Aah, our second day in PDX and we were greeted with the gray skies and drizzle.
We made sure to get up early to we could get some soup before they ran out...
There was no way we'd be visiting Portland without visiting this highly recommended Vietnamese noodle shop on SE 82nd Street in the Wing Ming shopping center. It's very small there and located in the back so you can't see it from the street.Yeah, it's out of the way, but you know what, those are the best places to go, in my opinion. So, at Ha & VL, the owners make a different kind of soup every day and once the soup is finished, they close the store. Well, this being a weekend, we wanted to take advantage because two kinds of soups are made.
It was Sunday so we ordered one bowl each: Norther Beef Noodle Soup (Pho Bac) and the Vietnamese Turmeric Noodles (Mi Quang). We shared our soups with TC who ordered a banh mi sandwich.
The restaurant got pretty full after we arrived. Service was quick and friendly here. Very nice people here.
We were so hungry that morning!
The garnishes for our soups: the one on the left was for the turmeric noodles; the other for Bert's pho.
Both of us ordered the Cafe Sua Da and we chose to get it "strong" and man, was it ever! This was the strongest iced coffee I'd ever had and I loved it despite what I knew it would do to me! Cue the song "Up all Night" by Talking Heads Here.
The front table was filled with what I assumed were regulars. Older men chatting away and enjoying their breakfast before going outside for a smoke.
The turmeric noodles came with a side of toasted sesame cracker. The soup came with wide flat noodles. The meats included: shrimp, minced pork, shrimp cake, and pork ribs topped with chopped peanuts and cilantro.
See the noodles? And the different types of meats? The broth was delicious - very flavorful! The garnisehd were cilantro, fresh chopped lettuce and slices of lime to squeeze on top of the soup. I liked the fresh shrimp in here as well as the fish/shrimp cakes.
Bert's pho which he really enjoyed. Clear broth. Good flavor. The meats were not dry or overcooked either. TC liked the pho better than my turmeric noodles. She felt mine was "too spicy" (but it really wasn't).
TC's banh mi with bbq'd pork inside...
Kind of skimpy on the meats but filled up by having some of our soups which were more than enough for one person.
I was already plotting our next visit. I wanted to try their Bun Bo Hue (Hue noodle soup) and Bun Moc Hanoi (rice vermicelli soup with pork pepper balls), but that would be another day!
If you're wondering about the name, Ha is the first name of the woman who owns the place. The V comes from her husband's last name (Voung) and the L from her's (Luu), hence Ha & VL.
Who else ate at Ha & VL?
WC of Wandering Chopsticks did, of course. Her posts also has links to other bloggers' posts (Eat.Drink.Think and Guilty Carnivore) so be sure to check it her post here.
More press:
OregonLive
and yelp reviews
Locat
Ha & VL
2738 S.E. 82nd Ave
503-772-0103
7:30 a.m.-3 p.m. Monday-Friday and 8 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday-Sunday
Next stop?
Panem!
2 comments:
Both noodle dishes look delicious. I could go for a bowl right now.
man, the turmeric curry noodles were amazing. i like the diff't types of meats in there. i wish they gave a bigger piece of that sesame shrimp cracker though!
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