Restaurant Review: Pho House

            On a cold day of December, Pho definitely sounds like a plan. Pho is a Vietnamese rice noodle soup made with beef stock. Just a few weeks ago, I had a visit to a restaurant named Pho House located in 2224 Washtenaw Ave, Ypsilanti, with group of my friends. There was a parking lot right next to the restaurant which was really convenient. The outside appearance of this restaurant is very oriental-styled with black and white colors. The sign clearly says it is a Vietnamese noodles and grill restaurant which I think makes the customers less hesitant to walk in to an Asian restaurant; because, who doesn’t like noodles and grills? Inside is clean and cozy. All the tables are sized for 4-6 people, perfect for a family gathering. The entire place is adorned with flowers and ceramic decorations which definitely brighten up the atmosphere. There was no music playing and the restaurant was not very loud at all. It was a perfect environment  for people to have a little chat.

               When we took a seat, the waiter came to give us the menu. The waiter was a white man, but it seemed as though the owners of the restaurant was a Vietnamese family. We were surprised to find that the menu was mostly in Vietnamese. However, it was not very hard to order for there was an ample amount of descriptions about the dishes underneath and because the dishes had numbers written next to them. We ordered number 9 Pros which was the house special beef rice noodle soup and bubble teas. I ordered the Chai Tea bubble tea. Bubble tea is a Taiwan originated drink with chewy tapioca balls in them. While we were waiting for the food, I looked around to see who else was in the restaurant. There were couple of American families and rest was filled with Asian couples. It seemed like a lot of Asian couple come here for a dinner date.

         The bubble teas were served before the main food which I liked for organization. I loved the bubble tea. It was refreshing and very new. All my American friends who had bubble tea for the first time loved it! After few minutes, the noodle soups were served. They were served with separate dish of chilies, herb, lime and bean sprouts. This was a considerate decision made for Americans who may not like the spice or the herb scent. The noodle soup was great. It was warm and the texture of rice noodles were soft and scrumptious. I especially enjoyed the meat balls and beef in the noodle soup. While I was enjoying my noodle soup, I looked over to one of my friends who had a frown on her face. I asked her why and she told me it is because of the chuck of beef and tendons that was floating on the noodle soup. Also the meatballs taste very strong and almost like pig lungs. I realized that those who don’t enjoy fatty meat or slightly undercooked meat will have a hard time eating this noodle soup. She could not many bites of her food.

           
             The serving size is huge though. We ordered the small size pho which was $8, but it was extremely filling- so I suggest that people do not buy the bigger bowl if they are not an extremely big eater. The bubble teas were $3.5, so we each paid about $13 including the tip. The service overall is flawless. We were able to use our credit cards to pay separately which was very convenient as well. Saying that this is the best pho I have ever had would be an understatement. If you are up for adventures; if you are not afraid of trying something new, visit Pho House! 

Product Reviews

1) Nyx Eye Shadow Crayon

           I would like to start by talking about the eye shadow crayon I got from Ulta in shade of Birthday Girl. The original price was $8, but it was on sale for Halloween so I got it for $6. It is pretty pricy for just one shade of eye shadow. However, I thought I would give it a try since I have heard so much about it from YouTube and other social media.

           The shade Birthday Girl is a shimmery bright pink. It can be used in the inner corners of your eyes or even on your brow bones, cheek bones, and tip of your nose as a highlighter. What I absolutely love about this product is that it is highly pigmented. Many woman would agree with me that many of powder eye shadows, when applying with a finger or a brush, loses its pigmentation. However, this eye shadow crayon, since you are applying it straight to your skin, the color quality is great. Another great thing about this product is that make-up beginners can easily use it. Applying eye-shadow can be tricky sometimes and also time consuming if you are not a skilled make up person. This eye shadow crayon glides smoothly on your eyes anywhere you want it. On the back of the eye shadow, there is a smudging tool as well which of course saves money for buying a blending brush.

           There are some cons to product however. First of all, since this product is very creamy. The make- up sometimes tend to shift and wither. It does not stick and dry on your skin very well- which is of course very upsetting after perfectly gliding it on your eyes. The second thing is that it does not mix very well with other eye shadows. For example, if you were to put this eye shadow crayon as a base and add a darker powder shadow on top, they will not blend. I am not sure if this is the case with eye shadow crayons from other companies, but at least the one from ulta has a problem with that. Another thing is sharpening the pencil. In the beginning it comes perfectly sharpened. However, just after couples weeks, it starts to dull. The problem with sharpening this eye shadow crayon is that since it is so creamy, it will never sharpen perfectly. There is a tip to this though; it is putting the eye shadow crayon in the freezer for fifteen minutes before sharpening it. This method works great, but it also takes that much effort.

           In conclusion, if you are interested in this product, I suggest you just buy this color, Birthday Girl. This is because it works great as a highlighter and the size of it is convenient to just pop it in your pouch and use it to fix your inner corners of your eyes since that is the section of your face your make up seem to wither away the fastest. Also, this color is a color you would use daily. The reason why I do not suggest you buy every color is just because the price is not worth that much money for just one shade of color. You can get a whole four color palate for $8!

2) Kroger's Crunchy Granola Bar

                 Who eats granola bars for breakfast? Me! I would like to review Kroger’s crunchy granola bar that I just got yesterday. There are three kinds of flavors which are oats & honey, peanut butter, and maple & brown sugar. The one I tried is oats & honey. I eat granola bars for breakfast every day. There are just two reasons for this: they are affordable and nutritious. I bought the 12bars pack for less than three dollars because it was on sale. That is almost just 25 cents per bar. I usually have two bars a morning, so 12 bars package lasts me an entire week. Granola bars are known for its nutrients and healthiness. It says that two bars are 190 calories which is not a lot for its size. There are calories from fat but zero percent cholesterol. It has some good nutrients such as protein, dietary fiber, potassium and iron. It is made out of whole grain rolled oats which is known to be very good for our body.

           I have had various types of granola bars in my life. I am sorry to say that this is not the best tasting granola bar I had. It does say crunchy, but it is hard to chew; it hurt my teeth. Also, since it is only made from whole grain rolled oats, it is very dry. I often find myself choking on it. The taste itself is not that bad, but it is not absolutely delicious either.

I suggest you buy this if and only if there are completely no other options or it is on a giant sale. I think I am switching it to another kind next week!

3) Mobile Game: Bakery Story

            Everybody needs a little spark of fun in their lives. My spark of fun is playing Bakery Story on my phone. Bakery Story is a game application created by the Storm8 Studios. It is creative, fun and most importantly free! I started playing this game about a month ago through my friend’s recommendation. Honestly, I am not a big fan of mobile phone games; they are often time consuming and unproductive. There is not one game I played for longer than two months. However, I can see myself playing this game for years to come.

           Basically, this is a game where you build your own bakery. First, you name the bakery then start designing the interiors. There are options for different wall colors, tiles, tables, chairs, and windows. Once that is set, you can start cooking things on the machines. In the beginning, there are just two types of machines: a drink maker and an oven. There are different dishes and drinks you can make from each of the machines and they all take various amount of time. For example, making a simple coffee may take 15minutes while making an espresso may take 4hours. When the dishes are ready, customers come to your bakery and buy them. That’s how you earn money to either expand your bakery or buy more machines. As you level up, there are more options of dishes and machines. When I reached level 19, I was finally able to get an ice cream maker.

           This game is especially good for those who don’t like playing games that make you hold your phone forever. Often, games that require you to reach a high score is addicting and time consuming. However, one has to check bakery story perhaps once in two hours just for five minutes. I would not say it is not time consuming, but I feel that for most of the players, it is just like a little rest time during their day.

           I do not recommend this game to the impatient, perfectionist folks out there. This game takes time and that is the charm of it. You start with a small bakery and grow to become a great one. You cannot expect to start the game and suddenly have a perfect bakery with beautiful interior designs and countless dishes to serve. I have seen some people spend real money to achieve that. It is not worth it. It is a work of time and hard work. One should play games just to enjoy it not to pour their entire life into it! Remember, what I said in the beginning: it is just for a little spark of fun.