San Francisco: The ex-pho-rience of Golden Flower

Some people think a bowl of pho is just a bowl of pho.
They couldn't be any more wrong.
Call me a al-pho-holic. My last trip to Golden Flower Vietnamese Restaurant in Chinatown changed the way I see the simple noodle soup -and noodle houses- in general. My friend and I ordered two bowls of the #14:thin-sliced flank and tendon.
This flank was served perfectly medium rare. Most importantly, the broth of this pho was rich and served hot. Other watering holes for the stuff, especially bigger and busier noodle houses, make the all too common mistake of serving the broth luke warm. Other broths are just too bland. This broth has character. Whatever they're doing at Golden Flower to gin it up, it's working.

The take-your-time-and-eat atmosphere is a nice change of pace from other hurry-up-and-eat-your-noodles!-noodle houses you can find. And they are out there.
Our waiter was nice enough to wait until we were done with our imperial rolls before he brought us our hangover-soothing bowl of steaming hot broth.
I'm definitely coming back.