There's a Great Pho Place Near Me
Some days/weeks/months ago I wrote about the weird dearth of authentic foreign restaurants near me. I want to talk about some of them, because, I don’t know, I just do.
I’ve been going to a Pho place that’s just a ten minute drive from me for a couple of years now. It’s too close for me to feel comfortable sharing its name, but seeing as how the place is always full of people whenever I go there, I’m not too upset by that. It’s owned by a Vietnamese couple who came to America some twenty or thirty years ago.
Most of what they serve is pho, by they also have clay pots and some soups and salads. They’re also the only place I know near me that serves Vietnamese egg coffee, which is exactly what it sounds like. It’s delicious, doesn’t quite work with pho, but whatever, I’m not picky about perfect pairings.
My go-to order is a pho with beef brisket and meatballs. It’s got rice noodles and bok choy. Admittedly, I’m not sure how authentic bok choy is, but its a great addition. They give you a little bowl on the side with green onions, bean sprouts, sliced jalapenos, and two different sauces. I have no idea what the sauces are if I’m being honest, one is brown and nutty, the other is red and hot. I usually dump the whole bowl in, except for the bean sprouts. No offense to all of Asian, but I hate them. They taste like moldy dirt to me. If you need me to insult any other popular ingredients in your neck of the woods, just let me know!
Anyway, that’s all I got today. There are quite a few pho places near me, including one inside a Chinese grocery store. I don’t know why a Vietnamese restaurant is inside a Chinese grocery store, but it’s great eating there and then go shopping for ingredients to try and recreate what you just had. Or buy Japanese beer, which they also have for some reason.
There are quite a few pho places near me, but I can’t think of a single “all purpose” Vietnamese restaurant. There’s a Vietnamese grocery near me that sells homemade bahn mis (I’m not making any of this up, I promise), but I’m fairly confident there’s more to Vietnamese food than pho and bahn mi, but I’ll be damned if I can find a place that makes any of it.
Also, does anyone else struggle to spell the world ‘restaurant?’ I typed ‘resteraunt’ a million times in my life and I just never learned. It’s just me? Oh, okay.
