Hill Station does everything well, but this classic dish is tops on the menu. The only way to get all of Mike’s rich broth is to pick the bowl up with two hands and drain it into your mouth. Throw whatever combination of that you like on top, liberally douse with Sriracha and hoisin sauces and slurp without shame. It comes with typical pho garnishes: cilantro, sliced jalapeno peppers, bean sprouts, Thai basil and lime wedges. When I need to be healed of a cold or world weariness, my stomach directs me to Mike’s Place and the Pho Dac Biet, better known as P1, which the menu describes as “combination rice noodle soup.” It’s a combo not for the squeamish, an assortment of beef parts: tendon, flank, brisket, meatballs, tripe and rare beef slices. Like the Chicago classic you drooled over in FX’s “The Bear,” it’s thinly sliced roast beef, topped with jalapeno olive salad, provolone and a healthy dip of aus jus on a hoagie roll. HAM is running semiregular muffuletta and pate sandwich specials, but king among its offerings is the Italian beef, available most Wednesdays. HAM Market began life as a butcher shop known for its sandwiches, then became more of a butcher shop and now, once again, has become a destination for sandwich specials. Get you some hot sauce and saltines and dip and dunk, and you’ll be in heaven. Made with cornmeal rather than masa and spiced just right, the tamales come with a bowl of chili. I’ve never had a bad bite at Doe’s, but I’ve found, whether I’m stopping in for a catfish sandwich for lunch or a massive porterhouse steak for dinner, no meal is complete without an order of the Little Rock institution’s Delta-style tamales. You might have to steal a nap at your desk later in the afternoon, but it’s worth it. It’s fried and seasoned expertly and comes with a side of brown gravy that tastes like Thanksgiving dressing. Among the latter, the three-piece fried chicken meal, served on Thursdays, reigns supreme. Samantha’s has become in recent years the go-to downtown business lunch spot thanks to its mix of relatively healthy fare and down-home lunch specials. DGįried chicken (Samantha’s Tap Room & Wood Grill) Regardless of whether you choose to soak them in the tangy provided dunking sauce, each uniquely shaped, dough-cradled, slightly-too-big-for-the-mouth dumpling is flawlessly simple and decadent, like an old family recipe. Equally excellent when stuffed with pork, chicken or tofu, Three Fold’s scratch-made dumplings are pockets of wonder.

Bossa nova menu pico