Just for the PHO of it........PHO Saigon in Bridgeport

I work in Bridgeport.   My regular day job takes me to the east side of the city where a long time ago, I would read the Monday paper about all the stabbings and robberies and homicides that took place over the weekend.  So of course I would never venture out of my way from the highway and back.  Since then, the city has gotten safer and I have realized that the city really isn't all that bad.  Its actually quite a melting pot of ethnic variety that has much to explore.

About a year ago a friend of mine was visiting from Phoenix and he asked me if I have been to Pho Saigon.  I told him I never heard of it and he said if I like the Vietnamese soup Pho, then I will love this.  Pho is basically a Vietnamese noodle soup.  Served in a big steaming bowl, you will find noodles, and some sort of protein.  The Most popular is a beef variety.

I found the address and made my way to Iranistan rd in Bridgeport.  On the corner of Iranistan and Wood Rd is a house with small restaurant on the main floor.  It's a simple place really that is basically one room with a kitchen off in the back.  There are maybe 20 tables inside each with a stack of chopstick and Siracha chili sauce.

I have enjoyed Pho before but don't know all the ins and out of it.  So I just ordered the first one on the list which was the beef Pho.  Unfortunately I had to take it to go so I walked out with a square Styrofoam container and a quart size container of broth.

When I got back to my office I poured the broth into a big bowl and opened the Styrofoam. Inside was a large amount of rice noodles, bean sprouts and thinly sliced raw beef.  In addition to that was scallions, licorice  basil and another thin leaf.  I threw it all into the broth to let it cook.  I also got a side container of Siracha and chili paste and added a generous amount.

After only a few minutes, the beef had been cooked and the noodles were all warm and soft.  The broth was very aromatic with hints of 5 spice and garlic.  But the flavors went much deeper with the layers of chili paste and basil.

It's a huge amount of food and I said I can have this for lunch and dinner but my inner pig took over and I ate the whole thing.

I can't wait to go there again and eat there.  While we were waiting there was one woman in the restaurant who was eating a dish that was very colorful with many different colorful vegetables. Looked awesome.

PHO Saigon is located at 1275 Iranistan rd in Bridgeport CT.  I highly recommend it.

Omanel in Bridgeport........Brazilian cuisine lives large in Bridgeport

In both Bridgeport and New Haven, lies home to many Brazilian families. And where you have a large gathering of a specific ethnicity, you will have local eateries that cater to those people to give them the comforts of home.  In Bridgeport, Omanel's is such a place.  This Brazilian restaurant has been around for many years and while I had been there when I first moved in 1992, I haven't returned since.

We had gone there for lunch from work one day because we just needed a day out for lunch. The four of us are all eaters so we were excited for something different.  Omanel's has a menu that is strong is seafood dishes and they had a nice lunch menu.  We looked around and saw many dishes served in large Pewter crock pots.  When I glanced at the lunch menu, there were 4 dishes of Bakala (salted cod fish) and a few other heavy rice dishes.

We decided to get some appetizers to share first.  We got one order of Chorizo Sausage and two orders of Garlic Shrimp.  The Chorizo came out to us in a dish that had the sausage on fire.  Not like your Saganaki cheese you hear "OPA" yelled at when it is burst into flames, but literally on fire.  It created a crispy outside to go with the smoky inside.

We decided to get two orders of the shrimp because we knew it would be extra garlicy and there would be a good amount of mopping to be done on the dish.   Make sure you ask for extra bread for this dish.  you'll send it back with just the shells and the lemon ring.

Our main dishes came out and I couldn't believe the portion sizes.  these Pewter pots were massive. Salted Cod was swimming in the pot of rice.  The cod was on the bone which add some deep rich flavor to the broth that the rice had absorbed.  But make sure you're prepared for bones because there is some work involved.  also because of the heavy salt, I was able to only eat a little bit of it.  I have found since I've cut back on salt, I've become sensitive to it.  The portion was so big, that I was easily able to bring home 1/2 of it.

Omanel's can be found in Bridgeport at 1909 Main Street.  Their phone number is 203-335-1676.