Somehow, we made an impromptu stop at Milkboy in Bryn Mawr earlier this week. It was an open mic night at the acoustic cafe location. This one being the much smaller one next to the Bryn Mawr Film Institute. It’s a tiny little place. They serve coffee and tea and some snacks. There’s wifi and reading material and even some board games. It’s not a bad place. It had some crazy art for sale on the walls.

R got a giant black and white cookie. It was alright. I don’t drink coffee, but in general, I’ve found the service and attitude at the Bryn Mawr Milkboy to be quite good. The staff is friendly and helpful and generally have a good time. The Ardmore spot is the original one and much bigger. And with that comes an attitude. The staff there seem like they can’t be bothered. Hello, you are slingin’ coffee. There’s no reason to be surly to me. I don’t know what it is, but there’s just something about the Ardmore one that rubs me the wrong way. They have live music pretty much every night at the Ardmore location. And if it weren’t for the surliness, it would be even better.

When you have a bit of a cold, there’s nothing like drowning yourself in a giant bucket of pho. So that’s exactly what we did. Before catching a film festival flick and getting a parking ticket a 9 PM on a Sunday (up yours PPA), Washington Ave was to be the street of choice. And Pho & Cafe Viet Huong was the pho place of choice.
H/A got some strange rainbow ice drink. I wouldn’t exactly call it a drink. There’s very little drink, and much more chunky stuff. There’s sweet red beans, shreds of green jello, yellow mung bean, and coconut milk. I don’t think this is a drink for me.

Got some rolls (Goi Cuon), as tradition always calls for it. They were pretty good, but there were tons of mint in. I like a tiny bit sometimes, but this may have been a bit too much for me. Don’t get me wrong, still good.

H/A went with the pork chops on broken rice (Com Tam Suon Nuong). Holy crap, this was good. I’m totally ordering this the next time. Screw the pho, now I’m all about vietnamese pork chops!

But no complaints about the pho here. I got beef eye round and well done flank. After throwing in the entire pile of sprouts and the requisite sriracha, it was just what the doctor ordered. Although it was pretty ginormous and I did not finish it. Damn you sickness and my diminished appetite!

The service? It’s not so great here. The place is huge and run like a cold machine. You get your food real fast, but they don’t really follow up or check on you. Then you go up front and pay. Attentiveness is not their strong suit. But that’s ok, because they’re food is good.

Pho & Cafe Viet Huong
1110 Washington Ave # 2A
Philadelphia, PA
215-336-5030