They were tasked with interviewing business owners, artists, and residents and writing biographies about the people and places that make Dorchester unique. Frederick Pilot Middle School toured Dorchester’s Grove Hall, Upham’s Corner, and Fields Corner neighborhoods. We set out to learn the answer by partnering with the Boston Public Schools. But what landmarks and businesses define our neighborhoods through the eyes of the next generation? I’m not sure if this practice is strictly followed at all their locations but I must say we didn’t think their broth tasted like it was of a different kind than others.Stories about our neighborhoods are often told by adults for adults. The main website, by the way, notes that they specialize in a healthier version of pho made not with bones with fatty marrow but entirely as a meat broth. As a spicy noodle soup, however, it was quite good and, as in the pho, the meats (brisket and other beef) were done well. In fact, it tasted like their regular pho broth had just been spiked with a lot of chilli oil. I liked it because it tasted good but I was disappointed because it didn’t really seem like bun bo hue-there was no trace of the lemongrass that I could detect and it was altogether less earthy than the bun bo hue I enjoyed at Pho 79. I gave it a go and both liked it and was a little disappointed. I asked our server if this was the bun bo hue and her response was that it was the bun bo hue broth with pho meat. I was again looking for bun bo hue and the closest I could see to it on the menu was something listed as “Hot and Spicy Lemongrass Noodle Soup”. This was very good-the broth was better than at Pho 79 and the quality of the meat was superior, in particular the tendon. The missus got the pho with steak, flank, tripe and tendon. We started with two orders of rolls, one with shrimp and pork (served with a peanut sauce) and the other with minced pork with pork skin (served with a sweet and sour dipping sauce). At Pho Hoa the focus is very much on pho and bun and rice bowls and such. This may, of course, have something to do with Pho 79’s conjoined existence with Caravelle and its American Chinese menu and lunch buffet. It was less busy than Pho 79 had been when we ate there. The dining room has two sections with slightly different decor-one side is a bit glitzier than the other. It’s also a larger, brighter and less cramped space than Pho 79. That in itself would not be a reason to eat there if the food was not good but I’m happy to report that our one lunch there was quite good. Also unlike Pho 79, it is in a large strip mall’ish complex and as such has ample parking in front-which makes it far less of a pain to get to than Pho 79. to Canada, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines and Taiwan. Unlike Pho 79, Pho Hoa is part of a larger chain-it’s the local franchise of an operation that extends not just to California, Florida, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Washington and Utah, but beyond the U.S. Pho Hoa is almost across the street from it. I’m not going very far from it for the second. My first report was of lunch at Pho 79 on Nicollet Avenue in Minneapolis. A few weeks ago I started what I described as a slow-motion survey of noodle soup-centered meals in the Twin Cities metro area.
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