CamBo Pho Vietnamese and Thai

Friday night! My roommate decided he should take me out for dinner as compensation for my having cooked a few meals for him over the past weeks. Also, I wanted to use this rare outing with him to get a haircut and have him translate for me. So, we headed to Kowloon City where I could get a haircut for $50 at a Japanese franchise. The shop strives for efficiency, as evidenced by the machine which takes your payment. You first insert a $50 bill and you get a plastic card valid for one haircut. Then, you simply sit in the next available waiting chair (they are numbered). The place claims a haircut in ten minutes, but last night it seemed like almost 30 minutes. I think it must have been dinner time for the employees, as there was only one stylist on duty at the time. Finally, I got my haircut-only a quick trim to clean it up-and we headed out to find a suitable Vietnamese restaurant.

Roommate had never had Viet food until I cooked Pho Bo for him, Memsahib, and some of the floormates this past Wednesday. He really loved it, and thus wanted to try more Viet food. When we came to CamBo Pho we noticed how crowded it was and decided to give it a try. The restaurant has three entrances, but from what I can see all of the dining areas are pretty much the same. The menu is very impressive, with a good selection of Chinese and Thai foods, and an ok selection of Vietnamese dishes. I was disappointed with the lack of Vietnamese grilled pork, however.

We had both been looking forward to this meal, so our eyes were much bigger than our stomachs. Roommate ordered 3 dishes: Thai style spicy mussels; a mix of squid, mussels, and some vegetables; and a sampler of Vietnamese appetizers such as banh cuon, a fried fish cake, and spring rolls (fried and soft). I opted for Pad Thai! For drinks, he tried some sort of coconut and fruit mix that he said was too sweet. I had a Heineken, as they were only $15 per can. None of the dishes were great, but overall it was a wonderful meal. I will definitely be heading back to this establishment to try some of the numerous other tempting menu items.