Pho Vi Hoa
It’s almost certain that outside the big Vietnamese communities any Vietnamese restaurant you see in America has the word pho in it. People must eventually have the impression that Vietnamese eat nothing but rice noodle soup. Of course, Japanese eat nothing but sushi and Americans have only hamburgers.
Mudpie found this place earlier in Los Altos, about 10-15 minutes car ride from SLAC. We strayed from the usual pho and ordered a gargantuan set of appetizers and main courses. Starting off was the familiar goi cuon, a salad wrap with some lettuce or garden herbs, some halved shrimps (mainly for decoration), a razor blade thin slice of boiled pork, some fresh bean sprout, and a little bundle of rice vermicelli. I took a bite by itself, and the meat couldn’t quite buff the plain veggie up, so a dip into the peanut sauce nearby was essential. It was a very light appetizer, and no matter how slowly you go you’re gonna finish the roll in at most 3 minutes. I don’t know what kind of sauce they serve with in Vietnam, but the peanut sauce here is just really good.
Next came the supposedly called cha gio (stated “in rice paper” on the menu). As I had lived in Vietnam for 17 years I believe I’m qualified to judge whether a roll of cha gio is actually made of rice paper (banh trang) or the fooling wheat sheet that makes the Vietnamese cha gio synonymous with the Chinese egg roll. So here goes: “rice paper” my foot. It’s not any more rice paper than the average mediocre egg roll you find at any Chinese buffet. Can you ever find a real cha gio in America anymore? I’d give them some credit for trying: the wrapper is indeed thin. But rice paper is translucent, this is as opaque as Venus’ atmosphere. Good egg roll, but honestly, I feel cheated.
Pictured above is goi ngo sen tom thit (lotus stem salad with shrimp and pork), which appeared suspiciously in the appetizer section, since we both ate some and even took the rest home for another meal. One thing to be noticed is Vietnamese salad is nothing like our usual American garden salad or Caesar salad. The waiter is not going to ask you what kind of dressing you’d like, and you need not innocuously remind “on the side, please”. There is no reason to fret over some little Ranch or bleu cheese dressing that will cause your calorie level to shoot up, or vinaigrette to make your taste buds sour. The salad is simply soaked in a mixture of salt, lemon juice, and sugar. Every piece of lotus stem, sliced carrot, sliced onion, cilantro, even the thin slices of boiled pork and the shrimp halves, has almost the same taste of that mixture, thoroughly and evenly. The lotus stem is a little crunchy, the pork is tender and mild, but not plain in the least, topped with crushed peanuts for some nuttiness. The salad is a meal in itself, so simple and elegant. And healthy.
But we didn’t stay healthy for long. For main course we had com tay cam (English name: clay pot) and old timer bun thit nuong (cold rice vermicelli with grilled pork).
The rice came with a small cup of pho broth, which I’m not sure what to do with. I’m pretty sure the rice wasn’t cooked in the pot, only served in it, because the pot wasn’t hot and the rice was almost flaming. The first spoon was excellent, the second revealed that it’s a rather oily combination of fried rice, fried shiitake mushroom, fried Chinese sausage, and fried chicken. The pot could be smaller than your cereal bowl, but it’s like the pot of Thach Sanh, it’s so filling you keep eating layer after layer but you just can’t finish it in one sitting.
Now this had been my craving for a long time. A bowl of chargrilled pork chops atop a soft bed of bún, some bean sprout and sliced cucumber at the bottom for a taste of freshness, sprinkled crushed peanuts and many a spoonful of nuoc mam pha (fish extract diluted in water, mixed with lemon juice, salt and sugar, and very little chopped garlic). I like the bun, the nuoc mam, and the veggie, but I would whisper *just* a little disappointment with the pork. It was definitely flavorful, but it was too thinly sliced. It wasn’t grilled long enough to bring out all the flavor. And it’s a little, just a little, dry. Beside, how are you supposed to cut that monstrously wide sheet of meat with chopsticks?
This is the closest one could get to Vietnamese food from Palo Alto, and unarguably a good find (a decent one, if you’re uncompromisingly picky about real cha gio). It’s cheap and takes credit card. We didn’t have to wait long for our food to arrive, but if you expect attentive service coming to ask “Is everything okay?” and refill your water every 10 minutes, don’t come here. Vietnamese restaurants respect privacy of their customers, so no need to worry about putting food in your mouth the correct way (as there is none). The only thing that bothered me about this place was the chatty nature of the hostesses. When the restaurant wasn’t packed after prime lunch time, our ladies comfortably spilled out to each other, across the counter and tables in Vietnamese with heavy Southern accent, numerous pieces about friends and relatives. Not that many could understand them, but some background music would be more pleasant I think. See menu.
Phở Vỉ Hoa Restaurant
4546 El Camino Real Suite A12
Los Altos, CA 94022
Lunch for two: $21.81
You completed a number of good points there. I did a search on the subject matter and found nearly all persons will go along with with your blog.
1Way cool, some valid points! I appreciate you making this article available, the rest of the site is also high quality. Have a fun.
2I am impressed with this internet site, rattling I am a big fan .
3I have read several just right stuff here. Certainly worth bookmarking for revisiting. I wonder how much attempt you place to make one of these wonderful informative web site.
4I am thankful that I discovered this web blog, exactly the right info that I was searching for! .
5Hi! Do you know if they make any plugins to protect against hackers? I’m kinda paranoid about losing everything I’ve worked hard on. Any recommendations?
6After I originally commented I clicked the -Notify me when new feedback are added- checkbox and now every time a comment is added I get four emails with the identical comment. Is there any manner you possibly can take away me from that service? Thanks!
7You can definitely see your skills in the paintings you write. The arena hopes for more passionate writers such as you who are not afraid to say how they believe. All the time follow your heart. “In America, through pressure of conformity, there is freedom of choice, but nothing to choose from.” by Peter Ustinov.
8Would you be excited about exchanging links?
9Thanks for another informative site. Where else could I get that kind of information written in such an ideal way? I have a project that I’m just now working on, and I’ve been on the look out for such info.
10You really make it seem so easy with your presentation but I find this topic to be really something which I think I would never understand. It seems too complicated and very broad for me. I’m looking forward for your next post, I’ll try to get the hang of it!
11Very interesting info !Perfect just what I was searching for! “If you want to test your memory, try to recall what you were worrying about one year ago today.” by Rotarian.
12you have a great blog here! would you like to make some invite posts on my blog?
13Whats up very nice site!! Guy .. Beautiful .. Amazing .. I will bookmark your site and take the feeds also…I am happy to search out a lot of helpful info right here within the submit, we’d like work out more strategies on this regard, thanks for sharing. . . . . .
14Hi my family member! I want to say that this article is awesome, nice written and come with almost all significant infos. I would like to peer extra posts like this .
15You have remarked very interesting details! ps decent site.
16As I website owner I think the content here is real fantastic, thankyou for your efforts.
17I was suggested this web site by means of my cousin. I’m no longer certain whether this put up is written by him as no one else recognize such exact approximately my difficulty. You’re wonderful! Thanks!
18I have learn some excellent stuff here. Definitely value bookmarking for revisiting. I surprise how so much attempt you put to make this type of fantastic informative website.
19obviously like your web-site but you have to take a look at the spelling on several of your posts. A number of them are rife with spelling problems and I to find it very bothersome to inform the truth nevertheless I will certainly come back again.
20Apppreciate this post. Willl tryy iit out. xnxx
21you have an ideal weblog right here! would you wish to make some invite posts on my weblog?
22Great blog! Is your theme custom made or did you download it from somewhere? A design like yours with a few simple adjustements would really make my blog stand out. Please let me know where you got your theme. Kudos
23Thanks for the sensible critique. Me and my neighbor were just preparing to do a little research about this. We got a grab a book from our area library but I think I learned more from this post. I’m very glad to see such magnificent information being shared freely out there.
24Hi, just required you to know I he added your site to my Google bookmarks due to your layout. But seriously, I believe your internet site has 1 in the freshest theme I??ve came across. It extremely helps make reading your blog significantly easier.
25Utterly written written content, Really enjoyed looking through.
26What i do not understood is if truth be told how you’re now not really a lot more neatly-appreciated than you might be right now. You’re very intelligent. You already know therefore considerably in the case of this subject, made me individually believe it from a lot of varied angles. Its like men and women don’t seem to be interested except it is something to accomplish with Girl gaga! Your personal stuffs outstanding. At all times deal with it up!
27I not to mention my buddies have already been taking note of the great ideas from the blog and then suddenly I had a terrible feeling I had not expressed respect to you for them. All the men were definitely as a result very interested to read them and now have without a doubt been having fun with those things. I appreciate you for actually being simply accommodating and then for making a choice on this sort of outstanding things most people are really needing to know about. My very own honest apologies for not expressing appreciation to you sooner.
28I’ll right away snatch your rss feed as I can not find your e-mail subscription hyperlink or e-newsletter service. Do you have any? Please permit me realize so that I may subscribe. Thanks.
29I haven’t checked in here for some time as I thought it was getting boring, but the last few posts are good quality so I guess I’ll add you back to my everyday bloglist. You deserve it my friend 🙂
30Enjoyed reading this, very good stuff, appreciate it. “Be not careless in deeds, nor confused in words, nor rambling in thought.” by Marcus Aurelius Antoninus.
31I’ve been browsing on-line more than 3 hours as of late, but I never discovered any fascinating article like yours. It is beautiful value enough for me. In my opinion, if all website owners and bloggers made excellent content material as you probably did, the web will likely be a lot more helpful than ever before.
32It’s a pity you don’t have a donate button! I’d most certainly donate to this fantastic blog! I suppose for now i’ll settle for book-marking and adding your RSS feed to my Google account. I look forward to fresh updates and will share this website with my Facebook group. Chat soon!
33Terrific work! That is the type of info that are meant to be shared around the internet. Disgrace on the seek engines for now not positioning this put up upper! Come on over and discuss with my web site . Thanks =)
34Fantastic beat ! I would like to apprentice at the same time as you amend your web site, how could i subscribe for a weblog site? The account aided me a appropriate deal. I had been a little bit acquainted of this your broadcast offered shiny clear concept
35Great, I should certainly pronounce, impressed with your website. I had no trouble navigating through all the tabs as well as related information ended up being truly simple to do to access. I recently found what I hoped for before you know it at all. Quite unusual. Is likely to appreciate it for those who add forums or anything, web site theme . a tones way for your customer to communicate. Excellent task.
36Anda dapat jelas melihat keterampilan Anda dalam karya yang Anda tulis. Sektor berharap ada lebih banyak penulis penuh semangat seperti Anda yang tidak takut mengatakan apa yang mereka yakini. Senantiasa ikuti hati Anda.
37Saya sering blogging dan saya sangat menghargai konten Anda. Artikel ini benar-benar menarik perhatian saya. Saya akan mem-bookmark situs Anda dan terus memeriksa informasi baru.
38I enjoy your work, thanks for all the informative posts.
39Thanks , I’ve just been looking for info about this topic for ages and yours is the greatest I have discovered till now. But, what about the bottom line? Are you sure about the source?
40Saya selalu tertarik dengan topik ini dan masih demikian, terima kasih telah memposting.
41I adore reading through and I believe this website got some really utilitarian stuff on it! .
42Hey there! Quick question that’s totally off topic. Do you know how to make your site mobile friendly? My web site looks weird when viewing from my iphone4. I’m trying to find a theme or plugin that might be able to resolve this issue. If you have any recommendations, please share. With thanks!
43Nice post. I was checking constantly this blog and I am impressed! Extremely useful information specially the last section 🙂 I care for such info much. I was looking for this particular info for a long time. Thanks and good luck.
44I truly appreciate your piece of work, Great post.
45Hey there! Do you know if they make any plugins to help with Search Engine Optimization? I’m trying to get my blog to rank for some targeted keywords but I’m not seeing very good results. If you know of any please share. Thanks!
46Thank you for another informative blog. Where else could I get that kind of information written in such a perfect way? I have a project that I’m just now working on, and I have been on the look out for such info.
47Its like you read my thoughts! You seem to know a lot about this, such as you wrote the e book in it or something. I think that you simply could do with a few to drive the message house a bit, however other than that, that is excellent blog. A fantastic read. I will certainly be back.
48Thanks , I have just been looking for info about this topic for ages and yours is the greatest I’ve discovered so far. But, what about the conclusion? Are you sure about the source?
49It’s in point of fact a nice and useful piece of info. I’m glad that you just shared this helpful info with us. Please stay us up to date like this. Thanks for sharing.
50