Gastro Monkey // 美食家

Since I knew I would be in the San Jose area, I wanted to find a good pho place to go to. I am a big fan of Northern Style pho, so in doing some research, I found Pho Hà Nôi. The pictures I saw on their Yelp page looked very similar to Turtle Tower. This made me pretty excited to give it a try. Feel free to compare the pictures by checking out my original Turtle Tower post . Please note that the bowls at Pho Hà Nôi were bigger (no size options for the chicken only large). One of the biggest draws for me would be the house made noodles. In case you are really into the thinner noodles, they have that as an option also. They name their specialty chicken pho "chicken with intestine," but there are no intestines in there. Or maybe it was meant to be a secret and I wasn't supposed to share? At Turtle Tower, they tell you that it's chicken and giblets. If asked, I would have trouble saying which I like better. Both are very good. It would be nice though, if at Pho Hà Nôi ...

I just get in these moods where I crave Taiwanese food with a fierceness. Mostly, I blame Facebook. Facebook likes to remind me of my "memories" which is filled primarily with pictures of food. I always take a lot of pictures while I'm there even though I've been so many times, like it will make my stay longer, or like I can keep Taiwan with me while I'm in the States. It's frustrating though, having Taiwanese restaurants in the Bay area that usually just aren't the same. I'm definitely willing to drive to the Bay to get my Taiwanese food fix, but it just really makes me want to buy another ticket home. Luckily, my friend introduced me to Tai Kee. While I might not think that all of the food is as good as it is in Taiwan, the wonton soup is. The flavor of the soup - clean and full, the texture of the wonton wrappers, and the filling. It's almost like i'm in Zuoying at my favorite wonton shop having a bowl. The pricing is pretty good too. B...