Pho in Saigon California Style

Sounds odd right? Who in their right mind would go to Saigon to have Pho California style? Well, the answer is wealthy Saigonese. They seem to prefer anything and everything that has to do with America or any English-speaking country (including Australia and England). So when Sean and I mentioned that we wanted to have Pho in Vietnam, my cousin took us to a joint called Pho 24. Apparently this is the McDonalds of Pho in Vietnam (and mind you, there are plenty of McDonalds in Vietnam too). They have their so-called restaurants from north to south of Vietnam. It has nice and spotless fancy wooden tables and chairs with their staff decked in white uniforms and they actually have waiter service. The latter is quite uncommon in Vietnam. There's no such thing as a waiter service unless you're at a 5-star restaurant. Well, this place claim to make your Pho experience the same as you would if you were in one of the many Pho joints in California. And it was true. To me it was somewhat disappointing. I traveled half way across the globe just to have the exact same experience that I could have had at home for much less than the $890 I paid for my plane ticket. The Pho cost twice as much as it would have it we had gone to a local Pho joint and it tasted half as good. WHY WHY WHY? My cousin just assumed that we wouldn't have enjoyed the simple plastic tables and chairs with the little lady in her ubiquitous pajamas slamming the bowls on our table. WRONG WRONG WRONG. Next time I'm traveling this far, I'm going to have my fill of cranky Vietnamese ladies slapping bowls of Pho on my table. None of this polite rubbish with the bill being brought to my table and refilling of my drinks.

39,000 VND for this baby when we can get it for 15,000 VND at most
at a local joint with twice the flavor.