Pho Life!!

Review #500

It sounds cliche but I didn't know what to do for my #500 review. It's a milestone and you only do it once.

So......I decided to celebrate #500 by doing something I've never done before. A pho'od (food) challenge. To prepare, I didn't eat the whole day and I ran around Pho Garden's block, twice!

Here's a recap of details for you upcoming pho challengers.
- sign a waiver to confirm your idoicy http://static4.px.yelp.com/bphoto/8QV1q24FMyFwIQnZpZ1osg/l
- $22 for a toilet sized bowl of pho
(2 lbs of noodles / 2 lbs of meat (slices of beef, tripe, beef balls, tendon) - you don't need to finish the broth. http://static2.px.yelp.com/bphoto/zudBWRqz5jiBjIQdBZIn_Q/l

Finish it within your 1 hr time limit and your meal's on the house and you get to go home to fill your toilet bowl with the pho you just ate.

The ginormous bowl came out and I was like whoa. It was piping hot and full of flavor. Seriously, one of the better bowls of pho in the City.
http://static2.px.yelp.com/bphoto/dHEAQ_riCs-mfGTaN_ggMw/l

I later learned, from the chef who later came out to see his latest pho victims, that they average about 15 people a day for the challenge, with about 10% completing it. The fastest completion time was 15 minutes!

The key is that you're suppose to put ice in your toilet sized bowl to cool it down, eat the noodles first as they absorb the broth, and to just keep on eating.

Even if I did that, I still don't think I would have finished my bowl. I did however finish about 75% http://static3.px.yelp.com/bphoto/RvSQ_mUoKYB6_WGl3MybBg/l after calling my mom for words of encouragement. http://static1.px.yelp.com/bphoto/nKqEs54ef2A0Lk9iLIK7Sw/l

After watching a ton of Man vs Food episodes, now I know why they have that caption on tv that says, "please do not try this at home." We all had a fun time and hell no did I want to take the leftovers home. http://static3.px.yelp.com/bphoto/xfZf8n9c32FWHVV5Wd7dQg/l

In this man vs pho challenge, pho might have won but I'm planning a rematch at review #1000!!