Skip to main content

I Tasted Phat Pho's Vietnamese Food and I Find It Delicious


It's time for an evening dinner. Rather than go to my usual "sweet spots"--I tried out Phat Pho of the Abaca Group. I got to taste what might be called "revolutionary food" because Vietnam is under a Communist regime. Well, Abaca Group is founded by is owned by Jason Hyatt and his Chinese wife Anna whom he met in Hong Kong. I tried eating Vietnamese spring rolls and Vietnamese steamed egg. I tried the Vietnamese Pho which is their soup. 


I was craving some meat and I tried the ever-popular Pho special. It contains some shaved beef, braised beef, meatballs, and some tendon. It takes around 5-10 minutes to prepare to ensure that the soup is well-prepared. The noodles are a different variety from what I get from Chinese restaurants. Condiments are added so the customer can flavor the soup according to their preference. I guess one can say it's served without much seasoning. Adding condiments such as vinegar, chili paste, chili flakes, and pepper is needed. It's pretty much like how South Korean soups are served bland and the customers add in the flavors according to their own personal preference.

I ordered a small serving but I'd say it was quite heavy. It was a very filling meal. I added some siracha, lemon, and vinegar, and you may request pepper flakes and chili flakes. Those would help add the preference of the customer. As a soup person, I usually prefer to have my soup served without much seasoning and I would flavor it according to my preference. I enjoyed almost every bit of the beef pieces served with this delicious pho.


I ordered the Vietnamese rainbow shaved ice. Cal it Vietnamese halo-halo if you want. It had some leche flan which didn't taste much different from the leche flan prepared in the Philippines. The halo-halo contained some pandan flavor. Is that some peanut flakes on top? I think this is the Che Ba Mau or the Vietnamese three-color dessert. I heard the Japanese introduced shaved ice to the Philippines during the Japanese occupation. Vietnam probably got the idea later after the Second World War and maybe during the reign of Ho Chi Minh. Maybe, this was a dish that was introduced during the Doi Moi reforms. I can't be certain about that.

Just eating at Phat Pho might've opened new opportunities for me. I could say that I might want to try their barbecues next. Food can be rather expensive but justified by the price. I paid around PHP 700.00 (round off) but the price was worth it. I'm willing to recommend this because the price is right. 

Labels:

Popular posts from this blog

The 2026 Iran War Audit vs. OFW-Reliant Pinoy Pride Economists

It's a shame, really, that I didn't think about writing this article on OFWs again. I got somewhat fixated on the  gas prices , and my mind was exhausted. I thought about how I even asked, " Will #SahodItaasPresyoIbaba economics even lower down the prices of gasoline? " It's one thing that the Philippines has been overly reliant  on the Middle East for gasoline. What I overlooked was the OFW phenomenon again . It was so easy to hype on the OFW phenomenon, like what happened with the Filipino nurse, Ello Ed Mundsel Bello, way back in 2015. The OFW hype would've compounded the Philippine economy's "reliance model" to a whole new level of bottleneck!  Analyzing the bottleneck of relying on the Middle East It's already a known fact that several OFWs are sent to the Middle East. I even remember running across a presumably retired dancer who would be 64 today, on Facebook. The guy actually bragged about how he was a dancer at the Excelsior Hotel in...
Read more

IBON Foundation: Yes to Wealth Taxing the Rich, No to Economic Reforms?

Some time ago, I wrote about why I don't trust the IBON Foundation as an "economic think-tank" . I remember getting a lot of insults (and I've decided to block such people), telling me stuff like, "What have you done for the Philippines compared to IBON?" or "What about your mass base?" There's also that 88% survey result from Pulse Asia, which I heard has a very biased sampling size. Regardless, it's important to speak out facts and figures even if only one percent believes it and 99% doesn't! As I was looking to challenge myself in writing, I thought of challenging IBON's ongoing stance on the wealth tax. They had an article written in 2023. It's all about taxing the super wealthy . Is it good or bad? It's time to think about it.  Differentiating income from net worth Here's a sample of what IBON had written: A billionaire wealth tax can substitute for many consumption taxes that disproportionately burden millions of F...
Read more

South Korea Didn't Lose Its Sovereignty with Jollibee Acquisitions

Philippine Daily Inquirer After an exhausting night of refuting the IBON Foundation's wealth tax argumen t, I read news that Jollibee's acquisition of Shabu All Day has been approved by the South Korean government . This is a detail from the Philippine Star I would like to share: Jollibee Group International chief executive officer Richard Shin said the company is preparing for the closing of the deal and the integration of the brand into its operations in South Korea. The acquisition, to be carried out through Jollibee subsidiary Jolli-K, involves a 70% stake in All Day Fresh Co. Ltd. "Shabu All Day is a strong operational fit for our Korea platform, with a proven format and clear levers to support continued expansion—while maintaining the brand’s quality and guest experience," Shin said. Once completed, Shabu All Day is expected to account for about 2% of the group’s revenues and contribute around 8% to its global earnings before interest and taxes . Shabu All Day ...
Read more