Oakland Oddessy: Pho Tan Hoa

When I was in San Francisco my friend decided to introduce me to the Tenderloin District, which she knows from community work. The Tenderloin District is heavily made up by the cities poorest, including many first generation immigrants. To top things off a lot of the cities homeless converge on this part of town as well. Apparently the idea is that this was going to somehow make me uncomfortable, but I always feel a lot more at home in an area like that than say, the financial district.

Within the Tenderloin there is a strong Vietnamese community, which means for lunch our best option was Pho. For those who are not acquainted with this delicious and bountiful soup of vermicelli and assorted meats, it is well known to be one of the cheapest and most best meals you can get. And in the spirit of experimentation I actually got a large at Pho Tan Hoa, and by large I mean a bucket sized bowl with all the fixings you could want.

 

Still first things first: The Goi Cuon where the biggest and best I’ve seen. Mixing pork, shrimp, lettuce, mint and vermicelli these mammoth rolls where extremely fresh and served as the perfect vehicle for an exceptional peanut sauce.

For our Pho my companion and I both ordered number 7s, which basically translates as “the large with everything” at Pho Tan Hoa. Piled high within the dark and flavorful broth where strips of brisket, rare beef, meat balls, tripe, and tendon. Interestingly enough everything was layered in an organized manner therefore at first I thought that my bowl did not have everything I ordered. Once I added my syracha, bean sprouts, basil, chili slices and lemon (no lime for some odd reason) I gave it a stir and huge chunks of tendon and brisket started to appear. At that moment my mission to eat as much of the bowl's contents as possible became an uphill battle. Much like the lake Loch Ness, the bowl was deep and dark, easily concealing monstrously large pieces of meat. Every time I would drag that soupy liquid another steak sized portion of tendon, rare beef or brisket would emerge. On the other hand the tripe was tastefully cut into very thin strips and was not as exaggeratedly well represented as the non organ portions of the meal where. The noodles where a little bit clumped but that’s a very small complaint in an otherwise perfect lunch.

 

As for drinks the lemonade was serviceable (again no limes?) and my companion got a glass of Halo Halo, a mixture of sweetened condensed milk, coconut milk, fruit and some sort of gelatin. It was far too sweet for my tastes so I decided not to get one myself. Also I could tell it was a restaurant that rewards its regulars; the waiter recognized most of the other patrons and had no problem giving them 1 liter Styrofoam containers as a “doggy bag” when they left.  All in all the ambient was extremely friendly, the prices weren’t high and both the quality and portions exceeded my already high expectations.