Pho 97

SADLY, PHO 97 IS NO MORE–IT WAS A CASUALTY OF THE DIFFICULT ECONOMY. IT WILL BE MISSED

Blogger Quests

Every so often, a blogger—especially a food blogger—takes a photo of which they are enormously proud. An example is the first photo. It’s a snapshot I took of a banh mi sandwich from Pho 97 restaurant, here in St. Pete (3090 34th St. N., St. Petersburg, FL 33713; 727-526-1997). The moisture on the pickled veggies makes my mouth water just looking at it.

Bloggers often have little on-going quests to amuse themselves and to give structure to their endeavor. One of mine is “eating the length of 34th Street.” By that, I mean eating at every interesting restaurant on a street that, in St. Petersburg, has a large number of excellent restaurants, especially Asian ones. So far, there’ve been Inkwatu posts on two Asian ones on 34th Street: Mekong Vietnamese Restaurant and A Touch of Heart. I’ve only covered one non-Asian 34th Street restaurant, to date: Skyway Jack’s.

Pho 97 Banh Mi

The picture above is of Banh Mi Thit Heo Nuong (Vietnamese Grilled Pork Sandwich) from Pho 97. In The Land of Missed Sandwiches post, I had Banh Mi Xa Xiu (Vietnamese Barbecued Pork Sandwich) from Cantho Oriental Market. Similar sandwiches in that both are on a baguette and feature pickled veggies and meat; different in that one is grilled pork, the other barbecued pork. Both Pho 97 and Cantho’s sandwiches are very tasty, but I think my preference is for the barbecued pork, although I preferred the Pho 97 pickled veggies. That’s not to say that I don’t like their grilled pork, I really do, but I’m more fond of it in another dish: bun thit nuong (Pho 97′s bun thit nuong is pictured below).

Bun Thit Nuong

The order in which posts appear doesn’t necessarily correlate with the relative most-favored-restaurant status of a particular restaurant. A case in point is The King and I which I didn’t get around to writing about until this past week but is one of my favorite places. So too, Pho 97. Their bun thit nuong brings me back time after time after time, but it’s not until now that I’m finally getting around to writing about it.

Wandering Chopsticks, one of my favorite bloggers, has a post on bun thit heo nuong, which is a slightly different version of bun thit nuong, in that it also includes shrimp and egg rolls. I also highly recommend her post, 100 Vietnamese Foods to Try for which she has links to articles of her own for almost all of the 100 dishes in the list.

Bun Nem Nuong

If you took a peek at the Pho 97 sign below you may be wondering what “bun nem nuong” is. It’s grilled meatballs with rice vermicelli. That recipe link is from Tia Nguyen‘s Recipe and Photo Journal website. Wandering Chopsticks also has a good recipe for nem nuong.

Bun Bo Hue

If you take another look at the Pho 97 sign, you’ll see “bun bo hue” listed. Wandering Chopsticks has a recipe for bun bo hue. I haven’t tried this dish at Pho 97 yet, but will eventually. Although I’m a fairly adventurous eater, I’m a little put off by the thought of the congealed pig’s blood in the recipe. But…I don’t know know why I should be. I absolutely adore Mexican morcilla and German blutwurst. I’ve never had what the English call black pudding, but I’d be willing to give it a try. So…why my hesitation to try bun bo hue? I suspect it’s the texture…I like the morcilla so much because it’s fried and crunchy. That’s no excuse. Next time I’m at Pho 97, I’m giving it a try. Can’t let Andrew Zimmern have all the fun!

Planning Ahead

Part of my purpose in writing these blogs is to encourage folks to explore new activities, foods, and places so that they discover new things to enrich their lives. I especially want to encourage folks who may not be in the habit of frequenting restaurants of an ethnicity other than their own to give those restaurants a try. Usually, the reason people don’t try new restaurants and foods is that they don’t know what to order. It’s often that simple. Here is a link to a typical Vietnamese restaurant menu. If you don’t have a paper take-out menu from the restaurant you’re thinking of trying, I’d suggest printing out this menu, making your choice before you go, marking the menu, and taking it with you. In no time, you’ll be ordering with confidence. Here’s a short Guide to Vietnamese Menu Items that is helpful.

Dong A Market Near Pho 97

On the way home from Pho 97 this last time, I stopped by the Dong A Market (5200 34th St. N., St Petersburg, FL 33714; 727-526-8594‎) which isn’t too far from Pho 97. They had banh mi cha lua (a cold-cut banh mi made from a thinly sliced steamed pork roll)—next time I’m there, I’ll buy one (…or two or three!). I think, soon, I’m going to have the courage to start making my own different kinds of banh mi at home. The only ingredients I haven’t yet found are the rice and wheat flour baguettes. Dong A had a huge barrel of fresh baguettes from a local French bakery; however, they were made of only wheat flour, not the combination of rice and wheat flour I’m looking for. I may have to learn how to make my own baguettes, too…if I can find the rice flour. Another quest!