pho challenge

Tonight was the big night. After two weeks of planning, D, S and I went to Pho Garden for the Pho Challenge. It's what should have been on this week's Man Vs. Food-San Francisco. It's two pounds of noodles and two pounds of beef (rare beef, tripe, tendon, meatballs- the works). You have one hour, and don't have to finish the broth. S and D have been strategically plotting out their plan of attack the past week, from the best time to go, to the order of what to eat. If you complete the bowl, you get the $22 bowl of noodles on the house. S and D raised the stakes by betting on who could eat more- loser pays for both meals if they don't finish.

I didn't take part in any of this, knowing I would NEVER be able to eat an entire bowl of pho THAT large. I like pho, and I like eating, but I could never eat that much of ANYTHING. I whet my appetite with half a Little Lucca's turkey sandwich and a nectarine- but S and D both hadn't eaten anything for hours before.

The bowl is massive. It's bigger than the biggest dutch oven I have. I mean, it's served with the COOKING utensils as the EATING utensils!! The extra-long chopsticks are the ones usually used for cooking stir fry (from a distance), or reaching into a deep pot. The soup spoon is more like a ladle. Contestants of the challenge aren't allowed to leave the table once they start, and also can't take the noodles out of the bowl. So the idea is to eat all of the noodles before they soak up all of the broth, expand, and double in volume.

Brendan, the owner, suggested adding ice cubes to the boiling-hot broth to start eating the noodles as fast as possible, then later work on the meat, which doesn't take in liquid.

Maybe here is where I should mention that D doesn't like noodles. and.
D has never had pho before.

Upon starting, S attacked his noodles with vigor, hoping to trick his stomach into eating all the noodles before it tells his brain that he's full. It wasn't long before he slowed down. D instead took her time and sampled a bit of noodles, broth, and meat. It also wasn't too long before she slowed down as well.

In the end, it was the noodles that won. They never seemed to diminish as S and D slowly came to their last mouthfuls. Realizing that there was no way they would even come close to finishing, S and D stopped short of pain and surrendered.D's done

S is done too

Throughout the battle, I enjoyed a small rare beef pho and grilled pork chop covered in vinegar/fish sauce. I didn't feel hungry or full, but definitely felt compelled to continue putting food in my mouth as I watched the two struggle with their bowls. Overall, the taste of my dishes were both pretty light, as though maybe tamed down a bit for a wider audience. I would have like a lot more cilantro in my pho, and the limes were dried out, but everything tasted fresh and clean.

my small bowl next to the challenge bowl

I'd say that tonight was probably D's first and last time with pho. S clearly won the bet, having conquered about half of his bowl. After all was cleared away, we had a few sake shots with Brendan and headed home full. I had a drumstick and later a green tea frappuccino to enjoy the summer night, and went home to sleep, full.

shots with Brendan

Pho Garden
2109 Clement St
San Francisco, CA 94121
(415) 379-8677

phogardensf.com