CityView Magazine

36 | July/August 2015 A challenge... Pho-real. The Grilled Ginger's Pho Challenge THE CHALLENGE: Customer must finish a huge bowl of pho soup, which in- cludes one and a half pounds of noodles, one pound of meat and one pound of fresh vegetables, in 60 minutes. No bathroom breaks. THE PRIZE: You get the $45 pho free of charge, your picture on the wall, a $45 Grilled Ginger gi certificate and a t-shirt which reads "I (heart) Grilled Ginger. e Winner!" Han Nguyen and anh Vo, who own e Grilled Ginger on Yadkin Road, didn't see too many food challenges during the five years they ran a restaurant in their na- tive Vietnam, but upon taking their busi- ness to California they saw restaurants of all varieties offering their customers a chance to test their will. is inspired them to bring the Pho Challenge to Fayetteville. "In Vietnam customers consume less than in the United States," said Vo. "e pho is a very popular main course from Vi- etnam and we have a lot of customers who come here and enjoy it." Initially, Vo said, the dish was a little too challenging and the owners were worried that too few people would be able to com- plete it, so they cut down the amount of noodles and vegetables. Vo said that they hope to one day be able to contact all the previous winners of the challenge and have them head off against one another. With only two winners out of the 15 attempts they've had so far, Vo said they are a long way from having enough for a tournament. Challenger Kirk Blue was pretty certain he was to be the third person on that win- ner's list. Blue, who is a self-professed Vi- etnamese "food fanatic," knew for sure he would be walking away sporting the win- ning t-shirt. "I love any kind of Asian food, so this is perfect for me," Blue said. "I haven't had the pho here in Fayetteville yet, I've had it elsewhere. I attempted to do a pizza chal- lenge once before, but I didn't finish it, but don't think I won't be able to do this today though. I've come hungry." To prepare, Blue made sure not to eat anything else the day of the competition. "ere are two theories. You starve yourself the day before, so you'll be hun-

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