When I’m Sick, All I Want Is a Bowl of Pho | Eater Portland

"Wearing a mask, I ventured to the stalwart Madison South restaurant Pho Oregon for my fix, preferring to eat in so the broth comes straight from the restaurant’s slowly simmering pot rather than reheated delivery. It’s largely unchanged from when it opened in the early aughts and feels like a Vietnamese American diner anchor—neon sign above the front counter, large porcelain vases full of flowers (some real, some fake), lacquered wood art panels, and soft Eighties tunes while diners slurp bowls of bun and pho. When the waiter sets the bowl down I perform my usual “pho facial,” hovering over the steam to inhale warming spices of star anise and cinnamon and admire chopped green onions floating like translucent halos. I dress the soup with the accompanying herbs and bean sprouts but leave the condiments aside to enjoy the broth’s simplicity, and I order plain meatball pho to eat like a child when I’m sick because it mimics the meat–carb–broth comfort of chicken noodle soup. A good pho here stays piping hot until the bottom of the bowl, fogging my glasses, and by the time I finish I finally feel my sinuses have cleared ever so slightly—good soup." - Janey Wong