How Much is Pho ???

Not sure what you mean, dak - the recipe?  That's definitely pho.  Tom yum is a hot/sour type soup, with totally different seasonings - Galangal, lime, Thai lime leaves (keffir?), lemongrass, chili paste.  Usually has mushrooms and seafood, waterchesnuts, stuff like in won ton soup, but I've never had noodles.  Pho is basically just a rich beef broth with very distinctive flavors, mainly star anise.  It's not "sour" at all.  The noodles and some types of meat are added and the last minute and the diner usually adds herbs and bean sprouts and sometimes raw meat at the table, which cook in the hot broth.  

MikeS.


Thanks Rebeltruce. I've copied the recipe and will try it when I get a chance. Where do you get your fish sauce?

I didn't realize you were so close to me. I'm a bit N of Winchester.

Do you have any Pho shops to recommend down your way?

Hey Mike,
 
No Pho shops here in good old Culpeper! Not much at all in the way of any kind of Ethinic Groceries.
 
I make a trip back up to Northern Virginia about once every other month or so to stock up on Fish Sauce and any other Asian ingredients I need. They carry at least 5-10 brands of Fish Sauce, I alway buy the one with the squid on the bottle, it's white and a sort of pink colored label.
 
I normally go to Grand Mart, it's essentially a Korean market, but carries allot of other things.....various Latin, Indian and Chinese goodies. Last I knew there were two in NOVA, one in Centreville and one in Sterling they are both huge, so no trouble finding anything you may need. The produce is unbelievable, as well as the meats and seafood. All at bargain prices.
 
My favorite Pho shop is in Herndon, Va. PHO 75, maybe not the very top of the line but excellent none the less. No frills, just good soup, and very good coffee.
 
 

I hope Dak wasn't talking about the recipe...Sunny would be very upset to learn that his Pho recipe wasn't Pho......ILMAO!!!

When I say Sunny was a Vietnamese Cook, I mean he was a Street Food Vender in Hanoi before coming to this country to be a IT expert. 

He makes this Curry Chicken that is unreal, unfortunately he won't budge on giving out that recipe. He uses drumstick pieces that are cross sliced about 1/2 inch thick...it's amazing stuff.

Anyway back to Pho.

I see now!!!........Dak was talking about the OP's Disney menu.........it does say Lemongrass scented broth.

I've had Pho all over the world and I don't recall ever having a Lemongrass scent broth....LOL!

$8.50 for a large bowl of excellent Pho i my area.

Ah, the Disney menu.  18. is quite obscene for any soup.  And I doubt they are generous with the seafood.  But I'd sure like to go there on vacation someday soon. 

Here is a superb pho recipie posted by rebeltruce:
http://www.roadfood.com/F...ish-Sauce-m369234.aspx
... post 17 ... I tried it and it came out very, very, very good.

I came accross a site Pho lovers might enjoy I thought I would share.
http://www.phofever.com/

wheregreggeats.com


When I lived in Seattle there were almost as many pho places as Starbucks.

The place I liked, Pho Bac, in the International district charged about $5.00 for a huge bowl.

Yesterday in Amherst, Massachusetts, I paid $9.00 for a decent sized, but very tasty, bowl.

How much is a good bowl of pho in your neck of the woods?


Price to beat:



... at Epcot at Disney World.  (No, I did not indulge.)

 
Actually.....that is not at Epcot.  It's from the Yak and Yeti restaurant in Disney's Animal Kingdom.  It comes in a HUGE bowl!!!  I couldn't even finish it all it was so much!!!  This is not my pic but it is the Pho from AK.
 

In the Atlanta area there are three main locations for Asian ethnic foods including Pho:  Buford Highway (Pho probably is mostly limited to the stretch inside I - 285), South of the city and outside I -285 in Clayton County along Jonesboro Road (there are aslo a couple of places NOT on that road), and NE of the city and I-285 in Gwinnettt County.  Of these the Buford Highway corridor is far and away the largest and probably the most diverse.
 
Pho Bac, 4897 Buford Highway, is not my favorite, but their latest menu shows the following:  Small Bowl $ 5.45, Medium Bowl $6.45, and $6.95 for an "extra large"  Bowl of the traditional beef (any combination) or beef balls alone, or of the chicken and shrimp versions.  A bowl of the plain noodle soup with no meat is a dollar less for any of the sizes.  Extra meatballs are $0.85.  A side order of meatballs is $2.50.
 
A bowl of the Bun Bo Hue, presumably with the pork blood porridge cubes is also $6.95. 
 
In addition to the above mentioned small, medium, and large - or call it extra large - sizes, some local Pho shops also serve a smaller "baby bowl" for a dollar or so less than the small.
 
If I visit the Disney complex again I'll sure pass on the Pho there!
 
 

In Augusta GA recently  I found Pho in a free standing Japanese stir fry place that otherwise probably has food like the mall Japanese places you find.  It is the Wasabi Express at 2838 Washington Road.  Half the menu at this place is Vietnamese.  I did not take a meal there but the small medium and large bowls, usuual combinations and meat varieties, are $4.99, medium $5.99, and large $6.50.  The same sizes with no meat are $3.99, $4.50, and $5.00 respectively.   No Pho chicken or shrimp versions are offered although the Japanaese side of the menu includes those meats.   The Japanese side of the menu does not include sushi.
 
Probably because of the military bases nearby Augusta has a variety of ethnic food, more than you might expect of a small Southern city.
 
Augusta is at or near the end of I-20.  Wasabi Express is a short distance south of the Interstate  if you are driving through and wanting to try Pho.  I repeat I did not take a meal there.  If you are in Augusta to visit someone in the service or for an event such as the Master's, and Augusta National is not far away, you will quickly find that Washington Road is one focal points for food on both sides of I-20.
 
The local booster magazine and counter-culture newspaper published the results of the "Best of" voting recently.  I don't think thast Pho was a category.  I'd like to hear from someone who has eaten at Wasabi Express.
 
 

Born in OKC


In the Atlanta area there are three main locations for Asian ethnic foods including Pho:  Buford Highway (Pho probably is mostly limited to the stretch inside I - 285), South of the city and outside I -285 in Clayton County along Jonesboro Road (there are aslo a couple of places NOT on that road), and NE of the city and I-285 in Gwinnettt County.  Of these the Buford Highway corridor is far and away the largest and probably the most diverse.
 
Pho Bac, 4897 Buford Highway, is not my favorite, but their latest menu shows the following:  Small Bowl $ 5.45, Medium Bowl $6.45, and $6.95 for an "extra large"  Bowl of the traditional beef (any combination) or beef balls alone, or of the chicken and shrimp versions.  A bowl of the plain noodle soup with no meat is a dollar less for any of the sizes.  Extra meatballs are $0.85.  A side order of meatballs is $2.50.
 
A bowl of the bun bo hue, presumably with the pork blood porridge cubes is also $6.95. 
 
In addition to the above mentioned small, medium, and large - or call it extra large - sizes, some local Pho shops also serve a smaller "baby bowl" for a dollar or so less than the small.
 
If I visit the Disney complex again I'll sure pass on the Pho there!
 
 

I have been getting my Bun Bo Hue at Song Long Vietnamese Restaurant in the Roselawn area of Cincinnati for many many years - this is their menu description of this dish (I also have them add some meatballs):

LV4. Bun Bo Hue Soup
Our spicy lemongrass and beef broth with round rice noodles and sliced beef. $4.25

This is what it looks like:

NYPizzzaNut wrote in part:
 

I have been getting my Bun Bo Hue at Song Long Vietnamese Restaurant in the Roselawn area of Cincinnati for many many years - this is their menu description of this dish (I also have them add some meatballs): LV4. Bun Bo Hue Soup Our spicy lemongrass and beef broth with round rice noodles and sliced beef. $4.25

 
IIRC the internet literature shows Bun Bo Hue or similar soups with and without the cubes of blood porridge but I think around Atlanta all that I have had was "with."  Actually it is a rather rare treat for me because so many people are put off by the sight of someone consuming blood.  They think you a vampire or something. 
 
I have enjoyed blood sausages of several kinds and also other forms.  There is or used to be a steamy storefront restaurant in the Washington DC Chinatown that had sauteed duck's blood on the menu.  It was stir fried with vegetables and a good dish. 
 
Also I saw pork blood on the menu of a Chinese place in Portland, Oregon a few years back but never ate there.  At least one Oriental grocery in Atlanta (operated by Vets) offers the cubed pork blood for sale.  It is in open pails  in a cool case, like pickled bamboo shoots or  bulk tofu.   
 
 One thing, the Cinncinatti Bun Bo Hue sounds like a good deal.     

MikeS.


I don't think I've ever eaten a bowl of Pho. There were several places in Fresno when I left 11 years ago but I never stopped in. Next time I get down towards DC I'll try one.

Mike  if you ever get back down this way...let me recommend Pho 75 #2, at First and McKinley..  I had a great duck Pho with huge chunks of duck for around 7 dollars for a huge bowl..  but whatever you do, for the love of all that's holy...stay away from the durian smoothie.......shudder...I'm scarred for life... so are the kids...