Pho the love of phơ

A couple of years ago, my sweet friend Sarah invited me to have phơ with her for lunch. I had absolutely no idea what this meant or what I was in for, but I love just about all food, so why not add to the list, right?

My first phơ experience was at Phơ Hoa on Olympia's west side. It was love at first taste. I got tofu phơ, because raw meat sort of freaks me out...or it did at the time.   Phơ hoa will always be my favorite phơ, it set the bar for me and never disappoints.

Whenever I go to phơ I have pretty specific expectations, some more necessary than others. First, the broth...the broth needs to be not too salty and not too peppery, but just right. They need to have plastic chopsticks, not the cheap wood kind. They also must have fresh looking basil and musn't go cheap on the jalapenos. Top of the list, Sriracha...they absolutely must have sriracha! It's also a must to have the hot pepper sauce...but I have NO idea what this delicious fiery shit is because it's always in generic bottles. At any rate...not just a confusing paste, but the sauce. Phơ 111 in tumwater has a paste and I'm not down with it. I'm not a super big fan of that place either. Great spring rolls, not excellent phơ.

So, to say the least I've been to a few phơ joints around, and here are my two cents...

Phơ hoa: you already know

Phơ 102 (tumwater, used to be arby's): probably my second favorite...except they don't have plastic chopsticks...which doesn't really matter since I use a fork...the chopstick thing is for Sarah.

Phơ and Baguette (tumwater by freddys):totally awesome but they put big veggies in their tofu phơ, so ask to take those out if you aren't into that...I'm certainly not. The owners are the sweetest people, and I hear their baguettes are to die for...

Little da Nang: excellent! Spring rolls are giant and fresh. Also, the shallots on top of the phơ is signature yum! Their hours online and on the door vary...so don't expect to go before noon...or even 12:30 for that matter.

I think that's good for now...I may add some later. :-)  I hope if you are on a quest for the best phơ that you find this helpful...and that you invite me!

Cheers,
A