Friend of Phở -- Question for Lola B

[footfootfoot]

I have been craving Pho a lot lately and I was in the most city-ish place around here where there are a few Vietnamese restaurants, one of which I'd been to before and was good as far as I could tell. (But what do I know?)

I am always a bit perplexed when I go to ethnic restaurants and I'm given a plate of condiments; which one goes where and when and how much? I imagine it may be like getting a bottle of ketchup, mustard, mayo, and relish. If you grew up with these things then you'd know from experience and watching your peers and parents, what you liked and what goes with what.

The pho arrives with a small dish of sriracha and hoisin sauce. I figured the sriracha was to adjust the heat of the whole thing but wasn't entirely sure about the hoisin sauce because a) I always thought that was a Chinese thing, and b) it seemed like adding ketchup to soup to me.

I ended up plucking the chicken bits from the soup and dipping them into the hoisin sauce, then eating them.

So, I'm wondering what, if anything, is typical when eating pho? Also is it OK to lift the bowl to drink the soup or do you really need to use those crazy spoons?