Ash and Prairie

ashandprairie2020March 12, 2021March 12, 2021Dinner, Takeout and Delivery

Years ago, I lived across the street from a delicious Vietnamese restaurant where I would head many an afternoon for a bowl of pho and an order of imperial rolls. Later, after moving northward, I went through a seven year pho drought in this here Midwestern town, until Nonla opened in a neighboring village about twenty minutes westward. Kelly, the proprieter of Nonla, knew me then as “the one who cried.” Tears rolled down my cheeks the first time I sat down in Nonla’s lime green painted booth, as feelings of sheer joy and relief extruded themselves in the realization that I finally had access to a decent bowl of pho within reach without having to drive in various directions for hours.

I still love Nonla’s, but this week, we tried a new, nearby spot serving Vietnamese and Chinese cuisine, and, wow! I’m once again bowled over by our good fortune! Pho Hong An must have opened a few months back but it wasn’t until I went through my mail recently that I found a menu dropped in there and intrigued, put in an online order. To think that this place exists nearby AND delivers??? I was in a tizzy. We ordered beef pho and two different types of spring rolls. The owner had also added a box of the most delectable beignets, gratuit. They were still toasty hot from the deep-fryer and easily the best doughnut I’ve had locally (sorry, Sweetwaters — I love you too but you’re totally a different thing).

The pics above are from a reheat of the leftovers the next day. The portion sizes at Pho Hong An are ample, but not in the typical American way where the large portion size is meant to offset the mediocre flavor. (My favorite line in the “The Good Place:” “What is it with you and frozen yogurt? Have you not heard of ice cream?” Eleanor asks Michael. “Oh sure, but I’ve come to really like frozen yogurt. There’s something so human about taking something and ruining it a little so you can have more of it.”) The flavor of the pho was spot on, the spring rolls were crispy goodness and tasty even the next day after some time in the air-fryer, but it was those toasty, lightly sweetened beignets, the ones that crunched and steamed when you bit into them, that really (forgive the pun) took the cake!

Years ago, I lived across the street from a delicious Vietnamese restaurant where I would head many an afternoon for a bowl of pho and an order of imperial rolls. Later, after moving northward, I went through a seven year pho drought in this here Midwestern town, until Nonla opened in a neighboring village about twenty minutes westward. Kelly, the proprieter of Nonla, knew me then as “the one who cried.” Tears rolled down my cheeks the first time I sat down in Nonla’s lime green painted booth, as feelings of sheer joy and relief extruded themselves in the realization that I finally had access to a decent bowl of pho within reach without having to drive in various directions for hours.

I still love Nonla’s, but this week, we tried a new, nearby spot serving Vietnamese and Chinese cuisine, and, wow! I’m once again bowled over by our good fortune! Pho Hong An must have opened a few months back but it wasn’t until I went through my mail recently that I found a menu dropped in there and intrigued, put in an online order. To think that this place exists nearby AND delivers??? I was in a tizzy. We ordered beef pho and two different types of spring rolls. The owner had also added a box of the most delectable beignets, gratuit. They were still toasty hot from the deep-fryer and easily the best doughnut I’ve had locally (sorry, Sweetwaters — I love you too but you’re totally a different thing).

The pics above are from a reheat of the leftovers the next day. The portion sizes at Pho Hong An are ample, but not in the typical American way where the large portion size is meant to offset the mediocre flavor. (My favorite line in the “The Good Place:” “What is it with you and frozen yogurt? Have you not heard of ice cream?” Eleanor asks Michael. “Oh sure, but I’ve come to really like frozen yogurt. There’s something so human about taking something and ruining it a little so you can have more of it.”) The flavor of the pho was spot on, the spring rolls were crispy goodness and tasty even the next day after some time in the air-fryer, but it was those toasty, lightly sweetened beignets, the ones that crunched and steamed when you bit into them, that really (forgive the pun) took the cake!

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