Wichita restaurant introduces a food challenge so intense, bathroom breaks are prohibited

Eating challenges have always been a thing, even in Wichita, but they usually involve a diner with a hearty appetite trying to down a ridiculously huge burger, steak, pizza or basket of blazing hot wings.

But a new Wichita eating challenge requires the ingestion of so much liquid — 5 liters, to be exact — that the official rule sheet prohibits restroom breaks. (“Can go before challenge starts,” reads rule No. 2.)

The Go Pho Yourself challenge was just introduced at VietNom Nom, the Vietnamese restaurant at 8641 W. 13th St. N., in the new Tyler Pointe development.

It asks brave diners to ingest a giant bowl of pho — the Vietnamese soup that’s a winter staple in Wichita — in 90 minutes. Owner Huyvu Nguyen estimates that, when filled with 5 liters of broth, 4 pounds of noodles and 2 pounds of meat, the bowl weighs about 15 pounds.

Nguyen conducted a challenge test-run this weekend on his friend and local food blogger Jeremy Fertner, a.k.a. “Fert the Foodie,” who sat down on Saturday night to tackle the bowl of brothy goodness. He made it only about halfway through the bowl.

“He gave it a good shot for a good 50 minutes there,” Nguyen said.

Nguyen said that his brother, who also is his head chef, saw a viral video about a pho-eating challenge in Seattle and had tried a similar challenge himself in Dallas about a year ago.

They launched a search for the giant bowl, but it took them a couple of weeks to track one down online.

Anyone who completes the challenge will get a refund for the $40 cost of the soup, a $50 gift card, a VietNom Nom T-shirt and a photo posted in the restaurant.