Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Pho 75

1721 Wilson Boulevard
Arlington, VA 22209
(703) 525-7355

Visited: November 18, 2009


If you're reading this and are wondering, "What the pho is Pho?" allow me to enlighten you. It's Vietnamese slurpy sipping soupy noodle goodness decorated with your choice of meat(s), bean sprouts, green onions and that oh so lovely basil. It's the kind of soup that you'll know not only from the sight, but from the taste that it has cure-all magical powers able to heal whatever ails ya while leaving you with a full tummy and warm all-over feeling. In one word, it's deeeeeeeeeeelishusss.

I hadn't been to Pho 75 in ages and took a break from work today to call the wife. "Wanna grab some Pho for early dinner tonight? We can pack up the two monkeys and head over to Pho 75 after work." Thankfully the wife loved the idea and promised to have our twin monkeys ready by the time I arrived home from work.

3pm arrived and I flew outta the office as quickly as Fred Flintstone sliding down that dinosaur's back hopping into his foot pedaled car. Yabba Dabba Doo I had Pho 75 on the brain and I flew home to pick up the family. Thankfully there was no traffic to delay our Pho-fix and we arrived in Arlington in a mere 10 minutes (Disclaimer: Fat Daddy abides by all posted speed limits and in no way endangered any member of his family during this Pho fixated auto-pilot driving).

Luck smacked our ass with a great parking spot right in front of Pho 75!! My wife and I eagerly hopped outta our seats and unstrapped the monkeys from their restraints. "Set the monkeys free!!" I thought as their little feet waddled their bodies toward the entrance of this hallowed establishment. Entering Pho 75 the smell of the place reminded me of an old childhood Vietnamese friend's house. This friend's mother used to cook up food that always left a faint trace of spices similar to the smell of Pho 75 which momentarily made me nostalgic as I wondered, "What ever happened to Quoc?"

I was brought back to the present day by one of my boys asking, "Dooooown Daddy, down." Eagerly sitting at a table, we ordered two Vietnamese Iced Coffees and two large bowls of Pho. My Pho order was #4 which consisted of round steak, bible tripe, tendon and brisket. My wife feeling a bit adventurous ordered a #10 which had well done brisket and fatty beef. What a wild woman! Not even two minutes later our coffee arrived which was soon followed by two steaming bowls of Pho goodness.

The delicious smell of meat, green onions and all the Pho goodness wrapped itself around my face in a blanket of steam. I closed my eyes and secretly whispered to today's food mistress, "Oh darling how I've missed you...I promise not to neglect you ever again." After paying homage to my Pho goddess, I separated some broth and noodles for my boys. As the small mini-bowls of Pho cooled for my boys, I sprinkled basil, bean sprouts and a splash of lime into my own big bowl. Next (and some of my old Vietnamese friends used to make fun of me for doing this), I drizzled plum sauce and a good helping of Sriracha hot sauce into my Pho. By the way, if you ever find during any of your Pho adventure that your table does not have a bottle of Sriracha, make sure to ask the waiter or waitress for a bottle of the big red cock sauce. Funny enough, they'll know to bring you a fresh bottle of Sriracha. :-)

The blend of Sriracha, basil, plum sauce and all the other ingredients blended together into something magical. I dipped in my spoon, took a huge sip of the hot spicy broth and closed my eyes to savor the moment. Delicious. Dipping my chopsticks into my bowl I came up with a magical blend of bean sprouts, meat, noodles and basil. I wasted no time shoving all of that food into my mouth and sucking in the last bit of noodles with a loud, "sluuuuuuuuuuuurp!"

By this time the boys' mini-Pho bowls had cooled and my wife and I handed them their own spoons. We were both ASTONISHED to see our two monkeys tear into the noodles and slurp up all of their broth. Our boys LOVED the Pho and even asked for more with chants of "Mo! Mo! MO!!" It was great being able to share this Pho dinner with my little family and I knew my wife was happy as she didn't talk as she devoured her noodles and broth.

We ended our Pho 75 dinner with our iced coffees (none for the monkeys) who's strong coffee flavor and condensed milk sweetness was a welcome after Pho treat that capped an end to a wonderful dinner. I love Pho 75 and truly can't remember why I waited more than a year to return. Oh yeah, fatherhood and work....that's probably why. :-)

Thankfully the boys are now able to sit down and enjoy their food without too much hassle or fuss. Watching them enjoy their mini bowls of Pho really made me happy to be able to share with them a food that I love and enjoy. Looking at them enjoy the flavor of the Pho made me eager to share new foods that I never had the chance to taste until I was a young adult. Hopefully my boys will learn to appreciate a wide variety of foods just like their Fat Daddy.

Pho 75 (Arlington) on Urbanspoon

No comments:

Post a Comment