 7eme arrondisement of Paris -- a stone's throw from the Eiffel Tower -- I and my drunken undergrad colleagues would stumble out of our university's happy hour down to the dead-end rue Bosquet and into a small Vietnamese restaurant called ... wait for it ... Pho's. Yes, Pho's. We would always order the same dish because is was so damn good: Vermicille aux Boeuf et Pates Imperieux, which translates roughly to: Beef Vermicilli and Imperial Pasta.

How can you not want to have Imperial pasta? I mean, are you soft in the head? Everyone loves to feel imperial. I think it was the crushed nuts on top. Crushed nuts has 'imperial' stamped all over it, right?

Should you go to Paris, I highly recommend.

Pho Hoa

Jake over at 8bitjoystick has a good review of one of the newest instances of the Pho Hoa phenomenon in his own neighborhood. There are several Pho Hoa locations in Sacramento, where I live, and all are quite good, but ignore Jake's suggetion to bypass the tendon - we all know that rare flank / brisket / tendon with extra wonton and egg yolk and ridiculous amounts of Sriracha is the way to go.

best pho in the central valley

Hoa Viet, with a coupla locations in both Stockton and throughout Sacramento, serves the cleanest, purest, simplest and best pho in the central valley. In addition to the usual sprouts and thai basil, they often add sawleaf (or at least that's what my friends call it - anyone know the real name?), finely sliced shallot, and those tiny chilis that the Thai call "mouse shit peppers." Even Bob likes it! The duck noodle soup is good too, but of course it's not pho.

Thanks to Chowhound.com!