W. T. (Ph).

I love Vietnamese pho'.  My sister-in-law (I call her my "sister-by-law") got me hooked on this Vietnamese dish back in 2002.  She took my wife and I to a place on Pioneer Blvd. in Cerritos, Calif. called Pho' Tasty.  As expected, there are a million and one places to get pho' in Southern California.  Not so in Northern Florida.  Upon moving to Florida over 6 years ago, one of the biggest adjustments (or should I say, "sacrifices") that I've had to make, was suppressing my desire for International cuisine. Where else but in the South does a vegetarian sandwich come automatically equipped with fried bacon and cheese?  I always tease my wife about the difference between the South and Southern California:  in California, whenever you order a sandwich, the order taker will ask you,"...would you like cheese on that?” ; in the South, they'll ask you, ".....what kind of cheese would you like on that?"  A few years ago, I had a huge craving for some good ole' fashion authentic Mexican food.  Having lived less than 2 hours from the Mexico border for over 30 years of my life (my dad & mom relocated to Los Angeles from Dallas, Texas with my sister and I, when I was 3 years old), Tijuana and Tecate’ were hangouts that I frequented on nearly a monthly basis.  I know authentic Mexican food!  With my anticipations high, and mouth already salivating from the thought of succulent hand-tossed and made-from-scratch corn tortillas and grilled chipotle chilies for the fresh made salsa, I googled "authentic Mexican food" in Jacksonville, Florida.  Guess what popped up as the top listings?  TACO BELL!!!!  Needless to say, until recently, pho' was not even on the radar here in the South.

All that aside, things are changing.  My wife finally discovered a nice little Pho' restaurant in Jacksonville Beach. The name of the restaurant is P.K. Noodles. I was quite impressed!  There is nothing really fancy about the place; but don't get me wrong, that’s what’s so good about it - the cuisine is Vietnamese, period.  They even have Bahn Mi (Vietnamese Sandwich).  The food was very fresh and the restaurant very clean.  I loved the very fresh cilantro and mint.   As a connoisseur of Vietnamese cuisine, I highly recommend P.K. Noodles.

By the way, the "P" stands for Pho , and the "K" stands for King........you can figure out the rest!!!