If you live in central Florida you know that the mills 50 district is poppin' with foodie finds. Tonight's date night was with the only man in my life (uhhhh yes it's my father).
We wanted to try something other than the typical American burger or Chinese take out. We wanted something traditional- so what's better than going somewhere where they don't speak a lick of English? That's where you know your going to get the best food! So we went and ventured to Pho 88.
Before dinner we walked around and found a little Vietnamese knick-knack shop. I found a bunch of cool Asian cooking tools and rad miniature sculptures. I couldn't help but buy a miniature Ganesh God. He was kind of different looking which made it even cooler.
Ganesh is a Hindu God (the strange elephant one). He protects us from obstacles in our path and brings upon obstacles to our enemies.
I thought this was something really cool to bring home. Although I don't believe in Hinduism I do believe that a fun story behind little objects are the BOMB.
I was hyping myself up for this weekend (yes, I may or may not have looked up a beginners guide to pho eating...). When we got there it was rainy. Perfect. (No- I'm not being sarcastic. Raise your hand if you love the rain!!) JUST how I had invisioned it! Plus we got sat by a window; good food pic opportunity. We started with an order of the spring rolls. When they came out, we all knew what the fate of the peanut sauce was. Dipping those babies into the deliciously salty and sweet sauce- how can you go wrong?
Time to order. Since the only communication between us and the waiter was "finger pointing" I pointed to the vegetarian pho. It had so much yummy veggies with perfectly cooked rice noodles and delicious tofu cubes! I (obviously) added LOADS (so much I actually made a sriracha infused veggie broth. #mindblown). I also topped it off with fresh bean sprouts, Thai basil, and lime! It was soooo good. I'll admit it took me a while to get use to the chopsticks but I finally got the hand of it. I felt so professional using chopsticks (laugh at me all you want- it's taken me months to learn the proper usage of the art behind chop sticking).
The soup was perfect! Just like any other pho, you HAVE to try the broth first before you add any topping. The key to the best pho is not want is in it, BUT the broth itself. My dads broth though- on point! He got the well done flat skirt steak so the broth was more meaty! Overall- PHO 88 for the win!
Me and my dad were STUFFED after. I was still committed to try a new food through. I've never liked tea, but I figure if it was purple and milky, then hey, why not give it a shot. I'M SO GLAD I DID.
We went to the chewy boba company after and I picked up taro boba tea. It tasted kind of like cereal milk (current flavor obsession). It was perfectly sweet and the tea flavor wasn't overpowering.
NOTE TO SELF: next time I get boba tea beware of the topiaca. They are chewy and a little unflavorful...
Besides the fact I feel like my belly is going to burst- I had an awesome time tonight with the padre! I can't wait for our next culinary excursion
(DISCLAIMER: it's Indian food😉)