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.

The weather finally started turning into full on fall weather and it’s made me so happy! I love fall because I can return to eating soup, soup, and more soup. And noodles being in said soup are even better, so on an especially dreary september day, I thought it would be a perfect day for pho.

Pho Saigon is one of the newer pho spots in town, having opened some time late last year. It’s one of those big and shiny places where the food comes out super fast, there are flatscreens playing football games, and it’s not very warm and fuzzy inside. I ordered a regular pho with brisket. It was great! I always taste pho broth before I adulterize it with anything (lime, sriracha, etc) to check if it’s good or not. And this broth is great! It’s not too salty, which is typically my number one gripe about bad pho, and it has flavor, because blandness is usually my number two gripe. There weren’t as many noodles, but then again I just ordered a regular and not a large, but man, there was so much meat!
I also ordered some of the fried spring rolls. These were quite disappointing. The inside was just mushy and it had a strange smell. Well, perhaps it wouldn’t be strange to some people, but to me, it just smelled strange and mushroom-ish. And I kept thinking it also smelled slightly like cleaning product, but I couldn’t be sure. It was a bummer. So now you know! Stick to the pho! The other disappointment was that they don’t have pho bo kho on the menu.

Pho Saigon is in a terrible strip mall on the corner of Columbus and Washington Ave. There really should be no reason for you to go to this strip mall, unless you need to go to the masquerade costume store or you need to pick out some tile. So if you can’t bring yourself to drive the 6 or 11 blocks down Washington Ave to some of the other pho spots, then this should suit you just fine. Like most pho spots, it’s quite affordable. Just avoid the fried spring rolls!

I had just gone to Sampan for a regular meal, but after finding out about their happy hour, I decided to go check that out as well. There are a number of small plates for $2 and drink specials too. What’s to lose with $2 appetizers?
One of the cocktail specials… fruity… tasty… We got some seats at the kitchen bar, so you could watch all the action.
Up top we have the scallop with haricot vert, mustard, and almond. Delicious, and well cooked. Bottom is the chicken and shrimp spring roll. They serve it with mustard, but I really wish they just gave me duck sauce. I’m terrible that way. The roll it self was really good though.
The chicken dumplings with soy, sesame, scallions, and radish. Meh.
The chicken satay. This was bland. It was beyond bland. The peanut sauce was fine, but the chicken tasted like nothing. And the chicken had crunchy bits in it. I did not enjoy that. What was it, knuckle or something? Please skip this.
The korean bbq rib, which I got before, and liked before. I still like it! It’s still great!
The lamb chop! I’m not even into lamb, but this was my favorite dish of the night. For real! It’s got a little panko breadcrumb action going on with ginger and yakitori sauce.
The kobe beef hot dog! So yeah, I paid $2 for a hot dog. But the hot dog was made with kobe beef! But it still tasted just like a regular beef hot dog. It was a good dog though, don’t get me wrong. They serve it with mustard but I wish they would have just given me some ketchup. I know ketchup on a hot dog is for weenies, but that’s what I prefer! They broil these little dogs so the outside of them bursts when you bite into em and the rolls also have a bit of crunch. I would get this again! As far as happy hour deals go, this is a pretty darn good one! Get it while it lasts!