Pho Sho

Rosslyn's Pho 75 has gotten the stamp of approval from blogger Scott Underwood. More than a stamp of approval, actually: "Do you remember when you discovered your favorite food?...Well in my case that answer is yes. About two months ago I discovered pho—Vietnamese noodle soup." Underwood was turned on to Pho 75 by a friend who "espoused its virtues" (FYI Scott: I'm not sure if that's a correct use of the word "espoused," but don't get mad – all my blogs and myspace pages and Twitter feeds are fucked up, too) and is now an addict. But Pho 75 isn't a one-night stand for D.C. foodies – the cafeteria-style joint has already gotten the heads up from Tom Sietsema and The Washingtonian.

But is Pho 75 the real thing? The ongoing debate about pho – which Vietnamese beef and noodle soup, unless you're not convinced that pho must have beef, or think it can be vegetarian, or think it must be seasoned in a particular way – is, well, ongoing and ongoing and ongoing and likely to go on as long as Vietnamese people have hot water, broth, noodles, and restaurants. (I guess a Vietnamese doughnut-maker could say doughnuts are pho, but that argument seems thin.) My favorite pho spot is Pho 99 in Bellingham, Washington, right off of I-5. When you're touring up the West Coast headed to Vancouver and get a hotel in Bellingham for the express purpose of storing your merch so you don't have to sneak it across the Canadian border, the last city before the border is Bellingham, and you'll probably be hungry from all the merch-and-hotel related logistics and plotting, so get a room at the Motel 6, dump your merch, and go get some pho at Pho 99, because it's fucking good, and also they said it's vegetarian, though I'm not sure if I believe it.