Before catching an amazing band in fishtown, we decided to get some pho. I’m someone that can eat pho any time. And I mean any time. Morning, noon, night, cold weather, hot weather, rainy weather. Who cares, it’s always a time for pho. So if someone suggests it, chances are, I will agree!

I have a few favorite spots for pho, and one of them is definitely Pho Ha. I just love a place that is purely utilitarian. The place is harshly lit with bright flourescent lights and just lined with unattractive tables. They just try to get you in there, feed you as quickly as they can, and turn the table over. It’s not a hang out. It’s not an experience. It’s just to put delicious food into your belly.

Then when I got there, I totally had no interest in pho. I don’t know what happened to me. I didn’t want anything hot. I didn’t want soup. I didn’t want noodles. I didn’t want anything beefy. It was strange. So instead, I got the grilled chicken rice plate. Hands down, it’s the greatest non-pho dish they serve. Both C and I ended up getting the same chicken rice plate, which also comes with a spring roll. Even though they were the same dish, our garnishes were so uneven. You always get some veggies with a rice plate, and I got some cucumbers and some pickled carrots. C got tomato, less cucumbers, and some carrots and some daikon. As if we got two separate dishes. But the chicken still rocked. It’s a huge piece of perfectly grilled chicken… juicy and flavorful… enough to feed a small family. And I love broken rice. I mean I know it’s just plain old rice, but for whatever reason, at least in my head, broken rice tastes better than plain whole rice!

After the second snowpocalypse, the roads in philly, especially west philly, were fairly horrendous. Vietnam Cafe is lucky that it has a huge parking lot. Except that the road and the entrance to the parking lot was covered with 5 inches of ice with grooves in it, so that it was impossible for you to get into the parking lot without getting stuck in a groove. Somehow, I extricated myself before becoming another victim, and found a spot on the street. Boy, was this place packed. I’d been here once before, to get take-out, when it was still teeny. It has since taken over where their neighbor used to be, so now the place is positively ginormous.

I was just trying to shovel some food into my belly before heading over to javaflix, so I just scarfed down some pho bo kho at the bar. The bowls of pho here are smaller than at pho only joints. Remember, this is a fancy vietnamese restaurant. But it tastes pretty good. The meat here is pretty fat-free, which I like. This pho bo kho is not really spicy at all, so it’s very easy to eat. It’s an easy breezy small bowl of pho. You’re paying a lot for ambiance here, so pound for pound, it’s more expensive here. But that’s ok. The portion sizes at regular pho places are probably too big anyway.

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!