After flying into Seattle, I drove down to Portland, because well, I love Portland. Not being able to wait until Portland to eat, especially because my flight was awfully late, we stopped in Olympia for a bite to eat. I had done some research and that’s how we ended up at Lemon Grass. It’s an adorable and attractive place in a really nice area of Olympia. There was lots of hustle and bustle and restaurants and it was just plain adorable.

We got some tea, which came in this heavy cast iron pot. The place was tastefully decorated and had two main dining areas. One was almost full when we got there and we pretty much snagged the last booth before a rush came on. Once we left, they had opened up the other dining area.

The Hot and Spicy Noodles, with wide rice noodles, prawns, eggs, broccoli, onions, bell peppers, cabbage, green beans, water chestnuts, baby corn, bamboo shoots, and carrots in a special sweet sauce. You can add spice to any dish and you can decide on your own level of spice. This was like drunken noodles, except not as hot, but just as tasty. Really, every bit of this was perfect.

But really, this Mee Quang was even more perfect. Lemon Grass is a thai restaurant, but they had two vietnamese dishes at the end of the menu. The absolute last thing on the menu was this mee quang. I had no idea what this was, I had never heard of it before, but it sounded amazing. And am I damn glad that I ordered it, because it was amazing! It is a central vietnamese style noodle salad, with thinly sliced pork, chicken, and prawns served over a bed of wide and thick yellow rice noodles with lettuce, cucumber, bean sprouts, and fresh herbs. It was like a vermicelli bowl, only with thicker and heartier noodles, with a variety of meats, served warm, and with even more flavor than you could ever imagine. It was one of the best things I’ve eaten in awhile. My experience in vietnamese food is actually quite narrow… I’ve always focused on pho, vermicelli bowls, and rice plates. I think this mee quang shows just how little I’ve tasted of a cuisine with such depth and breadth. This place was great! And portion sizes are large, the prices are reasonable, and the service was good. Highly recommended if you are in the area!

As the weather stayed freakishly cold, it further fueled our love of pho so that we had to go eat it two days in a row. We ventured to our favorite place – Pho Ha. I’m not exactly sure why I love this place so much, I just do. It’s just a gut feeling. J got the steak and brisket pho, as usual. I wanted a bit of spice, so I got the pho bo kho. It looks firey hot, but it’s really not that spicy at all. It’s just the right amount of spice. The meat in pho bo kho is not the fancy meat that’s in regular pho, it’s much cheaper cuts of meat with plenty of fat and other less illustrious bits, but I like it just fine. I just get rid of the fat and avoid eating the knuckley parts. After trying my pho bo kho, J realized just how good it was and he was jealous.

It seems like Pho Ha has changed ownership since I was there last. The big paintings with horses and goldfish were gone and replaced with normal sized conservative pieces. The once red chopsticks are now green. The squeeze containers for all the condiments are different. The servers were all new and different, and none of them had super spiked hair. The menu didn’t change though, and neither did the food. And as hard to believe as this may be, the food came out even faster this time than before! And it came out pretty damn fast in the past! Pho Ha, you’re still my fave!

We were kickin it suburban style on new year’s day, but were desperately craving pho, so we trekked it on up to pho tai nam. But not before calling and making sure they were open. Maybe my memory had gone, but I remembered stuff always being open on new year’s, but for whatever reason this year, it seemed many businesses were closed, including tons of restaurants. Which did end up putting some cramps into our plans. I didn’t want any fresh spring rolls, but it worked out well because they have a lunch special, where you can include one spring roll to your pho.

J got the steak and brisket pho as part of his lunch special. Maybe I just didn’t remember from the first time I was here, but man, their pho is great. The broth is just excellent, not salty, and full of flavor. Really, their pho is tops! And both the steak and brisket, especially the brisket, were free of fat.

This is a thai and vietnamese place, so instead of us both getting pho, I got drunken noodles with chicken. Drunken noodles is my go-to dish when I eat thai food. I love the thick rice noodles and the spice. This dish was great here, and since we shared, we both got to eat pho and drunken noodles. We were both totally enamored by this place and agreed that this was one of the best meals we’ve had together in awhile. Pho tai nam – the best of both worlds! For those of you in montgo, get your pho here!