I've disclosed that I'm not the HUGE vietnamese soup fan so in light of the sniffles I forwent my sojourn for Pakistani to purchase a small bowl of pho at Pho Hoa, 4925 N Broadway, after getting some darker cooking wine, super tiny baby bok choy, and mango rolls at the grocery in the same strip mall.
Pho Hoa is apparantly a chain restaurant serving nothing but pho. I ordered the #5 and hoped I wouldn't have to wade through bits and globules of who knows what. Several trips to "soup" places on Argyle left me overwhelmed to say the least. Usually the flavors of fish cake, beef, pork, peppers, hot sauce, soyish sauce, fish sauce, fresh herbs, etc. etc. etc. all swirled together and warmed to kick up the scents usually is a bit much for me.
Pho Hoa #5 was pretty simple. Noodles in a clear very tasty broth (beet broth?) with assorted slices of beef some predominantly fat and onions, basil and sprouts all combined the way I wanted them to. They tasted good together in a way that allowed me to start futzing with it. Adding a few peppers, some hot sauce, some hoisen, etc. But not etc. etc. etc.
I've been hearing rumors about Campbell's possibly offering a line of pho. I'm not sure how they would do it other than make it super-salty.
I really enjoy Vietnamese because it gives you lots of new flavors. I have realized that for me Mexico owns the lime but it went really well with the Pho. It may have given me incentive to wander around the neighborhood this spring.
Man the weather was nice today.
http://www.phohoa.com/
not that it looks like the place I was at...
Posted by: josh | March 29, 2005 at 06:08 PM
I spent a year living in Andersonville just off Clark and Balmoral and made frequent trips down Argyle. I've eaten at Pho Hoa many times and really developed a love of Pho and other Vietnamese foods. In fact, every visit included pho and cafe sua da, the strong and sweet iced coffee drink. As you venture out, be brave because I found that there were some delightful finds throughout the Argyle area if you really looked. Great blog by the way. Since leaving Chicago I miss the food and culture. This blog can be a nice vicarious source of Chicago food info for me.
Posted by: Coe Douglas | March 31, 2005 at 05:09 PM
Hi,
Very nice post. In fact, every visit included pho and cafe sua da, the strong and sweet iced coffee drink.
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