Pho Catering
Treat your event guests to savory southeast Asian comfort food with Tony Caters’ self-serve Vietnamese pho bar.
While its broth is light and the added ingredients typically of the lean and simple variety, pho imparts such a burst of flavor that it comes across as a hearty meal that fills the belly and warms the heart. And pho’s simple selection of ingredients is designed to let each savory element stand out with every bite.
Warm my heart with some of that pho.What is pho, you ask?
Well, pho is a flavorful Vietnamese noodle soup containing just enough ingredients necessary to make up a complete, nutritious, tasty meal in a bowl.
A traditional Vietnamese staple for over a century, pho also perfectly lends itself to improvisation because there are so many possible variations among its core ingredients. With a simmering house-made stock, selection of noodles, lean meats, colorful veggies, fresh fragrant herbs, and spice variations, Tony’s pho can be personally tailored to please just about every palate.
Now that you know what pho is, let’s work on the pho pronunciation. Although it would be better for me if pho were pronounced like “go” — a sym-pho-ny of flavors — it’s more of a “fuh” sound. As in “fun!”
Fee fi pho fum.
However it’s pronounced,
Apparently there’s controversy over pho’s pronunciation, as there are differences in “pho” pronunciations between South Vietnamese, North Vietnamese, and North American Vietnamese speakers. As long as you think “fu(n)” over “doh!” (à la Homer Simpson), you should be good.
Use Your Noodle (Soup) for Pho Ideas
Although my grandmom told me to “use my noodle” to come up with ideas, it’s a lot easier just to work with Tony to figure out how and where a noodle soup bar works best for your event.
A Vietnamese pho soup station serves as a unique complement for all sorts of events, but especially when you are seeking light-yet-hearty fare and warmth. As a comfort food, catered pho is perfectly suited to serve as an unexpected food station for a winter’s night holiday party.
Or to add variety to that multi-day meeting of execs, consider pho as one of sequential lunch options: Meatloaf Monday, Taco Tuesday, Wings and Sides Wednesday, Three-Cheese Lasagna Thursday, and Pho Friday.
Asian noodle soup sounds pho-nominal any day of the week.Tony used his noodle to come up with these other catered Vietnamese pho ideas too:
- How about a large Silicon Valley corporate event at Winchester Mystery House, with a variety of ethnic food stations? A self-serve pho soup bar would be an exotic complement to add to the mysteries of this San Jose museum.
- Feel the warmth on your face from the steamy beef broth in your bowl soften the brisk breeze coming off the water at the South Bay Yacht Club. While it may seem like an odd combination, you could think of it as enjoying Vietnamese soup looking out over… rice paddies? Tony says it weirdly works.
- Yeah, Tony loves The Tech. So do guests. There’s a reason: it’s cool! A pho soup bar goes well with that medley-of-ethnic-food-stations idea, generally enjoyed by health-focused techie crowds amenable to exploring new cuisines and flavors.
