Fe fi Pho Yum!

There's nothing like some steaming hot soup early in the morning. I love Pho (pronounced like "fuh" rather than "faux"), a Vietnamese rice noodle soup with meats or seafood. The delicious clear broth is made by boiling and hours of simmering beef bones. Cinnamon, star anise, almonds, and fresh ginger are all toasted then added to the broth. There are numerous variations to this, the Vietnamese God has a simple recipe for this in his blog.

There are no really good Pho joints in Koreatown, and only a few are open 24 hours. For really good Pho you have to venture out of LA and go to the SGV or Westminster. I work mostly at night and go home fairly late in the evening. So my choices are really limited. There is Pho Western and Pho LA both open 24 hours and Pho 55 open until 3 am. These are all owned and operated by Koreans and not Vietnamese. The prices are much steeper too. The place I most frequently go to is the Pho Western. I find their soup base to be more flavorful and the tendon pieces more generous. Second is Pho LA, even though it is not the best they still make decent Pho.

I usually get the Dac Biet, which is a mixture of meats rare beef, brisket, tripe, and tendons. This time I got the Pho Oxtail $8.35, which is served with the meat and some soup on the side, cilantro leaves, mung bean sprouts, thinly sliced onions, Thai basil, and some lime wedges. I like to add a lot of cilantro, bean sprouts, and Thai Basil into the soup, and some sliced onions and a little Siracha for heat. The bean sprouts adds a little crunch and freshness to the dish.

The thin rice noodles in the Pho will absorb the soup and quickly become soggy, so you really have to eat fast. And you don't want your soup to get cold either.

After I finished the big bowl, I was left with the small bowl of soup where the Oxtail meat was separated. The soup in this bowl tasted richer and meatier with a lot of the essence of the oxtail imparted into it. You can see tiny bubbles of fat floating on the surface. A good end to a Pho trip.

Pho LA
3470 W 6th St # 5
Los Angeles, CA 90020

Chicken and Waffles

I had always been wanting to go to Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles for quite some time now, never really had the chance. Last week, I was in Long Beach on my way to San Pedro. It was already past 12 pm and I was hungry with Fried Chicken in my mind. I remembered there is a Roscoe's branch near Atlantic and Broadway which was perfectly along the way to San Pedro. So target was set and I was off. The sign was huge so you really can't miss it, parking was across the street with lots of space. There was some kind of Jazz club on the right side when you go in and the main dining area is on the left.





I got the Scoes #2 Fried Chicken 2 pcs and 2 Waffles $ 10.40 and requested the gravy on the side, I wanted to try the chicken with out the gravy first. The waffles were crunchy outside and soft inside, there was really nothing special about it a bit bland for my taste.




The chicken was very good really crunchy skin and moist meat inside. The gravy added more dimension to the chicken almost like a feeling that the chicken is melting in your mouth. The whole dish made sense the sweetness of the waffles and maple syrup, contrasting with the saltiness of the chicken and gravy. I found myself going back and forth. For days, was thinking about how much I liked the food there that I came back a second time.




This time I tried the Lord Harvey $ 11.90, Half a chicken smothered in gravy and onions, grits and biscuit. I have never had grits before so I wanted to try it and I know biscuits are great with gravy. I didn't ask for the gravy on the side this time.




The grits came with a small cup of butter, I assumed you pour this on the grits which I opted not to. The grits was kind of mushy and bland there was no "corn" taste that I expected. I suppose this was something you eat to fill you up. The biscuits were great when I mixed some with the gravy. After I finished a couple of pieces of chicken the rest were already soggy which was what I was avoiding the first time. Next time I'll keep it on the side.

Roscoe's House of Chicken and Waffles
730 E Broadway,
Long Beach, CA 90802
(562)-437-8355