For our "history and ethnicity in the Santa Clara Valley" project, 
we went to Pho Hoa.  Pho Hoa is a traditional Vietnamese restaurant 
in San Jose not far from the Arena.  This restaurant specializes in 
serving the finest Vietnamese and Chinese cuisine.  It is owned by 
brothers who moved to the United States from Vietnam thirteen years 
ago.  One of the owners was not in during our visit, but the younger
of the two was more than happy to talk with us about their 
restaurant.  His name was Houng Ling.  Working with him were his 
father and three friends that are also from Vietnam.  Pho Hoa is part
of a chain of restaurants that help maintain the Vietnamese culture 
in cities on the West Coast.  This was the first of the chain to be 
opened.  When it first started, they served only Vietnamese food, but
now they have expanded to cater to the a wider variety of people. 
Houng was the only person at Pho Hoa that spoke English.  Our first 
waiter was a very polite man but we had a difficult time talking to 
him.  All of the customers in the restaurant were Asian and they 
spoke Vietnamese and Chinese when talking with the waiters.
	
The cultural clash was somewhat evident in their $10 minimum purchase
for free Arena parking.  They had been having problems since it was 
built with people taking advantage of their parking lot.  The menu 
was also in Chinese and Vietnamese.  We had to ask the waiter what 
he thought was the best plate.  Their business is aimed primarily 
at serving the Asian community of San Jose.  Houng told us that about
85% of the clientele is consistently  made up of Chinese or 
Vietnamese Americans.  
	
For dinner, we each tried a different dish.  Before bringing out the
main course, Houng brought a plate of fresh basil leaves, bean 
sprouts, and green peppers.  We stared at the plate and each other, 
wondering what to do with these.  Then after looking at others in the
restaurant we realized that they were to go on top of our soup. Next
he brought our drinks.  Everyone had what Houng recommended: 
Nuoc Dua, which is a coconut drink. Kyle had the grilled chicken and
eggroll,  served with rice.  The chicken was excellent but the rice 
was a little plain.  The eggroll was hot and filled with several
different spices and peppers that burned the mouth.  Andrew, David,
and Owen had different types of the restaurant's specialty: Pho.  
Owen had Pho Ga, David had the Pho Tai Bò Vien, and Andrew had the 
Pho Tai Nam.
	
Pho has been famous for its taste and at the same time, appreciated 
as a wholesome, nutritious meal.  It has all the qualities a 
health-conscious eater would look for.  The soup-like meal consisted
of different types of meats which were simmered for long hours to 
enhance the quality taste of Pho.  Delicately seasoned with select 
natural spices, Pho's aroma becomes very stimulating to the customers
as they walk in the door.  Pho is a delicious course which is served
for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for a healthy nutritious meal.  
The fresh ingredients in Pho are grown locally to produce the 
freshest quality in flavor.

In serving pho and other popular Vietnamese dishes, Houng feels 
that his restaurant is helping to keep the Vietnamese tradition 
alive in San Jose.  The atmosphere was quite different from the 
restaurants where we were used to eating. There was virtually no 
pressure from the waiters, who were extremely polite. Eating at 
Pho Hao was definitely an experience that we all enjoyed.  Our talk 
with Houng helped us appreciate their attempt to continue his ethnic
tradition.
	
To visit the home page of Pho Hoa on the internet to learn more, 
follow this link:   
Pho Hoa


Here is another link concerning pho


Here is a link about other Vietnamese foods


Here are several links to general information about Vietnam

A lot of info concerning Vietnam

WRITTEN BY:
Dave Mahoney
Andrew Ellie
Kyle Winn
Owen O'Keeff