I grew up eating phð. My entire childhood was spent eating mostly phð. I hated phð. I wanted McDonald's, or spaghetti; maybe some fried chicken - Popeye's or KFC. Sometimes we had egg rolls or lumpia, but mostly there was phð. As a young adult I refused to eat phð, and it wasn't until my late 20's that I finally started eating Vietnamese food again. I was just sick of it.

I especially don't care for phð that I don't make myself. My grandmother taught me well - maybe a little too well. Pho Hoa Lee Phat makes the closest bowl of phð to my own that I've ever had at a restaurant. They even have all of the accoutrement that I prefer to keep on hand, and a plethera of other authentic Vietnamese dishes on the menu, including a large selection of boba milk teas. Everything I've ordered has been phð-king fantastic, and dare I say it - better than Grandma's.

Vietnamese food isn't known as being the fanciest of cuisines, and Pho Hoa Lee Phat is definitely NOT fancy - but that's all part of the charm. Located inside one of my favorite Asian grocery stores, Seafood City, conveniently I can pick up all of my Asian staples while I grab food there, or vice versa. There's also a Jollibee and a Grill City for amazing Filipino food, as well as a couple of Asian bakeries. A few miles away, Pho Hoa Leet Phat 1 is another of their locations with outdoor seating that is just a teense fancier, but the food is basically the same and I have eaten at both locations more times than I could count.