Pho, pronounced “fur”, is one of Vietnam’s staple dishes. You can find Pho shops all across the country. In Saigon, you can find them on almost every single corner. This particular bowl was remarkable not because of the perfectly tender tripe swimming in the hot, salty broth. It was not perfect because of the medium rare beef that floated under the green onions like a half inflated pool raft. It wasn’t impeccable because of the bah bah bah I sipped washing down every flavor packed spoonful. This meal was killer because of the note pad full of words to the right of the steaming bowl of wonder above.
When the food, the flavor, the spices, the beverage, the ambiance, the temperature and the company (in this case my own) align, I’m left with the perfect storm. One that rains ideas onto whatever paper is near by allowing my thoughts that usually bump around my brain to fall through the tip of a pen and irrigate the paper beneath. You may be wondering how this makes the soup taste better but I actually hope you’re not. When food acts as the catalyst to focus it always circles back to my tongue. Just the way an impecable waiter at a 5 star restaurant can make your love for a tasty meal lean towards delicious, a meal that brings some focus to my otherwise non-stop, crazy, time-starved life actually can taste better. This is not to say that the Pho was second rate. It is to emphasis that killer meals always use all five senses when embedding the memory into your brain.
Go there:
Pho 24
17 Huỳnh Thúc Kháng, Bến Nghé, Quận 1 Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam | +84 8 3914 2424 | pho24.com.vn
