pho-king

'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!