I got H/A to pick me up at the airport and I rewarded him with a meal of his choice. Except, it was really my choice, and I chose Pho & Cafe Anh Hong, which is one of the few vietnamese places in the burbs. I’d gotten take-out from there a few times, but this was my first dining in visit. It’s a few doors down from H Mart. It’s the closest place to home where I can get pho.
H/A got the rice plate with charbroiled chicken, shredded pork, and egg quiche. He liked it, but the shredded pork stuff did not appeal to me. Note to self, do not ever order that.
I wasn’t feeling bun or pho, so I got something I haven’t tried before, the rice flake with charbroiled pork and steam pork roll. I’m not sure where the term rice flake comes from, because it’s not flake shaped or flaky. It’s just wide flat rice noodles that are rolled up and they put the meat stuff on top. It’s basically like a vermicelli bowl except the noodles are different and it’s served on a plate. I was not a big fan of the pork roll. I made H/A eat it because he grew up with that stuff and likes it. Or even if he doesn’t, he’s like a personal food garbage man. This tasted fine, but I think I’ll stick to bun. It was a little bit more difficult to eat.

When we were in Fort Collins, our host told us that her favorite place in Boulder was the Teahouse. So we went! It is a beautiful teahouse and restaurant.
This Teahouse exists because it was a gift to Boulder from their sister city, Dushanbe. For four years, artisans from Tajikistan created the hand-carved and hand-painted ceilings, tables, stools, columns, and exterior. It really is quite beautiful, and worth a visit just to check out the artistry.
It was yet another beautiful warm and sunny Colorado day, so we sat outside. S got the soup of the day, which was a split pea. Ok, so I don’t remember having tried split pea soup back in the day, but if it tastes like this, then I need to have more of it. It was slightly chunky and had a bit of a curry flavor. Is this what it’s supposed to taste like? I have no idea, but it was pretty awesome. I could have eaten many more bowls of this.
The menu is rather mixed. I’m not sure how you would describe it. S got the Indian Masala Dosa. It is a cumin and fennel crepe stuffed with curried potatoes, cauliflower, onions, tomato, peas, topped with onion fritters and it is served with dal and cucumber yogurt. I’ve never had dosa before but now I know I like it! It was even vegetarian and is still fantastic. All the bits and pieces are super flavorful, so when you put it together, yeah, it’s a party in your mouth. It’s a popular item on the menu and definitely worth a try.
I wanted something light and noodley so I got the Spicy Indonesian Peanut Noodle. It included rice noodles, carrots, broccoli, cabbage, peppers, and peanut curry, and I got mine with tofu. This was ok. It wasn’t really very spicy or very peanuty. It was just very mild and safe. But it certainly got the job done. If you’re in Boulder, be sure to stop by to eat, have tea, or just admire the craftsmanship.

We spent a little bit of time wandering around Pearl st and then got hungry. Through random searching, we ended up going on a decent walk to dine at Tibet Kitchen. The place seems mostly to be a take-out place, but there is a teeny area of indoor seating and also an outside patio area. Don’t go there for ambiance.
Every cuisine seems to have their own version of dumpling, and in Tibet, they’re called momo. These suckers are made from scratch and filled with chicken, cilantro, onion, scallion, garlic, and ginger. They’re served with a homemade hot sauce, that I might say is slightly on the mexican-ish side. These are hearty, tasty, and big! But they are generous with their ginger, so watch out.
Neither of us had ever tried tibetan food before, so we asked for recommendations. Our server recommended the thenthuk, which is a noodle soup with hand-pulled pasta. The pasta is a hand-pulled flat pasta, as in it’s a flat sheet and pieces are hand pulled from it, not pulled as in long skinny noodles. It is cooked in a choice of chicken, beef, or veggie based broth and served with baby bok choy, daikon, and spinach. The broth is barely spicy. S got the veggie version.
I got the beef version so mine also came with slices of beef. This was a nice and hearty soup. The broth is light but flavorful, and the noodles are a nice diversion from a typical long noodle. The fresh veggies were very welcomed ingredients. This was a great introduction to tibetan cuisine. Now I’m interested in trying more!