By Josh Resnek
At the height of the recent heat wave which broke Monday, we all still needed to eat, didn’t we?
As much as our appetites were shrunken by the heat, the need to eat, to satisfy taste buds longing for something delicious do not simply evaporate.
What to do?
I rely a great deal lately on Vietnamese food or shall we say, Vietnamese style food.
During the past week, I traded photographs everyday with my son, Jacob. He dates a Vietnamese woman. They stayed with her parents in Pensacola, Florida.
It was bad enough hearing from him every day about the white beaches, the soft sand, the brilliantly clear and warm water with waves.
What was worse were the photographs of his girlfriend’s mother’s Vietnamese treats set out for him every day on the dinner table like a Vietnamese feast.
Down in Pensacola they grow their own vegetables and create bowls of pho with fresh vegetables and meat treats to die for.
As hot as it was here, descriptions of what he was eating sent me to my favorite Vietnamese restaurant.
It’s in Lynn on Louis Street. If you like Vietnamese cuisine, it is worth the ride.
Pho Minh Ky, 238 Union Street, is the place.
The air conditioning there hasn’t worked in five years during the summer. Yet I went there when it was 97 degrees I needed to eat so badly.
The place was so hot I thought about leaving. Then I grabbed the one seat by the front door where cooler air from the outside cut the heat in a tiny space where I sat.
I ordered up a chicken vermicelli bowl.
As you can see in the photograph above, this is a wonderful $13.00 plate of eating pleasure.
Plenty of smaller cut pieces of grilled chicken served atop vermicelli, and surrounded with smaller servings of specially cut cucumber (how do they manage to do that) lettuce, and a topping of chopped scallions and crushed peanuts.
The best thing about this bowl is the side bowl of peanut sauce topped with crushed peanut. This is bowl that almost looks too good to eat. Those of you who have never tried Vietnamese food should step out of your safety zone and give a bowl like this a chance.