If you like Pad Thai noobles, Vietnamese Pho soups, or other southeast Asian specialties, or want the best bubble tea around (a.k.a. pearl tea or Boba tea), you should consider my exciting new find, Pooh Saan. It's a small, inexpensive cafe/restaurant at the intersection of Richmond St. and Northland Avenue (621 W, Northland Ave., Appleton), just behind (directly south of) Fazoli's on the southeast corner of the intersection. It has cheap tables and chairs and is pretty small inside, so you're not going there for the ambiance, but for the exotic and inexpensive food.

I tried the "exotic" version of Pho soup and really enjoyed it, though that version will be very foreign to many American palettes (the "classic" version might be safer). It's related to the Hmong "fawm" noodle soup dish with broth, noodles, meatballs, veggies, and especially fresh basil leaves. The species of basil they use is terrific - loaded with rich, aromatic flavor. Wow! I also had some of my wife's beef "laab" dish, with very spicy beef. My favorite part of that was the exotic purple rice that comes with it. I've made purple rice before and consider it a true delicacy. Comes from an unusual species of rice and takes a lot of time to prepare. Yum.

The eggrolls were some of the best you'll find. Completely fresh and tasty.

I think my favorite part of the visit was the "Boba Tea" (pearl tea or bubble tea - the Asian specialty that is like a smoothie or shake with large pearls of tapioca in the bottom, served with an extra wide straw that lets you suck them up if you want). The pearls were much better than in the last bubble teas I tried in China Town of Chicago. I mentioned that to the owner and he said the difference is that he makes them fresh twice a day, once for lunch and then again for dinner, avoiding the stale, beanlike quality that can be found when the pearls aren't fresh. Nice.

You can get excellent entrees for $7.95, and the pearl tea is $3.95.

I've noticed that the more authentic southeast Asian restaurants in the U.S. often have names that don't seem to have been carefully crafted with the help of American focus groups. Thus, my favorite Thai restaurant in Atlanta was Phuket Thai - please be careful how you pronounce that in public. One of the most authentic Chinese restaurants in the Fox Valley is Poo Dong, and now we have the highly authentic Pooh Saan. If that's your first stop for the evening, maybe you could consider a version of the old Abbot and Costello gag, "Who's On First?" but with "Pooh Saan First." But gags or not, you should give them a try.

I recently made friends with the very sharp and intelligent owner, a young man who grew up in the area but has roots in Laos. He and his wife run Pooh Saan. Be sure to say hello from Jeff if you go, and let me know what you experience.