my first experience with “pho” was about 10 years ago. what is pho? it’s the ’traditional vietnamese beef noodle soup.’ i didn’t enjoy it. nor did i the 2nd or 3rd time. then things changed. it has since grown to be ‘comfort food.’ i attempt to go weekly to a local pho restaurant called than brothers – seattle’s version of the soup nazi known for horrible service, tasty cream puffs, cheap prices, and damn good pho. if you’ve never had pho, you’re missing out. in fact, every new person i’ve introduce to pho suddenly becomes a pho-natic.
did you know?
Phở was born in Northern Vietnam during the mid-1880s. The dish was heavily influenced by both Chinese and French cooking. Rice noodle and spices were imported from China; the French popularized the eating of red meat. In fact, it is believed that “phở” is derived from “pot au feu” a French soup. Vietnamese cooks blended the Chinese, French and native influences to make a dish that is uniquely Vietnamese.
Refugees fleeing Vietnam in the Spring of 1975 brought with them their hopes and dreams of a better life. They also brought their cultures and cuisine, of which pho has become the most popular among Americans.
according to the most recent tabulation, there are 861 located pho restaurants (and counting) around the united states. the state of washington boasts the third highest pho restaurants only behind california and texas. i would not be surprised if there are more pho restaurants sprouting up in seattle than there are new churches but that’s a different blog post. let’s just stick to pho.
i just discovered an entire website dedicated to pho fever. and on this website, you’ll find such links as pho finder, pho fashion, and even a pho blog.
pho shizzle.
Filed under: seattle
pho…yummy yummy!
haha pho-tastic. my parents hate it, but i love it. i fell in love immediately…my first bowl was after a long day of snowboarding…we got into denver, and it hit the spot. the best pho i’ve had out here still doesn’t compare to denver…though a place in boston, and one in philly comes quite close.
yum!!!
Yes, pho is good stuff. Can’t remember who introduced me to it but it has definitely been in the last year or so. Love it!
I had the famous Than Bros last week when we were in town. Definitely comfort food!
a friend of mine bought me a “pho king” tshirt, because one of my iv staffers started calling me the pho king (we’re a mature bunch.) it’s pretty sweet, but i’ve thus far refrained from wearing it to church =).
i totally relate to your pho-conversion story. i didn’t really like it the first couple of times i tried it. so i stayed away from it for awhile. what won me over was the witness of a pastor, who ate his bowl of pho as if it were his final delicious meal on earth. this normally very circumspect man was sweating, mouth-breathing, and slurping away, so lost in his pho-delirium that he was oblivious of anyone else around him (along with customary table manners). “i must have that feeling” i thought to myself. thus began my love for pho.
Great post title, btw… I saw it in my gmail RSS feeder and totally had to respond. =)
Me and Peter Hong used to go out for pho all the time, and I miss it. And the thing is, it’s not that there isn’t good pho here in Portland (there probably is) but I feel like I need to do it WITH somebody, and I don’t know anybody in my circle who’s really into it. I might just drag my wife since she likes to try new things, but most of the good pho places probably don’t have great ambiance, which she is really into.
Either way, though I have to give it a shot somewhere… pho better or pho worse.
jelani, i understand but if you truly want to understand the way of the pho(rce), you must learn to also be one with the pho.
dang, this is getting silly now.
let me just say this to the world wide web: i came, i posted, and i then went to have pho for lunch today. that’s pho real.
I never knew the glories of pho until I came to Quest and my fellow parishioners opened my eyes to the beauty that is the soup. Than brothers was the first place they took me too. My life will never be the same.
[...] with a group of 1G families. Usually, we will end the evening by sharing a nice meal together (pho, even!). At the same time, in my ministry to second-generation (2G) students there is a deep [...]
[...] eat out too much. Lugging around three kids limit our options a little. For us, gourmet food is pho shizzle. So, when guests and visitors ask us for our recommendations where to eat, we run out after [...]