5 April 2005
"Pho"-eey
Vietnamese beef noodle soup. That's what this is all about. Terrible pun I know.
It's all because I tried to make said soup last night. Such a simple dish and yet not. I had all the right ingredients - thinly sliced beef, beef balls, coriander, basil, mint, noodles... and yet, the parts did not make much of a sum.
The trouble is I guess I don't have all the beef bones that need boiling up for hours to make a good stock. Or the time to do said boiling. Also, the kind of beef I can get hold of tends to be sadly inadequate - even the organic, ready thin sliced beef I bought from Fresh & Wild. Not thin enough and tastes a bit funny. Going in search of a wonder butcher seems like too much hard work.
I guess I'll just have to stick to the Vietnamese restaurant on Wardour Street called - wait for it - Vietnamese Restaurant.
I doubt it's the best in town - all the reviews rave on about the ones near Old Street station. But they certainly do the best pho I've ever had. Mmmmm.
Lovely steamy, clear tasty stock. Thin noodles. Thin, thin, thin sliced beef. Hot, hot, hot green chillies. Heaps of beansprouts, mint and coriander to tear up with your fingers and add to the dish. It all tastes fresh, fresh, fresh! And all for the princely sum of £3.80.
I just thought they might think I'm a lunatic as I'm there all the time. Talking about the hot green chillies. They're a bit of a hit and miss affair in the hottometer. Sometimes they're fairly mild and a bit of a disappointment but once they were so hot I went deaf in one ear and half of my face went numb for a few hours. Ah, but what pleasure.
It's also quite interesting eating there because the family who own the place sit around all day eating, arguing (in a familial sort of fashion) and generally acting out their lives before the world, oblivious to all and sundry. The matriarch (she's not that old) frequently harangues the grandfather and various teenage sons who reply in grumbles and protestations.
Ah me. It makes me smile.
It's all because I tried to make said soup last night. Such a simple dish and yet not. I had all the right ingredients - thinly sliced beef, beef balls, coriander, basil, mint, noodles... and yet, the parts did not make much of a sum.
The trouble is I guess I don't have all the beef bones that need boiling up for hours to make a good stock. Or the time to do said boiling. Also, the kind of beef I can get hold of tends to be sadly inadequate - even the organic, ready thin sliced beef I bought from Fresh & Wild. Not thin enough and tastes a bit funny. Going in search of a wonder butcher seems like too much hard work.
I guess I'll just have to stick to the Vietnamese restaurant on Wardour Street called - wait for it - Vietnamese Restaurant.
I doubt it's the best in town - all the reviews rave on about the ones near Old Street station. But they certainly do the best pho I've ever had. Mmmmm.
Lovely steamy, clear tasty stock. Thin noodles. Thin, thin, thin sliced beef. Hot, hot, hot green chillies. Heaps of beansprouts, mint and coriander to tear up with your fingers and add to the dish. It all tastes fresh, fresh, fresh! And all for the princely sum of £3.80.
I just thought they might think I'm a lunatic as I'm there all the time. Talking about the hot green chillies. They're a bit of a hit and miss affair in the hottometer. Sometimes they're fairly mild and a bit of a disappointment but once they were so hot I went deaf in one ear and half of my face went numb for a few hours. Ah, but what pleasure.
It's also quite interesting eating there because the family who own the place sit around all day eating, arguing (in a familial sort of fashion) and generally acting out their lives before the world, oblivious to all and sundry. The matriarch (she's not that old) frequently harangues the grandfather and various teenage sons who reply in grumbles and protestations.
Ah me. It makes me smile.
Labels: food, restaurants
# posted by gilamonster : 14:02
