Pho the love!

Holy toot, it’s cold outside! I bet all those people who bought Canada Goose parkas are suddenly realizing they aren’t totally overheating for once. As we make our way through “cold-snap 2013”, it’s time to start getting creative about keeping warm.  According to Cosmo Magazine, one of the best ways to do that is to find a dude, strip naked in front a radiator and “get it on”. Aside from being completely ludicrous, this won’t actually keep you warm-not in this weather-not even if you’re loaded.

At this time of year my “keep-warm” regime consists of scalding hot showers, consuming gallons of tea, and the ritualistic burning of old editions of Cosmo. Don’t worry, I was sure to capture all the sex and dating tip “gems” in an excel spreadsheet before lighting them ablaze. Once I’m through with all the showering, tea bags and sparkly ashes, I grab a pal and head out to one of the city’s many Vietnamese restaurants for gigantic, life affirming, soulful, delicious (more adjectives!), bowl of pho.

Pho, pronounced “foe” or “p-hoe”, is a savory Vietnamese dish of broth, rice noodles, herbs and meats that is sure to fill your belly and return your core temperature to normal.  Generally pho is either chicken or beef and any connoisseur or waiter can teach you to use the assortment of basil, onions, chili peppers, bean sprouts and lime that come with it to flavor and spice-up your meal. Depending on how cold and hungry you are you can a small, medium, large or bucket sized serving. The server will exhibit incredible forearm strength as they deliver a massive bowl to your table with a single hand. Pho is eaten with chops sticks and spoon (spoon does not fit into most mouths) and generally costs no more than 8 or 9 dollars-even for the bucket.

I initially started using pho when I lived in Ottawa. This is a place where it’s so cold people just dump piping hot bowls of pho down their snow pants to keep warm. Arriving in Toronto, unable to kick the habit, I undertook a months long mission to find the perfect restaurant to get me through the cold times. I must have spent 50 dollars trying hundreds of pho joints before finding “the one”, Pho 88. This wonderful little restaurant is located in Toronto’s China town and it is where I now sit, writing this nonsensical post about food, Cosmo and ice. This place is comfortable and warm the staff proudly offer fresh noodles made in-house. The wine is not great, but there’s booze in it so I don’t care. For tonight, in the middle of January in the depths of a cold-snap, I will scarf down a bucket sized bowl of delicious spicy sate pho, getting most of it on my shirt while my boyfriend considers my relationship ending table manners.

To check out 88’s Website, click here.