On a lovely weekend that actually wasn’t steamy hot, one could actually eat pho and not sweat to death. So that’s precisely what we did. Place of pho? Pho Ha on 6th and Washington. Why no pictures? You’ve seen plenty of pictures of giant buckets of pho on this here blog. But the picture worth showing is this stunning (well, much more stunning in person) double rainbow that showed up after this wicked storm that we were slurping pho through. They were the biggest rainbows I’d ever seen, and went all the way from left to right. I love this kind of crazy weather.

Before I headed out to G’s monthly Javaflix, I had to get something to eat. Since I was in the neighborhood, I stopped by the newly open Vietnam Restaurant sister place, Vietnam Cafe, for some takeout. It was too hot for pho, and that never works out well as takeout anyway. A vermicelli bowl would have been too messy, so I settled for a broken rice plate with grilled lemon grass pork chops. It came with two really big pork chops. They were good, but a little on the bland side. It probably would have been a bit better if I was actually dining at the restaurant. You get a lot of food, so it makes up for the fact that it’s not the most affordable vietnamese. Just like Vietnam, Vietnam Cafe is a bit on the pricier side. While I was waiting, I could see that the small place is doing quite brisk business. It’s definitely a welcome addition to West Philly dining.

I volunteer at Appel Farm every summer for their music and art fest. Perhaps this year it wasn’t the smartest, considering the freak heatwave. I was outside all day. It sucked. In some of the saddest news, once my shift ended, there wasn’t any food left for us volunteers. They usually have these amazing pulled pork sandwiches. In fact, I’d been thinking of them for an entire year… only to be denied while completely starving. It was completely sad.
I got over it by stopping for a bahn mi on my way home. Ah, the beauty that is a vietnamese hoagie. I got it at Ba Le on 6th and Washington. I like mine with grilled pork. What else is on this? Pickled daikon and carrot, cilantro, and sliced jalapenos. All on a lovely crusty baguette. Seriously people, there’s nothing like a bahn mi when it’s 654784 degrees outside. Gawd, it’s even more beautiful in a close-up. This is what macro function is made for.

I also couldn’t go to Ba Le and not get the grilled pork goi cuon. Even though I have no idea how long these were sitting around, they were still good. Man, they’re beautiful, even in pictures.