Pho Banc / Yang Pyoung

Major milestones in our lives. They’re far and few in between, which is why they should be recognized and celebrated when one does come around. I recently reached one such milestone on the 30th of December when I turned 21. Most of my friends have been “of age” for quite a while now, so it has seemed a little overdue to be honest. Regardless, it was an opportunity to pause, reflect on the past, and look ahead to all that is still to come. Of course it was also a time to celebrate and have some fun, and I decided to spend my birthday and New Year’s Eve in New York with a few of my closest friends.

I stayed with Meat who lives in Queens, and I had the pleasure of eating at a few of his favorite spots in the area. I spent most of the afternoon traveling on the bus, and when I arrived in New York, it was practically time for dinner. Meat picked me up from the Port Authority and after meeting up with Eric and Assad, we made our way down to Pho Banc, a small cozy neighborhood place serving Vietnamese food.

Pho Banc is a really informal place, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. We got to the restaurant at around 7:30 and the dining room was completely filled with locals. We didn’t care to wait for our own table, so we ended up sharing one with a few strangers, which worked out just fine.

Extra Large Bowl of Pho

Whenever I eat Vietnamese, I almost always go with the pho. It’s pretty much standard fare everywhere you go and hard to screw up, so it’s generally a safe bet. I also wanted to see how pho in New York would compare to pho in Boston. It could just be the restaurant, but I think the pho in Boston tastes better. The broth at Pho Banc seemed a little more watered down with a less robust beef flavor. The usual add-ins like bean sprouts and basil were available, but they didn’t include lime, which I’m used to. Other than that, however, the pho was very satisfying and enjoyable.

Fried Spring Rolls

Meat also ordered this appetizer/side dish for all of us. The spring rolls were deep-fried to a golden crisp and had a tasty pork mixture inside. I usually just eat them as is, but this time around, some lettuce hearts accompanied the rolls. Apparently the traditional way to eat them is to wrap the lettuce around the rolls and then dip them into fish sauce before eating.

Dinner at Pho Banc was quick, but it hit the spot. Afterward we made a stop for liquor and then went back to Meat’s where Ivan met up with us and shortly after, the night of drunken debauchery began. We pre-gamed a little and then headed out to a few bars in Queens. We made stops at a few places, none of which were very memorable (in fact, they were kind of whack) but regardless, I had fun with the guys. It’s not the place – it’s the company that matters.

As is always the case after a long night of drinking, we made a stop for food – this time at a Korean restaurant Meat’s family often goes to called Yang Pyoung. I have to admit that there’s never a dull moment when I go out with the guys. Apparently we were a little loud and rowdy in the restaurant, and this old belligerent Korean guy sitting near us wasn’t too pleased with us. He definitely wasn’t afraid to let us know either. He started swearing at us in Korean and then proceeded to bang his fist on the table so loud that the entire restaurant grew silent and started staring at him and us. All the while he’s sipping out of this box container of soju or rice wine, adding to his obvious intoxicated state. The hostess eventually escorted him out of the restaurant.

With that little incident out of the way, we ordered some food, and here’s what we got…

Fish Head and Vegetables

After a night of drinking, just about anything short of cow manure tastes fantastic. This dish doesn’t sound like that it’d be great, but it actually it was enjoyable. I’m not just saying that because I was in semi-drunken stupor either. The fish head came with a whole pile of sautéed bean sprouts that was stir-fried with this reddish, spicy sauce. Very tasty.

LA Kalbi

So I’ve come to the conclusion that kalbi is by far my favorite Korean dish. I don’t eat a lot of Korean to begin with, so I don’t have a lot of dishes to really compare. However, out of all the dishes I’ve tried so far, I like kalbi the best. The kalbi rolled up to our table still smoking and sizzling on a hot platter, and it was damn good. The meat was nicely cooked, tender, and very flavorful.

Bibimbop

We also ordered bibimbop, which is one of the most popular Korean dishes. The dish is essentially rice, vegetables, and some meat, but every restaurant does it a little differently. Sometimes it comes in a hot stone bowl and sometimes it just comes in a regular bowl as it did at Yang Pyoung. I honestly don’t know what all the fuss is about bibimbop. It’s good but nothing special.

Meat made some good choices for dishes, and I thoroughly enjoyed the meal. I ate quite a bit, and after splitting the bill, each person’s portion came out to about $10 only. That’s pretty good value if you ask me. I proceeded to pass out in the car after we left, and I find it quite amazing that Meat was able to drive home safely at the end of the night. In any event, here’s what it came down to – good food, good friends, good times.