When your day kind of looks like this outside there is really only one sure fire cure to get you back into proper order and in my opinion that thing is a big bowl of Vietnamese chicken noodle soup. Now, don’t get me wrong here because while there is nothing like good ole Mom’s brand of the stuff, it’s not always something that is immediately at hand. That being said, today I headed over to Pho Hoai to pick up some lunch as I love the place but since I was on my own I brought my treats home and wanted to share the visuals with you to inspire interest.
To my knowledge this is one of the only full on Vietnamese restaurants in Bay Ridge. We do have quite a few sushi places and Chinese take outs, along with a couple of Thai but so far this is the only Vietnamese place I have been made aware of. At the restaurant I ordered a simple chicken noodle with vegetables soup. I am not sure of its exact phrasing on the menu, but they always seem to get it correct when I say it like that. When you take this home with you, you get to put it all together and that is what led me to blogging it up for our “Dining Adventures” category. You don’t mind that we were not in the restaurant for this I hope, but if so, too bad. Next time.
A sizable bowl is definitely a requirement when putting one of these massive soups together and I generally manage okay with this one. It’s about six inches across and a few inches deep. I do come close to over filling with this one depending on if I use all of the broth that they supply.
Ahhhh the broth. The stuff of miracles. Its rather good but we shall add this into the bowl second.
At one time the restaurant used to put the other goodies into two separate containers but they seemed to have gone green a little bit and put a couple of things together in one larger container. It’s no issue to me.
You cannot tell from this above the container shot, but the noodles and chicken are under all of those vegetables. You can see that there is a hefty amount of them in the order. Never a bad thing for the price.
Now the assembly begins, and you get to see the chicken and the noodles this time as well. Good for you.
I just poured the broth onto the batch of noodles, chicken and veggies and let it simmer a little bit. You have to be careful at this part since that broth is super hot, even though I had walked a couple of blocks in the cold with it.
When you order a soup like this, they place a dish loaded with bean sprouts and basil leaves on the table. Since I was taking this away with me, I got them in a small plastic bag. They also give you a lemon. It’s my recommendation that you use all of this bags contents.
As you can see I dumped all of the bean sprouts onto the soup and used a lot of the basil leaves. There were a couple of extra ones and I let their nice aroma permeate throughout the kitchen.
They also give you a dose of hot sauce but this is all depending on what you can tolerate. Me, I love the stuff and it adds a nice little extra kick to the soup. I recommend that you approach this part with caution. Not everyone can handle spice all that well. Their loss of course.
Oh I also ordered a portion of Summer Rolls since they are rather tasty and go good with a soup. Their difficult to describe, but have shrimp inside them and come with a peanut sauce. I don’t recommend you giving these a go if you are allergic to either item. They are served and eaten cold.
Here is the peanut sauce. It’s a nice tasting stuff but I also give it a zap with some hot sauce. I use the chili sauce made by sriracha. I now keep a bottle of it in my fridge and its used on many things.
All done. Very good in the end. As you can see one needs a couple of utensils for this. I must get my hands on a real deal soup spoon like they had sitting in the restaurant. No I didn’t swipe one but maybe next time I stop in I shall ask where the heck to find one. As I write this I hear the weather man saying more snow is coming. After this I say bring it on. Oh and before I forget…..
If you are heading to or in Bay Ridge, please make it an agenda item to visit this establishment
Pho Hoai Vietnamese Restaurant 8616 4th Ave(between 86th St & 87th St)
Brooklyn, NY 11209 (718) 745-1640