Pho Bo (Vietnamese Beef Noodle Soup)

I have beeen so busy with work and other things in my life I rarely had the time to blog.  It's Saturday morning and I've just finished some paper work off for the week and now I am craving for some pho bo (vietnamese beef noodle soup) that I made last week.

I used this nice recipe from her site Viet World Kitchen and tweaked it a little to my taste.  Since I wasn't making pho for a big group of people I used minimal ingredients which the broth turned out fine.  I found that using beef neck bone made the soup broth not that clear (oh well it tasted delicious anyway) and used ox tail was a nicer but expensive choice.  I simmered both of this for about 3-4 hours, scooping out the scum and then added a cheat already made muslin cloth of pho spices which I got at the local Asian grocery store for around $3.60.   The ox tail meat comes out very tender!

For the bowls I used already sliced knuckle beef and beef balls and tendons - more than enough meat!  Garnishes were fresh basil, green onions /shallots, bean sprouts, dipping sauce was the usual hoi sin and chilli sauce.

The broth turned out pretty good.  It didn't taste anything like the restaurants cause its so msg based!

A nice video of Pho by Anthony Bourdain in Vietnam. The best dish ever!

O Bal Tan Restaurant Korean BBQ Cuisine

My friend and I went to a Korean BBQ restaurant called  O Ban Tan down town in Brisbane today and I must say it was pretty good as the one in Sunnybank next to the Kimchi Grocery Store.  

Atmosphere:  The restaurant looks very appealing, pretty and gave a warm atmosphere because of the yellow lighting and the use of wood and beautiful wooden carvings.   Air vents are at each table like any other Korean BBQ restaurant.

Menu: You can decide on hot pot, the main meals, charcoal bbq or the specials.  My friend and I went for the hot pot only and this was enough to fill us both up.  We couldn't finish it all!!

The price seemed about right.  The main meals are from $12 to 15, the charcoal bbq around $65 to $68, specials are from $25 to $30 and hot pots are around $40.

We both chose a Hot Pot:  # 45. 불낙전골 Bul Nak Jeon Gol Spicy octopus, beef & vegetables with chilli soup.  

The soup came out already hot and had a lot of goodies in it and we eventually found the beef down the bottom with the potato noodles.  It was a lot of food.   It was a bit spicy for me but thank goodness we had cold water at the table. 

You put the soup into this bowl with the rice side dish.  Well that is what my friend said lol.

All of the hot pot meals comes with the Korean side dishes and of course one of them is the kim chi!

Service:  Service was okay today just because they weren't very busy around 1 to 2pm.  There is a push a button on the side of the table to call for service.  Luckily my friend has been here otherwise I would be waiting for service forever hehe.

Overall:   I only had one dish here and I recommend it for the price.  The service I have not received any bad service here yet cause it was late afternoon with a few people eating.  The hot pot I had was pleasant and it was so much I think it was meant for 3 to 4 people.  We couldn't eat it all.  The value is excellent.

I will definitely drop by again to try out their other food.