Phantastical Pho
After leaving you with our deflated experience of Pho in Ho Chi Minh City, I feel a little sheepish. You see I like to think of myself as a bona fide Pho lover. And, as I feel my love is true, I should stand by Pho through thick noodles and thin, for better broth or worse.
But to the first bowl I had in Vietnam that didn’t live up to my inflated expectations, I turned a cold shoulder. That is not how you treat a loved one. I am so sorry, Pho. Please forgive me…
I want to make it up to you with a tale of Phantastical Pho.
I had no doubt that whilst visiting the beautiful land of Pho I would be presented with a heavenly bowl, yet I was unsure when it would come to me. It turns out, the chosen place for this holy experience was Hoi An. Being on the central coast, I was not sure what broth flavour to expect. Hoi An is closer to the south than the north, so perhaps this would mean the flavour would be sweet? Well it was on the sweet side, but not too sweet. More like “Sweeeeeeet!” (said by an Aussie teenage surfer in the early ‘90s)…
Initially when I walked past this hidden restaurant, I assumed it was someone’s house. Actually it probably is. But what I mean is that I thought it was out of bounds to hungry tourists. And so, day after day, we would pass by this little place on the way into the Old Town and watch the locals drink together from steaming bowls.
One day we tried our luck. Ben, the conglomerate of races he is, went in first (he liked to try and convince people he was a local). Wearing his most charming of smiles, he successfully secured us a table. And so we sat on our plastic stools, surrounded by discarded tissue paper, and waited for our breakfast.
Excited much?
And then it came...
Wow.
All the elements came together to create one bowl of bliss; a broth that was not overwhelming, yet could stand alone as a beautiful, aromatic soup; fresh, slippery noodles; oh my goodness, melt-in-your-mouth, super thin slices of tender beef ; bunches of fresh, vibrant herbs positively bursting with fragrance and flavour; and a touch of chilli - just a touch. Sweeeeeeet...
