The Mango Lassie

In case you don’t live in the Midwest and haven’t heard, it has been freezing cold here for the past week. And by freezing, I don’t just mean below 32 degrees. My online weather tracker currently says it’s -3 degrees outside. We are not expected to see highs in the 20s again until Thursday.

When it gets this cold outside, there is nothing better than a nice, hot bowl of soup. It helps if the soup is spicy too, because then it warms you from the inside. That’s why Empanada Boy and I decided to stop in at one of his old Uptown stomping grounds— Phò 777 on Argyle Street.

Argyle is like a mini, Northside, Chinatown, including plenty of dim sum, markets, bakeries and bubble tea outlets. But there are also a fair number of places specializing in phò (pronounced “fuh”), the traditional Vietnamese beef noodle soup. Perhaps a better name for this neighborhood would be “Little Saigon.”

Empanada Boy ate phò all the time before he moved in with me because it was nearby, cheap and delicious. For a total of about $11, we got two meals which included noodles, meat and vegetables. Phò 777 (as opposed to Phò 888, just down the street) was the place EB pinpointed early on as his favorite, although I’m not sure why. There are plenty of other things on the menu there, but we really haven’t tried much beyond the soup and an occasional bubble tea. The truth is, once you finish a bowl of phò— even the small size— there is little room in your stomach for anything else.

Phò is made with a flavorful beef broth, which includes spices like Saigon cinnamon, star anise, ginger, and cloves. There is undoubtedly plenty of MSG in the mix as well. But that’s what makes it taste so good. In the broth are vermicelli noodles, green onions, white onions, cilantro, ngo gai (“saw leaf herb”) and mint, along with various meat products, depending on which option you select. There is also a side plate of condiments that come with each bowl. This usually includes Thai basil, lime, bean sprouts and chili peppers.

Being the resident fan of offal, Empanada Boy ordered a large bowl of the Number 2, which comes with well-done flank steak, fatty brisket, soft tendon and the requisite bible tripe, the latter being made from one of the many stomachs of a cow. The meat comes out exactly as it sounds: the flank a little tougher, the brisket falling apart, the tendon rich and tender and the spongy tripe tasting tough and chewy.

I am not a huge fan of tripe, so I ordered a small bowl of the Number 7, which comes with well-done flank streak and soft tendon. As I mentioned above, a small bowl is not really very small. It is still enough to fill me up completely, and that is saying something. I wanted to add fatty brisket to my order, so I asked the waiter if he could put some in. He agreed, but when I got my dish, there was one large piece of flank and a cluster of soft tendon. I thought there was too little meat in my dish altogether, and EB seemed to concur. Still, I’m not sure if this reflects on the restaurant so much as the person who happened to serve up our soup. I have been to Phò 777 in the past an received a healthier portion of meat.

In addition to adding the vegetable condiments, I always add sweet hoisin sauce and spicy Thai Sriracha sauce. Along with the thick slices of chili peppers, these give the dish some powerful spice, which clears out my sinuses nicely. EB chooses to administer his sauces a bit more sparingly, adding a little to a piece of meat here and there. My broth looked about five shades darker than his by the time we called it quits.

Feeling full, we ran from the restaurant back to the car. The icy wind whipped us around, but, thanks to my friend phò, the insides of our stomachs were warm and toasty.

Phò 777
1065 W. Argyle St.
Chicago, IL 60640
773.561.9909