Good Morning Vietnam!

There is a Vietnamese restaurant in San Pedro (Nam's Red Door) that we like to frequent and we have sampled a number of dishes there: imperial rolls, curry, some beef with veggies, etc.  This small Vietnamese eatery, however, does not have pho on the menu.  Knowing that Bob has only had Vietnamese food from this restaurant, I knew that he had never experienced this most common and loved dish.  I mean pho is to Vietnam what the hamburger is to America (at least in my mind).

We set out to Pho Hong Phat in Long Beach for a nice Vietnamese breakfast (at noon).  You may think pho is not the most common breakfast fare, but hell Anthony Bourdain does it so we were game.  The restaurant was packed and we found a table in the corner.  Before our butts hit the chairs, a waiter was there to take our order.  Feeling a little rushed I ordered the #2, pho with well-done flank and Bob ordered the pho with flank and tripe.  For our pho-play we ordered Vietnamese donuts.

Vietnamese Donuts

We also ordered two iced teas but ended up with two iced teas plus a coke (the waiter must have known that Bob would be in need of that extra beverage later on in the meal).

Our pho arrived along with a plate of lime, jalapeño, bean sprouts and mint.  I immediately doctored up my pho with everything, but the jalapeño.  Bob really kicked up his pho a notch with Sriracha (the hot sauce with a cock on it) and jalapeños.

Pho (#2)

The fixins'

Cock sauce... I mean hot sauce

In Bob's Words...

I liked my pho the way it was; directly from the kitchen.  It tasted great.  It tasted even better when I added the mint, lime, bean sprouts and jalapeño.  I decided that the more goodies I added to my pho, the better it would taste.  That was when I noticed a cock staring me dead in the eyes.  A cock that lives on a bottle of hot sauce.  A cock that dared me to get hot.  He was a dangerous looking cock, but I tend to like danger when dining.  I laughed at the cock and his stupid sauce.  I was going to show that cock that I'm not afraid of him, or his stupid sauce.

I added a pretty hearty amount of the cock sauce and mixed it in with the already delicious bowl of pho.  After my first bite of noodles and sip of broth my mouth was on fire, my lips were burning and my nose began to run as the sauce unleashed it's wrath upon my senses.  Through watery eyes I could see the cock laughing at me and my pain.  Damn you, cock, damn you.

The wrath of the cock sauce in effect

Pho Hong Phat

3243 E. Anaheim St

Long Beach, CA 90804