I returned from my first visit to Superpho on Lancaster Drive NE with a gift for my husband: An only half-eaten young coconut just shipped in from Thailand. Woody and white, it contained about one half coconut juice and a lot of fresh adolescent coconut pulp that I could scrape out easily with a spoon.
I magically transformed into a TV infomercial salesperson:
“How much would you expect to spend on this fresh young coconut?” I asked him.
“I dunno. $4.99?”
He was shirtless, sprawled out on our grey couch playing video games and barely looked up.
“Think again,” I said, shaking the coconut at him. The parasol flew out the top.
He looked at the coconut. He paused the game.
“How much is it?”
“You can have this fresh young coconut from Thailand for just $2.95 at Superpho.”
A friend and I finally got to Superpho, which opened on June 24 after a month’s long delay, for lunch. I had expected to order my usual: A huge bowl of Pho, two spring rolls, water.
I hadn’t planned on ordering the fresh young coconut. But the charming new proprietor, who had already recognized my companion from her three+ visits to his restaurant, talked me into it.
It was a guilty impulse buy. He offered it, I said yes, and then I spent the next 30 minutes wondering how much that fresh young coconut from Thailand was going to cost.
As I pinched limes into my pho broth, and twisted leaves of Thai basil, and twirled my glass noodlies, and mixed my hoisin sauce and sriracha on a spoon — all the while slurping the sweet juice from a fresh young coconut as big as an 8-year-old’s head — the price in my mind ballooned to $15.95.
When the check arrived, I sighed — it was about $24 for the both of us including an appetizer, two entrees, and two drinks. Either the rest of our food cost just a few dollars a piece, or that coconut wasn’t nearly as precious as I was making it out to be.
I paid and asked the owners the price.
They answered, claiming they like to “give a good value” on their food.
Then I carried the coconut out to the car with both hands — I could barely get my fingers around it — strapped it into the passenger’s seat, swung my hand out like a mom when we stopped short at a red light on Market Street, and carried this baby home.
At prices like these, you really have to share with someone you love.
Coolness! I still need to go review them for ES. I wanted to give them a bit of time to settle after the grand opening. Now I just need to find some willing peeps to go with me!
The pho broth can’t hold a candle to Kim Houng’s on Silverton Road, sadly. Also, a dearth of sliced onions. But the spring roll was crisp, fresh and tightly packed, the peanut sauce perfect. And the coconut. Have you heard about the fresh young coconut?
We’ve been watching Super Pho for quite a while now, wondering when it was going to open. Looking forward to trying it!
Ok, and I’ll admit we’re all n00bs here. We’ve never had Pho, so it’s reassuring to hear how good it is before we venture out.
Kim Huong’s has better pho, but Superpho was pretty awesome in all other respects!
Is it me, or is your title a homage to Super Why? Just wait…you will be following his capers soon enough.
Hi Emily!!! (It’s Jessie, Danielle & Ryan’s friend!) I just sumbled on to your blog and I *LOVE* IT! I was laughing so hard when I read this one about the coconut and had to tell you that your fretting and worrying was not crazy! Last summer while in Malibu I had an identical drink to that (seriously, right down to the umbrella) for the lovely price of $24! Needless to say prices weren’t on the menu and I had no idea the ‘pina colada’ came in a REAL coconut…..lesson learned
) Hope you and Adam are doing well! I’m so excited to keep reading your blogs!!!
Hi Jessie! Good to hear from you. We miss all of our Iowa friends! Beware the coconut drink served in the coconut. I should have asked first, but in this case, the Tiki gods were kind to me.