Leena Eats: Pho Hoa Lao in Oakland…So. Much. Pho.

August 4th, 2010

My cute husband at Pho Hoa Lao in Oakland.

If you know me, you know I love me some pho. I’ve blogged about it once or twice (or thrice…) and for some reason, when I eat it, I need to eat it again in like a week. Maybe they lace it crack? Or love? Who knows, but it far time Oakland showed me what it could do in the pho department.

Stop #1: Pho Hoa Lao in Oakland. More food porn after the jump.

My raw steak and flank steak pho at Pho Hoa Lao. Smaller noodles than I usually like, but great broth. Curious why they gave me jalapeno instead of thai chile pepper, which I know they grow in California.

My husband's Pho Ga, or chicken pho. Really delicious, especially with all the lime and chiles and such, but not as awesome as the beef. Still, a good soup.

I went back a week later. Clearly, I like this place.

~LTG!

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Pho Hoa Lao

720 International Blvd

Oakland, CA 94606

(510) 451-6888

This entry is filed under Leena Eats, Oakland, Pho, Soups.
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Jinxie

I've eaten a lot of pho [like, seriously, A LOT] since moving to the Bay Area and in 8 years I have only ever seen jalapenos* with pho. Now, I have no idea if that's “traditional” or not, i.e., if that's what they do in Vietnam, but here, at least, jalapenos seem to rule supreme.
And while I'm here, let me recommend my current favorite pho spot in San Francisco: Turtle Tower, on Larkin and [I think?] Eddy. Everything I've had there has been delicious, but the one I always crave is…well, I can't remember the name, but it has beef [and beef broth], celery, and leeks in it. They also do a version where they pan-fry the noodles before adding them to the broth which is tasty, at first, but the noodles are so charred I was burping “smoke” flavor for hours after eating it.
Aside from Turtle Tower, Larkin Street is a wealth of great Vietnamese food [that stretch is actually called "Little Saigon" by some], esp. sandwiches. On the non-Vietnamese front, just up the street from TT is the best Thai food I've ever had [though it's worth noting that I've only ever eaten Thai food in the US], this place called Lers Roi. If you go, get the pork belly. Also awesome is that they're open until midnight, which is pretty unusual here.

*My spell checker wants to change “jalapenos” to “Galapagos” which I find terribly amusing.
Leena

Jinxie,

What a wealth of information. Thank you so much! I think a pho crawl is in order!

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