Tag: Peanut Sauce

AlbuquerqueNew MexicoRating: Very GoodVietnamese

Pho #1 – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno2:28 AM

Beef.  How do I love thee? Let me count the ways. I love thee to the depth and breadth and height my pho spoon can reach. Okay, I’m no Elizabeth Barrett Browning, but if I were to count the ways I love beef, the count might stop at seven–as in the special seven courses of beef offered at Pho #1.  Serving  the Duke City for more than two decades, Pho #1 makes an audacious claim by virtue of its name but it’s a claim with which loyalists will agree.  It’s an International District gem that continues to thrive in a neighborhood some diners eschew. With more than one-hundred items on the menu–not including the seven courses of beef–Pho #1 offers a veritable compendium of Vietnamese food favorites including a large selection of pho bo (beef noodle soup).  Pho is the classic Vietnamese fast food, served in a large soup bowl with fresh rice noodles topped with your choice of beef slices (rare steak, well-done flank, brisket, tendon, tripe, skirt flank and beef ball) then sprinkled with chopped green onion, cilantro leaves and sliced onion.  Each bowl is accompanied by a plate of bean sprouts, sliced jalapenos, lime and basil. Pho…

AsianDog FriendlyIdahoRating: N/R (Not Rated)ThaiUnited States

Jasmine Thai Cuisine – Twin Falls, Idaho

Gil Garduno10:09 AM

My sister and I joke that our hometown of Peñasco is the only place in the entire country that doesn’t have a McDonald’s or a Thai restaurant.  Thanks to our neighbors in the Picuris Pueblo, there’s a Subway just a few miles west of our home.  The McDonald’s closest to Peñasco is 25 miles away in Taos which also boasts of three Thai restaurants.  Driving twenty-five miles in the high mountain country is very different from driving 25 miles in Albuquerque where you might still be in the Duke City when driving that distance.  Driving from Peñasco to Taos involves precipitous curves, steep climbs and sometimes weather conditions that render the streets unsafe. Just how pervasive are Thai restaurants? There are some 20,000 Thai restaurants outside of Thailand, about half of them being in the United States and Canada. A humorous YouTube video actually purports to answer “Why Almost Every Town in America Has a Thai Restaurant, and goes on to declare “Thai restaurants: they’re as American as apple pie.”  You’ll have to watch the video for yourself to learn more about the ubiquity of Thai restaurants.  Suffice to say, Peñasco may be the last place under spacious skies to…