Honolulu Phở Find

Here we are back home in Birch Bay watching a skiff of snow settle on our hedge the day after flying back from Honolulu.

We are phở fans. Our first and last meals in Honolulu were at the Phở My Lien, a hole-in-the-wall (actually hole-on-the-second-floor) little joint in a nondescript, no, dumpy "shopping complex" on Ala Moana Boulevard facing a tattoo parlor, and a 30-second walk from the pedestrian entrance to the Hilton Hawaiian Village.

We ate phở there the night we arrived in Honolulu after checking in at the Hilton, ate more phở and some crispy spring rolls there a few days later, and branched out with more spring rolls and a couple of plates of "solid" food Monday afternoon. Our total bill for that "big" lunch, including a couple of bottles of Vietnamese 33 Beer (Germanic-style bitter), was $30! A variety of sauces sits on every table and the bean sprouts and cilantro (or were they Vietnamese mint leaves?) accompanying the phở were crisply fresh and tasty.

Reading reviews here and here makes us think our own assessment of this dingy and delicious Mom-and-Pop operation is accurate. As one reviewer mentioned, it took some nerve to walk up the stairs and enter the place the first time, but we'll be sure to return there on our next visit to Honolulu.