Do you like blurry pictures? Good, cuz my camera does too. Here's a fabulous shot of the inside of Pho King #3. I know it's a really cheap thrill, but if you attempt to pronounce "pho" correctly (kinda like phuh?), that name is pretty funny. PK3 has some nice fake fruit inside, but that's about it for decor. It's no frills. The people there were very nice on my visit. I was there for one thing and one thing only.
This blurry soup called bun rieu. The menu describes it as "tomato vermicelli" soup, and it is, but it's so much more. In addition to the hunks of pink tomato-the tomato was terrible, but at least the fact that it cooked a little bit in the broth helped-there was blood cake (dotted with holes like red Swiss cheese), two quail eggs (what a treat!), fried tofu cake, and best of all, a big, greyish, crab/pork meatball. The broth was quite fishy, or actually quite crabby, or maybe shrimpy? From shrimp paste? They gave me lettuce and cabbage to put on the top, and I like the way the lettuce cooked in the broth. It was great. Everyone enjoyed their food. The rest ordered pho (great broth, although Pho Saigon I think has the best pho I've had so far on Stockton), pork chop with rice, and chicken bun. Everytime tripe is listed on the menu it is listed as "bible tripe". I don't know if that is a real thing or what.
Remember that wine sale at 58 Degrees I mentioned? It's a doozy. There are some great deals to be had, and it continues the rest of September. The wine on the second from left was 40% off eleven bucks! The wine second to right was decidedly not on sale, but I'm so excited they have it! That was my favorite kind of vinho verde I had in Portugal. Although in Portugal I think it was like 3.80 euros maybe. At 58 Degrees it was 17 bucks. That's kind of too much to pay for vinho verde, but who can put a price on a memory? Who can catch a falling star? Who can take a nothing day and suddenly make it all seem worthwhile?
Perhaps MH can weigh in on purchases? I'd like to know about the one on the far left and the one in the middle.
Pho King #3 is the best! I lurve that place...maybe bible tripe is aged inside the good book?
ReplyDeleteI second the dooziness of the sale! I was in there yesterday and they've discounted tons of stuff, and not just stuff they want to get rid...they've got stickers on some stuff they just brought in. In general, 58's selection is really good right now, the best I've seen it.
ReplyDeleteThe Darting rose is nice, it's off-dry, so it'd be good with something spicy. It's rose made from Pinot Noir in southern Germany.
Jerome Chezeaux is an excellent producer of Burgundy, and his wines (even at the Bourgogne level) are lovely. This is what Pinot Noir is supposed to taste like. And it's non-sale price is $24, which is almost unheard of for burgundy of any kind anymore.
The tripe in pho is always (in my experience) "book"-style, with layers, leaves, pages, fingers, whatever. And the only really good book is the bible, so it's also called bible tripe. Book tripe comes from the cow's third stomach; other tripe styles are smooth and honeycomb, from the first and second stomachs.
ReplyDeleteThat Texier will be a real treat. Roast a rack of lamb.
Ben
Would the burgundy be a good candidate for aging?
ReplyDeleteThat's a good idea about the lamb. I've only made lamb a couple of times ever, once a greasy soup, and once a leg that was just ok. I won't let lamb beat me, so I'll try again this fall.
ReplyDeleteThat pork chop was really good, nice and thin and charred.
ReplyDelete-natalie.
have you tried pho xe lau?
ReplyDeleteIz good!
Also, if you daring, Bun bo hue soup
Iz spicy!
Yeah, I tried pho xe lua, I thought it was pretty good, but not as good as pho saigon across the street. I've tried bun bo hue. Pick up the september midtown monthly if you want to know what I think about it.
ReplyDeleteThe soup in the pic looks a little like the soup I serve to locals and tourists, only we're a Cambodian place and the broth tends to be clearer and less oily. (The locals and leafers seem to be split equally between those who know the difference between Cambodia/Cambodian food and China/Chinese food and those who dig Sarah Palin.)
ReplyDelete"Ed Hunter, Server of Khiteau (sic)"