Pho Sho

Well I finally succumbed to the flu sometime early this week. I ignored it all last weekend, like I was some kind of teenage badass. I pranced around scarfless, wore my thin jacket cause it looks better, and stayed out late, (I did however save money on intoxicants because I was already fucked up). And now I am sad to say the denial strategy, which has so often in my life proved effective, did not pan out for me. At present I am living in a hand-me-down flannel nightie that my grandmother would find homely. The area around my nostrils (those two holes that once had a purpose, although I now forget what for) is red with inflammation, and looks like an adolescent acne outbreak. My bedroom has become a used tissue repository and is threatening to be declared a bio-hazard by the health authorities.

Alas, this post is not meant to be a whiny, self centered rant about the way this flu is slowly destroying me. (A friend of mine, who has had this flu coming on three weeks now, said to me, of his state: 'now I know what it feels like to be dying'. There wasn't even a hint of melodrama in his voice, really.) No, what this post is meant to be about are the restorative powers of pho. You know that Vietnamese soup that comes in bowls large enough to house a whole raft of refugees. The one that arrives with a side of bean sprouts, chile and fresh lime, swirling with long white rice noodles and your choice of cow parts (most places offer chicken or seafood options).

I have two pho places within a three block radius. There is my favorite pho place, Pho Thang Long, a little hole in the wall, that seems a perfect complement to the humble soup. It was renovated a while back and unfortunately lost a little personality, although I now am not afraid to use the restroom. The menu is one page and very straightforward (there are no options besides pho). The chicken stock they use is amazing, and the prices are incomparable. A medium bowl (I dare anyone to finish a large) is around five dollars. My other place is part of a chain, Pho Huang. The menu is extensive, although I have never tried anything but the soup, so I wouldn't know what else to recommend. One of the advantages of this place, are the long hours. Also they have a veggie version, which although not technically vegetarian (the stock is meat based) is sometimes less intimidating for first timers, and makes a healthy choice for sickos like myself. There is also a spicy seafood pho which one of my good friends swears by, the fish balls don't work for me however.

So, in case anyone is worried, I am on the path to health, Neocitron and pho by my side. No, don't worry about me, I'll just be lying around my bedroom listlessly in all sorts of strange contortions, trying to find that one spot that gives me a moment of respite from the mucous monster that is having a party in my lungs.

Pho Thang Long
3710 Main Street
Tel: 604-872-4872

Pho Huang
3388 Main Street
604.874.0832