UYE “La Vie En ‘Pho’s’” – April Pho King

This isn’t the first phở UYE that Victoria M has hosted, but it’s the first one I’ve been able to make it to in a few months, so I’m glad to report I had a phở-​ntastic time! Also, it’s just kind of impossible to say no to a UYE being held at a restaurant called Phở King. While there’s normally a penchant for phở puns, the number of them for Phở King was kind of astronomical, starting at LEAST a week in advance (prod at Gary N)!
Wahiawa being so far and all, carpooling is always fun and a great way to get to know my fellow Unilocalers even before the event, so whoop whoop to Cathy T & Paul C, and special thanks to Gary N for driving (a.k.a. being DD). ^_​^ Why is DD so important? Because Phở King’s BYOB policy resulted in our host brining 6 bottles of red wine to dinner. We finished them all; enough said.
While everyone was determined to try the Phở King phở, I had to be that odd man out and ordered a Chicken Salad to be healthy (noodles = too much carb). I did get to try the broth & some noodles (thanks Cathy T) and it was tasty, but I mainly just stuck to my salad and didn’t even eat the fried spring roll appetizer! Needless to say, i should have carbed up… yay wine! ^_​^“
Food and phở puns aside, it was a great chance to check out a far away business with lots of great ppl! It was awesome to get to hang out with Arynn I & Michael C who I don’t see very often even though they’re awesome sauce!
PS — Sorry John for you being the name tag target, but not sorry for the amount of entertainment value we all got out of it. :D I’m sure you’ll return the favor sometime

Wahiawa? Wahiawa? This was my reaction when Victoria M. texted me about her April Phở Uye. Drive all the way to Wahiawa just for a bowl of phở? Are you kidding me? I must say that if anyone else were hosting the Uye, I would have declined. But I’ve always enjoyed Victoria’s events, so I signed on, and I’m so glad I did. (If truth be known I’m no stranger to Wahiawa. I worked in the town off and on for many years, and I still travel there every six weeks or so to visit a friend. I just like to complain, lol)
Victoria loves Phở and it’s hard not to love Victoria. She is always so bubbly and cheerful and her happiness is so infectious it’s difficult to be grumpy and sad in her presence. (I try a lot but I always fail). And on this occasion Victoria added to her natural bubbliness by bringing some bubbles in a bottle for all to share — i.e. six bottles of wine. One was a $ 100 prize vino she had won the week before. She’s like that. Generous to a fault in sharing what she has to make those around her happy
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The Phở King Restaurant was chosen for the Uye because of its humorous name, and because of this I wondered how the quality of phở would compare with the others I have sampled around town. I’m happy to report that Phở King is great — I mean really, really good. So if you are in Wahiawa around lunch or dinner time this is a good place to go. Phở King is on California Ave. in a small shopping complex near Foodland. I have friends who come for Mililani to dine there, so give it a try. You’ll be glad you did.
At the Uye I met two Unilocalers I had not seen before — Vladan and Jay, and I was able to re-​acquaint myself with others whom I have met at previous events. Great to see all you guys! Unfortunately I was forced to leave early because business matters required me to get up well before the break of dawn the next day. I was able to give Ed a ride back to town (we’re almost neighbors), and it was nice to have his company and conversation on the drive back to Kaimuki.
Judging from the other reviews and pictures, I missed most of the fun. Darn. Story of my life. But next time for sure! And the next time Victoria throws another UYE everyone else should make a point of attending too. A phoking good time will be had by all, that much I’m phoking sure. So don’t you dare say phoking no, say PHOKING YES!

Nothing like a Phở UYE event in Wahiawa at the tail end of April 2014!
Thanks to our gracious host extraordinaire Victoria M for coordinating this casual, but enlightening UYE event to gather all Phở minded persons to eat here. I had reservations about traveling all the way to Wahiawa just for Phở on a Sunday evening, especially when the next day is a work day, but it was Phở, so I coerced by myself to go for good Phở, based on the many positive reviews on the restaurant. This UYE was held at Phở King Vietnamese restaurant in the XX shopping village, located at 823 California Avenue. The reviews were decidedly mixed, however there was a handful of reviews of the restaurant that were 5 stars and could not be looked over. The decision to go was a no brainier, just to check out and decide how good the Phở and the restaurant really is — at least to me.
I arrived here around 5pm, since it was a Sunday and I didn’t have really anything else to do. The host arrived around 10 minutes before the event was to begin and the restaurant was buzzing already with a few customers. At 5:45pm, almost everyone showed up and we started to order appetizers. I ordered the garlic fries, just because it was probably the first time I had seen garlic fries on the menu in a Vietnamese restaurant. The others had ordered green papaya salad, tofu wrap, and spring rolls /​lumpia. We all occupied the front area of the restaurant, where the party was. It was nice that Victoria M called ahead and made the reservation for us all to enjoy the Phở and other delicious offerings. I wanted to try my first bubble tea drink, but opted for another time, but for now, Phở was where it was at!
It was always nice to see familiar faces here at the UYE, along with new Unilocal faces. I got to meet Arryn C and Jay C after eating the Phở, where there was a bit of talk story and socializing. We talked about Colorado, home repair /​remodeling, and car repair, among other topics. It was definitely interesting to get prospective on others and how they got into Unilocaling. I ultimately got the large combination Phở, with the meat already inside. I thought of getting extra noodles, but with me checking out Molly’s Smokehouse nearby a couple of hours earlier, I knew that my stomach would be in a world of hurt, so I just got my usual. I wouldn’t say that this Phở is 5 star material, but it was definitely good. The meat was definitely better than that of other Vietnamese places. It was generous and the broth had a sweet texture to it, but it was light at the same time.
The service was good, of course. Victoria M was gracious to bring bottles of wine to share, and that was awesome! Thank you Victoria! Phở King — Wahiawa takes plastic, so that’s always great. After about 45 minutes of talking and hanging out, it was time to go home. I caught a ride back close to home with Wayne C. We talked about many different things, so it was nice to get to know him better that way as well. Thanks Wayne C for the ride back! The food was good and definitely a stop, if you crave Phở and are in the Wahiawa area. While it may not be the best — to me — it’s definitely top 10.
Support local!
A

Sometimes you just need to get away from town to get some Phở King in life. What happens in Wahiawa stays in Wahiawa! If only it was located closer to me I would be having Phở King everyday! Hah I love the name of this phở place!
It was my first time experiencing Phở King and I had to order a bowl of phở because that’s what I always must do at phở restaurants. The brisket is amazing here! It’s so thick, moist, and tender! It does help that it’s sitting in soup, but still! It was the best brisket I’ve ever had in a Vietnamese restaurant.
Victoria was so awesome in bringing the wine! She does not fool around either with 6 bottles that us thirsty Unilocalers finished. It was all red, which is my favorite!
Part of the experience of Phở King is getting their amazing «I love Phở King» shirt. Four of us picked them up and posed for pictures with them.
I don’t get to visit the far west side often, so it was really nice. Hanging with awesome Yeeps was even nicer! I like driving especially when there isn’t traffic and Sunday night was the perfect time!

I’m Phở-​King serious this UYE was 5 Stars! ;-)
With 6 bottles of wine consumed, 15+ bowls of phở, spring & summer rolls, ring pops, peanut butter & mint chocolate chip cookies how could ANYONE not have had a great night?
The evening was complete with «that’s what she said jokes» and «phở-​king» puns. I laughed so hard at one point that my face hurt! It was great to joke and laugh with everyone and on top of all the the food was phở-​nominal!
I got a a large bowl with beef outside and tendon and a side order of meatballs in the soup. The portions of meat were very generous and the soup was nice and hot! Also it wasn’t greasy. BUT I apparently missed out by not getting the brisket because several Unilocalers could not stop talking about how incredible it was!
We ended the night with spilt checks (no problem) and several people buying I (heart) Phở King shirts.
Thanks for the great memories!

Such a PHO KING good time!
Due to a change in date and time, I was able to finally attend a monthly phở event. Sadly, past events had eluded me because of work or prior commitments. As the saying goes, everything happens for a reason, and I am thankful I was able to spend an enjoyable evening amongst good food and good friends.
Victoria M has surely become a skilled hostess since this is her fourth phở UYE of the year. She was organized with enough tables for our group, provided name tags, and graciously brought numerous bottles of wine to share with everyone. Also, she was kind enough to order spring rolls and summer rolls to share with the group.
I PHO KING love the smaller events, especially the UYE’s, since the group/​setting is so much more intimate. These smaller-​scale events truly allow people to «talk story» or catch up with one another. It was nice to meet a new Unilocaler tonight, Vladan N., and good to see newbie Wayne C and Jay A. once again. Throughout the evening, the wine pours were generous, the laughs were contagious, and the conversations seemed endless.
Personally, I enjoyed my food and would have eaten every last bite of my large brisket phở if I wasn’t so PHO KING full (plus there was talk early on of going to the nearby Baskin Robbins for dessert so I wanted to save some room). I absolutely loved the broth, the sides were extremely generous, and the thick slices of brisket were very abundant in my soup.
Though the restaurant was «out of town» so to speak, I think Victoria made a PHO KING good choice. The staff were friendly for the most part, and provided decent service. Ample parking was available as well and that’s definitely a huge plus in my humble opinion surely.
Lastly, I want to thank my fellow Unilocalers for a wonderful time! It was great to catch up with you all, and thanks for all the laughs afterwards at Baskin Robbins too! You guys are awesome!
BOTTOM LINE: THANK YOU Victoria M. for hosting such a PHO KING great UYE!

Victoria M. knows how to throw awesome UYE’s. Her Phở series is PHO KING out-​of-​this-​world!
A cool group of 13 Yeeps showed up in Wahiawa, where I hardly go. Maybe 2x a year when I take friends around the island.
I had an active day and didn’t really eat anything substantial so I was effen Phở King hangry!!! :p
I met a new Yeep Jay A. and it was cool to see Vladan N. again, whom I met 2 days ago at the UYE DH hike. Had great convo and got to know interesting things about Gary N. and Maka K.
Tonight was BYOB and our awesome hostess Victoria M. brought several bottles of red wine to share. I was lucky to bum a ride from Gary so I drank more than usual.
A very laid back evening over hot bowls of Phở and lots of great talks. Thank you Victoria for dragging us to Wahiawa. You made this drive to Wahiawa well worth it!
Congrats to Cathy T. for the continued «Phở King» puns and jokes. She won a cool pair of ceramic soup spoons!
Cannot wait for the next «Phở King» Victoria — — we want more!!!