The other night my husband was working late and I was feeling lazy so I decided to try the new Vietnamese restaurant that just took over the space of my beloved butcher in our neighborhood.  The appropriate 3 months of mourning the loss of such a great shop had passed, and I’ve always been a sucker for the delicate subtle flavors of Vietnamese cuisine.

One of the best things is the big bowl of soup - phô.  Normally it’s a huge bowl full of noodles and broth and slices of meat, onions, cilantro and a few herbs.  I asked for mine without noodles and had to explain myself a few times (France is not a country where they are used to people making substitutions on menu items, in particularly if such items are considered the basis of the food itself).  After hearing an unhappy cook yammering on in Vietnamese for a few minutes, I did get it. 

It was SO GOOD.  Oh gosh I dont know what kinds of spices they put into that broth, but it’s just amazing.  The slices of beef cooked in the broth, the herbs danced on my tongue, I completely enjoyed it.  I didnt in the least miss the noodles (although I’d have liked some slices of lemon & jalepeno like I’ve had in the States, but when in Rome…)

As I was eating it I kept thinking I should stop and take a picture but just couldn’t bear to part with my spoon for the few seconds it would have taken, and then as I approached the end of the bowl I thought it would be kind of yucky to look at someone’s almost-gone bowl of soup…

So I’ve included a picture from the internet (I managed to find a picture that looked a lot like mine, as the noodles are hidden under the meat & onions)