November 6th 2022: Chinese in Cambridge, Vietnamese in Boston

Before meeting a colleague arriving from out of town today, we decided to have lunch at Dumpling Xuan, a Chinese restaurant in Cambridge.

We got the Mini Juicy Buns with Pork and Crabmeat,

the Fried Stinky Tofu with Pickle,

the Taiwanese Style Pork Chop Noodles Soup,

and the Spicy Soup with Duck Blood Curd and Beef Tripe.

Really delicious, especially the tofu, which wasn't stinky at all with the pickled sauce. The noodles were excellent as well, the meat crispy, while the duck blood was not mushy, with lots of other ingredients in the spicy soup as well.

After picking up my colleague, we decided to have him try some authentic Vietnamese food at Pho Hoa in the Dorchester area of Boston, which has since merged with Anh Hong, which closed some time ago. Apparently, we have not been to this location before at all, despite visiting Pho Le next door several times. Better looking inside though.

We got the Bun Mang Vit (Duck Leg Bamboo Shoot Soup, duck leg served over vermicelli noodles with sliced bamboo shoot in a chicken broth)

and the Bo 7 Mon, consisting of Bo Nhung Dam (Beef Fondue in vinegar sauce, thinly sliced eye round steak cooked in a sweet vinegar sauce with fried shallots),

the Bo La Lot (Grilled betel skewer, ground beef mixed with lemongrass, garlic onions, wrapped in betel leaves and grilled), Bo Lui (grilled lemongrass beef skewer, thinly sliced eye round steak marinated with an in-house lemongrass soy sauce), Cha Dum (steamed beef meatloaf, ground beef, bean thread vermicelli, wood-ear mushrooms and black peppercorns),

the Goi Bo (Beef Salad, thinly sliced eye round steak tossed with carrots and daikon in a sweet vinegar dressing, topped with crushed peanuts and Vietnamese coriander),

the Nuong Bo (grilled beef with butter, thinly sliced eye round steak marinated with lemongrass and sesame seeds, cooked in hot butter).

the Bo Shake (avocado, ripe avocado, condensed milk, sugar cane),

and the Chao Bo (Jasmine rice soup with ground beef topped with scallions and cilantro).

Except for the porridge which was bland in my opinion, everything else was pretty good, especially the butter beef. My other half still thinks Pho Le is better though.