Archive for 'pho'

Huong Tram, fka Nam Son, Pho-cus on the Chicken

A bit over a month ago, Nam Son on Washington Avenue changed owners and became Huong Tram. The menu is still Vietnamese, though slightly downsized from the seemingly infinite selection of the former menu.  The space is a bit remodeled but you can still enter from either 16th Street or through the shopping plaza on Washington.  The adjacent bakery is still under the Nam Son name.

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Crispy Noodles and Improved Pho at Pho Ta

Down on Washington Ave, Pho Ta replaced Pho Hoa. Similar name, similar menu. But would the pho be any better?

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Pho 75, Pho in Love

Last week I told you guys about my last meal before Passover, as big Italian sandwich from Sarcone’s. I needed some serious carbs to break the week of no “chamatz” (bread products, including noodles).  It looks like I  make a habit out of ending Passover with Asian noodles; 2 years ago I broke with Nan Zhou and this year Pho 75 fit the bill.

Pho 75 is located at the corner of a Viet shopping plaza on Washington Avenue. Whereas Pho Hoa has a book for a menu, Pho 75 has a single page and its pho only. Pho, things to put in your pho, and drinks, nothing else.  But unlike Pho Hoa, Pho 75 nails their one menu item.

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Soup at Pho Hoa: The Pho Bo Kho is Pho’s Snazzy Best Friend

Pho Hoa is an international chain, which had previously persuaded me to seek my Viet soup elsewhere. But when I bit the bullet and dined there, I was pleasantly surprised by one soup in particular.

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An Alternative to Beef Pho at Cafe Diem

Cafe Diem is a Vietnamese restaurant that is as tiny as it is authentic. The one page menu is dominated by noodle soups. The internet suggests the  bun bo hue, spicy beef soup, is the thing to get here. But my friend at Philadining praised the chicken noodle pho- called pho ga- and I decided to get over my notion that only beef pho was worthy of consumption.

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A Lunch at Chifa Should Come in a Baguette

I had a plan to go to Sampan for lunch with my ladies, but then I realized they stop serving lunch! What a shame, I wanted to get my hands on those banh mi’s. I quickly thought up Chifa as a good alternative. Jose Garces’ Chifa combines Peruvian and Chinese cuisines, and lucky for us they have a lunch menu with some affordable  options. The Express lunch allows you to pick 2 courses for $14, but you can pick just one course instead and fall under the $10 but still be full. A list of smaller dim sum plates are also on the lunch menu.

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Get Beefed Up with Pho in University City

Today, Nick from My Inner Fatty is seeking pho in University City.

Now that we’re deeply entrenched in the Fall season, the weather’s getting less pleasant, and the temperatures are dipping. With the depressing nature of the upcoming months, sometimes it can feel like a chore to even bother trekking out to make that daily trip for lunch… unless waiting for you at the other end of that trip was something so deliciously heartwarming and uplifting. Pho does that. When it’s absolutely frigid outside, a hot bowl of sweet beef broth can solve even your greatest of problems. Now all I had to do was find it in University City…

I had heard about Pho Cafe Saigon when I asked a few friends about Vietnamese noodles a few weeks ago. Located on 43rd and Spruce, it’s a bit out of the way, requiring a dedicated trip, but having no other immediate options, I still wanted to try it out personally. The store itself is small and nondescript, with only a simple red awning reading ‘Vietnamese Restaurant,’ hinting at its potential for greatness. Their menu is long and diverse, but let’s be honest… you’d only go here for the main attraction. They list various types of Pho (differing in the cuts of meat used) all ranging in price from $7.25-8, from the relatively innocuous plain beef, to a tripe infested ‘deluxe’ incarnation for the more adventurous eaters in many of you. With virtually no wait time to speak of and excellent prices, this could truly be considered a hidden gem of noodling excellence.

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