The first step is admiting you have a problem....

....I am addicted. I'm not proud of it. I'm just tired of sneaking around and you should know the truth. My name is Brandon and I'm a Pho Junkie. This Vietnamese beef soup is the perfect meal. Come lunch time I am out the door in search of beef broth, noodles, cilantro, onions, sweet basil, bean sprouts, jalapeños, thin sliced rare eye of round steak, tendon, brisket, flank steak, tripe, (quite) a bit of Shrachi, hoisin sauce and fresh squeezed lime. I eat it at least once a week it is very filling and satisfies my appitite as well as my wallet with a large bowl (32oz) being about 7 dollars and you can doctor it how ever you want with the add ons to be as spicy or mild as you want to make it. I usually leave with my nose running, esophagus and lips burning from drinking the volcanic broth that is left when all the noodles and bean sprouts are gone. There is much debate on the pronucation of this wonderful food. I like to say it just like it is spelled 'Foe', although I hear Anthony Bourdain and Andrew Zimmern say it 'Fuh'. Call it what you will I call it good. My friend at work and I have four spots we like to hit all with good Pho and one with the be-all-end-all Pho. We hit Pho 88, Pho An, Pho Siagon 54, and our favorite Pho Vn One. Everyone has ther favorites. Some spots have more meat in the soup, or fresher add-ons, the other might have better noodles or better broth and sometimes they all come together for that perfect bowl. Monday is my main Pho day for lunch. and it usually starts with an e-mail to Drew around 8:30-9:00 am with any of the following subject lines: Pho-Time? Pho-Tour? Pho-Real? or simply Pho?, which he never turns down. I can and have eaten it for days in row for lunch but not like sushi which I could have at every meal but that is another post. Get out there and eat some Pho...If you are in the College Park area at lunch time there's a good chance you could see me and Drew sweating over a bowl of delicious Pho.


(The picture above is my awesome lunch of a large #14 :Tai, Sach- Fresh rice noodle soup with Eye of Round Steak, & Shredded Tripe from Pho Vn One.)