Like any other traditional Vietnamese restaurant, shortly upon arrival we’re greeted with a warm pot of Jasmine tea as we sift through the usual extensive menu. I opt for the Lemongrass Chicken on Rice ($7.50) as well as a Mango Milkshake ($3.50). Curious as to the ubiquitous Passion fruit drink ad in almost every Vietnamese restaurant we visit, my brother decides to try his luck with it.  Shortly after we scribble down our orders (which is a common practice in Vietnamese restaurants from verbal orders), our drinks arrive in style.

The passion fruit drink  is more transparent than the ad leads to believe but still refreshing and pleasantly sweet and tangy. On my side, the mango milkshake was one of the best and smoothest I’ve had anywhere, it served as a perfect companion to my lunch even on a brisk fall day like today.

Not too long after I’ve indulged in a few sips of the milkshake, my lemongrass chicken and rice arrives, steaming and fresh. The dish arrives stylishly plated with the rice formed in a perfect mound alongside a generous amount of chicken garnished with a few strands of green onion. The chicken was well-seasoned but served to be a little dry where my mango shake came to assistance in between the last few bites. The only improvement I would have made would be an extra side or sauce to add a little contrast and colour to the dish which seemed to be lacking in both areas.

All-in-all a lovely establishment and cute little place definitely worth a visit if you’re in the area. Pho Huong is also licensed if you enjoy a refreshing beer with your meal, an addition to the evening/night crowd that the Junction is trying to bring to life after it had been dry for almost a century up until a decade ago – the last area to lift the prohibition. Wonderful service, great food and a welcoming atmosphere, not to mention (again) the great decor!

Pho Huong
394 Pacific Ave.
(647) 430-3909
Delivery Available (min $25)

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Just around the corner from the Dragon City Mall in the heart of Toronto’s Chinatown is a small Vietnamese restaurant called Pho Pasteur. Despite its size the restaurant is hard to miss; the front of the business is plastered with red, white and blue signs that shout out to any passerby that Pho Pasteur exists, it is a pho restaurant and it is open 24 hours. Out of all of the Vietnamese restaurants I have visited as part of the Chinatown Challenge series I was most excited for this one. Pho Pasteur was highly recommended to me by both the founder of this blog and my Vietnamese girlfriend’s father. Needless to say I was expecting a great bowl of pho as I strolled into the restaurant.

Pho Pasteur as seen on Google

While the signage outside was intense the inside of the restaurant was barren. White walls and dark black chairs made me feel as though I was in the cafeteria of my old high school. The restaurant was completely free of any decorations with the exception of a few hanging plants. Pho Pasteur, like many small restaurants in large cities does not concern itself with things as petty as artwork or design, instead they focus on serving delicious food. This is why the restaurant was fairly busy in the doldrums of a cold November afternoon. My girlfriend’s Father, who lives in Chatham, Ontario, likes this place so much that he makes a point of stopping in whenever he is in the city. Bearing this in mind I anxiously scribbled down my order for one bowl of Pho Dac Biet before my I took my coat off.

Pho Dac Biet at Pho Pasteur - One of the best bowls of pho in all of Toronto

One of the big differences between Pho Pasteur and other pho restaurants I have been to while writing this series is the cost of a bowl of pho. I was surprised to see that the smallest size bowl was nearly $2 more than the $5 it is at nearly every other place. The price difference however was justified when a giant bowl of pho was plopped down in front of me. The first thing I noticed as I examined the bowl was how packed full of ingredients it was. Piles of chives, cilantro, onions, noodles and beef protruded from the clear beef broth. My mouth watered as I stirred the the soup releasing the signature aroma of pho into my nostrils. With thin rice noodles, golf ball sized beef balls and dozens of pieces of rare and cooked beef the pho I ate at pho pasteur was nothing less than perfect. The broth was sweet and light and worked well with the other ingredients to create a solid soup and one of the best bowls of pho I have ever had.

Pho Pasteur
525 Dundas Street West
416-351-7188

For anyone following this series, I’m sure the obvious question has been, but what does she think of The Golden Turtle? No other Vietnamese restaurant I know of inspires more vehement debate; it is the most hyped and written about Viet resto in Toronto. People Love it or Hate it, but for better or worse Rua Vang (aka the Golden Turtle) is the standard against which all other Vietnamese restos are judged. Knowing this, I’ve held out against writing about it until now, simply because the stakes are so high.

A quiet moment on busy Ossington.

Full disclosure: I used to live around the corner from the Turtle and during that time (about 2 years ago) I ate here on a weekly basis. So if you had to place me in a camp, I’d be pro-Rua Vang. However, since the Ossington strip has metamorphosed into a hipster zone and the Turtle has become correspondingly busier, I feel the quality of their broth has gone down somewhat. Given the demand, service is silent but efficient, special requests are frowned upon and there is defiantly a vibe that discourages lingering around the table after your meal is done. And yes, the servings are small (compared to the baby bathtubs you get served in a lot of places) and yes, there are other places in town to get pho that is just as good or better, but Rua Vang is still damn good.

The gentrification of Ossington combined with all the hype surrounding this place, means that you should expect to wait for a table most nights. The crowd, mainly non-Vietnamese, is composed of young arty types and those drawn by repeated Toronto Life profiles on the “next hot ‘hood”. Rua Vang is also popular with the foodie crowd, probably lured by rumours that Susur Lee used to eat here on his day off. The girls at the table next to me on my most recent visit looked like indie rockers, but incongruously spent their meal discussing methods for braising red cabbage and comparing features of commercial ranges.

Vermicelli with grilled chicken and pineapple

But how was the bun? It was great. I ordered #93 Grilled Chicken with Pineapple Vermicelli ($7.25). The noodles themselves were firm and distinct in texture. The chicken was strongly marinated with vinegar and soy, quite salty on its own, but a perfect match for the sweet and unassertive nuoc cham. The garnish was composed of cucumber, pickled carrot and daikon, all perfectly sliced into ribbons, as well as crushed peanuts, bean sprouts and shredded lettuce.  The flavors were vibrant and true and I found myself using a spoon to scoop the last bits of goodness out to the bottom of my bowl. The only small disappointment was that the pineapple was canned rather than fresh, but that is true pretty much across the board in restaurants at this price point.

I know that this is going to spark debate. So lets hear it. When it comes to the Golden Turtle, should we believe the hype?

Rua Vang [aka The Golden Turtle]
125 Ossington Avenue
(416) 531-1601
10am -10 pm, closed Tuesday

The corner of College and Dufferin is an unlikely location for a miniature Viet-town, yet a number of Vietnamese businesses and shops cluster together here in an otherwise distinctly Portuguese neighbourhood. No fewer than 3 Vietnamese restaurants co-exist on a single block.  Faced with such an array of options, how is one to decide? On road-trips my dad always picked a roadside diner based on the number of transport trucks parked out front (truckers being the experts on roadside cuisine), so following the same theory, I decide to try the resto with the largest number of Vietnamese customers inside. And the winner is: Pho Linh.

Simple but modern exterior of Pho Linh on College.

The busy resto is decorated in a simple, yet pleasantly modern style. The lighting is almost painfully bright. So far, so good.  But when the tea arrives, it tastes like little more than hot water. Oh well, no one chooses a Vietnamese restaurant for the tea. Moving on to the main attraction, I select #47– Vermicelli with Fried Chicken and Lemongrass [$7.00].

Vermicelli with Fried Chicken and Lemongrass

The noodles arrive remarkably quickly, and as was the case at the Canh Buom next door (see my earlier review), they are slightly thicker than average, more like spaghetti than vermicelli. On top of the noodles rests a generous serving of boneless, skinless chicken thigh, which has been crisply fried and garnished with mint, green onion, lettuce, bean sprouts and peanuts.  The texture of the meat is acceptable, slightly chewy, not at all fatty, however it evinces no noticeable notes of lemongrass or indeed of any spicing beyond salt. The flavor is pleasant, but plain. Even after dressing the dish with nuoc cham and herbs, I find myself spritzing it with lime in order to notch up the flavor profile.

Meanwhile, across the table my dining companion is busy adding chili and hoisin sauce to his pho, the broth of which he found to be quite flavorless on its own. The tea seems to have set the tone for the evening after all—not bad, but a bit bland.

All this being said, I’m not willing to write off Pho Linh just yet.  Given the large number of people eating there (and with other Viet options nearby) and the positive buzz this place gets online, I’m willing to wager that I just happened to stumble in on an off night.

Pho Linh
1156 College st.
416- 516-3891

When I started investigating the various Pho restaurants in Chinatown for this review series I was worried about how I was going to be able to keep every post unique and interesting, it seemed challenging to me to write about the same dish without repeating myself. However, now that we are at the halfway point of this series I have learned that every restaurant, no matter how similar they may appear, offers something that is uniquely their own. Whether it be the size of the noodles, the decor of the dining room or the quality of service, each restaurant shines in its own way. This week I visited Pho 88 located at 270 Spadina and had a dining experience unlike any other I have had in this series.

The windows of Pho 88 are always filled with happy customers

I have walked by Pho 88 dozens of times since I moved to Toronto, it stuck out in my mind because the windows are always filled with tables of people enjoying Vietnamese soups. For one reason or another I have never ventured in, so I was excited this week to go in and give it a try.  As I entered Pho 88 a hostess greeted me, escorted me to my seat and gave me  a menu. After locating the pho on the menu I searched around the table for a pen and paper to mark off my selection, but, to my surprise I could not find one. Instead a waitress came over and took down my order. While this may seem like a rather unspectacular event I have never been to a Vietnamese restaurant in Chinatown that operated this way. The waitress in a very friendly manner came over, struck up a conversation and offered suggestions before taking my order. The service continued to impress me when my pho was brought out by another employee of the restaurant who again struck up conversation and returned every so often to check how I was doing. The quality of service at Pho 88 far surpassed any I have ever received at any restaurant in Chinatown, I was beyond impressed.

Equally as impressive as the service was the decor of the restaurant. Deep dark browns, and solid grays and blacks set the tone for a modern and sophisticated dining room. The brown leather chairs and dark granite tables bring an elegance that is highlighted by large circular sculptures on the walls that are reminiscent of the number 88.  Standing out in this environment is a brightly colored Buddha statue that welcomes you as you enter the seemingly small but surprisingly large dining room. The back of the restaurant is decorated by a large, gold, sandy mural that illuminates the dinning room. The service coupled with this environment made me love this restaurant before I even sampled the food. Not even the hip hop remix of Avril Levine’s ‘Skater Boy’ that was playing in the background could ruin my dining experience. 

Pho Dac Biet at Pho 88

The pho kept up with the pace the rest of the restaurant was setting. Dark, sweet beef broth sprinkled with pepper was the first taste that hit my lips. As I started eating I was surprised to see no cilantro or onions in the pho, although it was packed with scallions. The long rice noodles were thicker than they are at most places which is great for those of us who love the slurping. While the pho dac biet did not have beef balls the quality of beef in the soup was impressive. The tendons still packed quite a bit of meat on them and there was not very many fatty pieces lurking under the broth either. The rare beef was cut a little thick so it did not melt in your mouth as it does in some places but, it was delicious none the less. The most abundant meat in the pho was the well done beef which is great when you want to be filled up. Overall this was an incredibly pleasant experience and I would recommend this place strongly to anyone who loves pho.

Pho 88
270 Spadina Avenue
416-746-8646

After 4 weeks of tasting bun in Toronto’s west-end Vietnamese restaurants, I thought I had hit my stride. Though quality, freshness and style varied to some degree in each place I visited, the formula was basically the same. I knew what to expect. Then I wandered into Canh Buom and got thrown a curve ball.

Outside Canh Buom on College.

Several aspects of the evening conspire to unsettle and surprise me. First the Décor: An unexpected nautical theme (Canh Buom translates as  ‘boat’s sail’) is strangely mismatched with 1950s-bowling-alley-style booths upholstered in sparkly vinyl. Second the Service: A gruff old man and a young fireball of a waitress tag-team our table in good cop/bad cop mode. At times the scene plays out like a slap-stick comedy—for instance, when a fellow diner went to squeeze some siracha chili sauce into his pho, only to have the entire lid fall off, dumping half the bottle into his bowl.

Deciding to leave my fate up to chance, I ask the waitress to bring me her favorite vermicelli dish. Imagine my surprise when instead of the large bowl of thin noodles I’ve come to expect, a flat plate bearing thicker, spaghetti-like rice noodles and a veritable mountain of herbs (mint, Perilla, and Vietnamese balm) arrives in front of me. Along side is a dish of grilled pork and sausage patties, pickled green papaya and carrot, all soaked in nuoc mam cham and garnished with crushed peanuts, sesame seeds, and crispy fried shallots. When I inquire of the waitress what it is I have received, she explains that this is the North Vietnamese style of vermicelli (much less common in Toronto’s Vietnamese restaurants than the Southern style) known as Bun Cha Hanoi [A18, $8.50].  Rather than mixing the noodles and toppings together in a large bowl and dressing with Nuoc cham to taste, in this style the diner selects choice bits from the serving dishes and blends them in a small bowl, a few bites at a time. The cooked meats are dressed with the fish sauce in advance so that the strong salty flavor permeates them to a much greater degree. The effect is less delicate and less sweet than in the southern style, but is tasty and quite compulsively edible. You will find that you fill that tiny bowl many, many times. Particularly the cha (juicy grilled pork patties flavoured with garlic, sugar, salt and black pepper) will disappear all too quickly.

Little bowl of Bun Cha Hanoi.

Canh Buom bills itself as a Viet-Thai restaurant and has variety of Thai options on the menu. Do yourself a favor and take the opportunity to sample the much less well-known North Vietnamese fare instead. Don’t let the wacky décor, or the enthusiastic, yet ineffectual, service distract you. But do check the lid on the hot sauce before you squeeze.

Canh Buom
1144 College st
416-538-4287

If an award for strangest restaurant décor existed, Kimbo would be firmly in the running. This location clearly didn’t begin its commercial life as a Vietnamese restaurant. The massive dining room is decked out in a faux-Tudor style, with heavy wooden beams framing textured plaster walls, red carpeting, and huge wrought iron chandeliers that look like something Errol Flynn might have swung from while executing a swashbuckling escape. Overall the effect is of a mock-baronial castle, where cabbage rolls would look more at home on the table than salad rolls. Nonetheless, the menu is distinctly Vietnamese, specializing in bo 7 mon, or beef in 7 courses.

Crazy decor at Kimbo

Kimbo's Vermicelli with grilled beef and spring roll.

As there are only 2 of us dining tonight, we will skip the beef-stravaganza, in favor of simpler fare.  Perusing the list of vermicelli combos, and in a nod to the specialty of the house, I spend an inordinately longtime deliberating between the grilled beef and the sautéed beef combo. Ultimately I decide on #114, Grilled Beef with Spring Roll on Vermicelli, $7.95.

Once my decision is made, the meal arrives at the table with almost supernatural speed. As it turns out I needn’t have agonized so– the beef arrives bearing none of the traditional attributes of grilled meat, no searing or grill marks, just a uniform, rather tough texture and the overwhelming flavor of vinegary marinade. The spring roll is better. It is large and filled generously with bean thread noodles, black mushrooms, shredded carrot and minced pork. The rice paper wrapping is thick and chewy rather than crispy. The best aspect of the dish is the vermicelli itself, which is more al dente than usual, in a way that I enjoy, particularly when mixed with hearty curly lettuce and bean sprouts, then dressed with the syrupy, rather fishy nuoc cham and a little bit of chili sauce from the variety of sauces available on the table. My mood lifts further with the arrival of a very affordable bottle of Tsing Tao [$3.50]. Domestic brews are even more of a steal at $3.00 each.

Kimbo isn’t going to supplant any of my favorites for best vermicelli in West End T.O., but if you’re looking for a quick bite and a cold beer, you could do a lot worse.

Kimbo Restaurant
358 Bathurst st
416-603-7817
Sunday-Thursday 11 am-10 pm
Friday & Saturday 11 am-11 pm

When looking for a place to eat in Toronto’s Chinatown it is easy to become overwhelmed by the options. There are a lot of factors at play when you are deciding on a restaurant. Sure you want delicious food at an affordable price but, you also want a nice environment to sit and enjoy that food in. Restaurant decor and ambiance are essential parts of enjoying your dining experience. Therefore, in the Chinatown Challenge Review Series attention is not only given to the quality of the pho but the atmosphere of the restaurant as well. Decor played a large part in my dining experience this week as I tried the Pho Dac Biet at Pho Ai My.

Pho Ai My - One of the most beautifully decorated restaurants in Chinatown

Pho Ai My is a beautifully decorated restaurant. The small dining room is blanketed in white, radiating a clean and modern feel. On your left as you walk in is a white brick wall that stretches the length of the restaurant. Opposite the brick wall are floor to ceiling windows that wrap around the front of the room. The use of white when combined with the large windows opens up the restaurant and creates a relaxing dining environment. The sleek white chairs and dark brown tables give the room a streamlined and crisp look that is highlighted by a giant chandelier, which hovers over the center of the restaurant. 

Overall Ai My blew me away with its style. It presents itself as a restaurant where you want to have a leisurely lunch, one where you sit back and enjoy the atmosphere as well as the delicious food. The ambience of the restaurant was capped off by an excellent selection of R&B music that played softly in the background. Before I even tasted the food it became clear that this was like no other Vietnamese restaurant I have been to in Chinatown.

pho!

On to the pho. Despite having pho in the name of the restaurant it took me a while to locate pho on the menu as it was stashed away at the back. In fact, Pho Dac Biet is the very last item on the menu. The pho was brought out to me in a white bowl that matched the look of the dining room. The pho itself smelled intoxicating and my first bite of the well done beef broke apart as it hit my lips. The pho was delicious, crisp and fresh. The broth was light but still packed a lot of flavor. This was one of the first bowls of pho I have had where I didn’t feel compelled to use hoisin sauce.

The well done beef was delectable and the tripe was soft but, the best part about this pho were the beef balls and the rare beef. The beef balls were easily the best I have had in any pho and seemed to be comprised of high quality beef. Soft and chewy they soaked up the juices from the pho and released them in your mouth as you bit down on them. The rare beef, my favorite part of any pho, was the most abundant meat in the whole bowl. Cut thinly the rare beef almost melted in the hot pho. The noodles of the pho were thin and tasty however, they were not as abundant as other ingredients. Packing the soup with sprouts made up for the lack of noodles. Overall, this was one of the most pleasant experiences I have had yet at a Vietnamese restaurant in the Chinatown Challenge. I can’t wait to go back to sample the rest of their dishes.

Pho Ai My
221 Spadina Ave
(416) 849-3631

The strip of Bloor west between Ossington and Lansdowne is undeniably gritty; it is also a surprising and refreshing foodie destination. In a few short blocks you will find a huge variety of cheap and delicious foods from a United Nations of small, unpretentious (read slightly dingy) storefront restaurants: South Indian, Ethiopian, Greek, Persian, Mexican, Caribbean, Portuguese, and Vietnamese. But Pho My Duyen is no shabby storefront.  Given the neighborhood, the décor is almost shockingly posh. What HGTV would refer to as ‘high-end finishes’ abound. Yet any concern that style reigns over substance here is dispelled with the first jasmine scented sip of premium tea. Throughout the meal, care and consideration reveals itself in myriad little ways: a paper umbrella in a drink, a spoon with a hooked end so it won’t fall into your soup when you rest it against the side of the bowl.

Surprisingly swanky interior at Pho My Duyen

The menu is exceptionally deep, offering exotic protein options seldom seen in other Toronto Vietnamese restaurants, like eel, frog legs, snail, and goat. Some items are pricey (the mango salad with snails rings in at a stiff $10.25), but the basics, like pho ($6.25 for a purportedly small bowl, actually the size of a generous medium elsewhere) are about average.  But for me, as usual, it is the Vermicelli combos that beckon and I opt for B19 Char-grilled Shrimps on Vermicelli, $7.95.

Grilled Shrimp with Vermicelli

The bowl of noodles arrives looking gorgeous, topped with two bamboo skewers laden with shrimp and slices of bell pepper and onion.  Shredded mint, beans sprouts, lettuce, cucumber, as well as crinkle cut pickled carrot and daikon are strewn on top like colourful confetti. Peanuts provide a salty, crunchy garnish. As promised, the shrimp have been char-grilled, perhaps a bit too aggressively. While fatty meats like pork and beef are excellent when charred, the same is not true of more delicate seafood. While the shrimp are not at all overdone or rubbery, some of grill marks taste slightly burnt. But the singeing is minor and doesn’t prevent the enjoyment of a dish that is otherwise bang-on.  The skewers have been lightly dressed with a delicate sweet and sour sauce that lends a warm orange tone to the entire dish when it is tossed with the excellent nuoc cham. Pho My Duyen’s nuoc cham lacks the usual chili heat, but makes up for it with a salty-limey punch accented with lots of micro-shredded carrot. The vermicelli itself is perfectly prepared, each strand distinct and without a hint of mushiness. The only tiny quibble is that the shape of the steep sided bowl, while elegant, makes it hard to scoop out the last dregs of sauce and noodles, and believe me you’ll want to get every last morsel!

On a side note, while the location is a bit out of the way, Pho My Duyen could make a fun party venue, as they have private rooms available and offer a variety of Vietnamese fondues perfect for sharing.

Pho My Duyen
1208 Bloor st w
416-850-4993
Monday-Thursday 11am-10 pm
Friday-Sunday 11 am-11 pm
*Wheel chair accessible

Finding pho in Chinatown is not hard, there are many places that serve the delicious combination of beef, broth and noodles. What is difficult though is finding the pho that best suits your tastes, as every restaurant adds their own little spin on the traditional Vietnamese dish to make it their own. Our Chinatown Challenge series is here to help you make sense of your pho options. This week we visit Pho Hung.

The Pho Hung logo has become synonymous with Vietnamese food in Toronto

Pho Hung is easily one of the most popular Vietnamese restaurants in Toronto’s Chinatown. The easily recognizable bright yellow sign depicting a red laughing bull has become synonymous with Vietnamese food in the city. Pho Hung’s location at 350 Spadina Avenue helps it attract a wide variety of customers as it straddles the border between Chinatown and Kensington Market. By capitalizing on the large amount of foot traffic that both of these areas get, Pho Hung has established a large customer base, one that has allowed it to expand to Bloor street and Mississauga locations. 

Anytime you go to Pho Hung you should expect a crowd. During the peak times of lunch a dinner it is not unusual to see a line forming out the door of the restaurant. The great thing about this restaurant though is that the staff does an excellent job of turning tables, so the wait is never more than a few minutes. Although it is always busy, the lay out of the restaurant allows for its clients to feel comfortable once they have been seated. Pho Hung is divided into two long rooms that run parallel to each other. The decor of the rooms is rather plain with a few Vietnamese pieces of art placed on the walls. The windows are decorated with small paintings of animals, reminding the patrons what is in their soup. Both rooms are filled with small wooden tables that are adorned with a collection of sauces and hot peppers. 

Pho Hung offers a well balanced bowl of Pho Dac Biet

But it is not the decor of Pho Hung that makes it one of the most popular Vietnamese restaurants in Toronto, it is the food, or more specifically the pho. The Pho Dac Biet at here is unique because in addition to the different cuts of beef it is packed with a great deal of cilantro, scallions and onions. The presence of vegetables plays off the other ingredients well and allows for a well balanced bowl of pho.

There are also beef and noodles in the pho of course. Pho Hung’s Pho Dac Biet has beef flank, rare beef and even beef balls but they pay close attention to the beef tendon. My small bowl of pho was brimming with the tough white tendons. The cook does not focus as much on the noodles as he does the other ingredients. While the thin rice noodles that the pho does possess are delicious I would have loved to see a little bit more in mine. Perhaps next time I will just have to order a larger bowl. 

Pho Hung does not disappoint when it comes to a traditional well balanced bowl of Pho Dac Biet. So the next time you find yourself walking by the laughing red bull you should definitely pop in and grab some pho, you will be glad you did.

Pho Hung
350 Spadina Ave.
416-593-4274

Ossington has exploded in the last year: posh new restaurants and bars open weekly, and half the places you wander into are so fresh that your cocktail comes with a side of drywall dust. Gentrification is in the air, but so far Pho Tien Thanh still looks like the restaurant that time forgot. The lighting is fluorescent, an A/C unit takes pride of place above the door, the bathroom layouts are… unconventional. Luckily, you are here for the food, not the décor. And, as the busy lunchtime crowd attests, the food more than makes up for the lack of ambience. Local business people and office workers drop in for take out, families enjoy lunch together, hipsters take a welcome break from cruising the trendy shops and galleries.

Street view of Tien Thanh on Ossington

The trim and well-dressed proprietor arrives at the table bearing smiles and tea. In the warmer months, iced tea is offered as an option, which makes a pleasant change. My lunch companion doesn’t even glance at the menu. He’ll get what he always does—Rare beef soup. While pho is invariably the most popular dish on any Vietnamese menu, Pho Tien Thanh is particularly renowned for their aromatic and beefy broth. Here the raw beef is piled high atop the steaming bowl like a ruby. It is perfection.

But, I’m here to root for the underdog. My mission is to challenge the supremacy of pho, championing vermicelli as the ultimate noodle dish. So for me it is #58 Vermicelli with Meatball and Spring Roll [$6.25].

meatball and spring roll

As it turns out, “meatball” is a misnomer; rather the meat is formed into a long skinny cigar shape and colored a very bright shade of hot pink! But set aside any hesitation about the crazy colour and you will find that exterior of the meat is nicely charred from the grill, while the interior is composed of lean ground pork and cubes of pork fat, very much like a sausage. Redolent of garlic and anise, the “meatball”, is surprisingly evocative of Italian sausage spiced with fennel seed. The spring roll too has been formed into an unusually thin cigar-shaped tube, as slender as your index finger. Wound so tightly, the rice paper wrapper doubles over itself, creating a texture that is both crisp and chewy, which contrasts well with the strongly spiced, peppery filling.

Aside from the distinctive shapes of the meatball and roll, the Vermicelli dish initially appears rather bland, garnished only with a few pieces of pickled carrot, daikon and green onion. However a rapid toss with the chopsticks reveals a bed of lettuce, cucumber and beans sprout hidden beneath the heap of noodles. Act fast! If allowed to steam under the noodles, the greens will lose their crispness, and much of the pleasure of this dish comes from the variation of cool crunchy veg and warm slick noodle. Dressed with Pho Tien Thanh’s spicy, vinegary version of Nuoc cham, this dish really starts to shine.  To further jolt the flavor profile, snag some of the Thai basil and saw tooth coriander from the plate of garnish that came with your dining companion’s pho. You might want to ask for a taste of that beautiful broth while you’re at it.

Pho Tien Thanh
57 Ossington ave (North of Queen)
416-588-6997
*Cash Only

When walking through Toronto’s Chinatown you have to keep your wits about you. As you weave in and out of sidewalk stalls it is easy for your senses to get overwhelmed by the smells, sounds and sights. One thing you will notice is a dozen or so signs advertising pho. We all know what pho is, but what is the difference between pho at one restaurant in Chinatown and another? This series entitled the Chinatown Challenge is aimed to help you get a sense of the different styles of pho and help you find the pho that is perfect for you. Over the next few weeks I will visit 10 Vietnamese restaurants in Chinatown and sample their Pho Dac Biet (Special Beef Noodle Pho). I will then share with you my findings.

The first restaurant I visited for the Chinatown Challenge was Pho Xe Lua located at 254 Spadina Ave. Situated on the second floor of its busy Chinatown location and walled almost completely by windows on its East and North sides, Pho Xe Lua offers an interesting view of the crowded markets that lay below. The recently renovated and well kept interior provides a modern and comfortable atmosphere for the restaurant’s guests. The open format of the restaurant allows the helpful staff to accommodate larger parties as well as intimate tables for two. One of the most impressive aspects of Pho Xe Lua is the speed of the service. Within seconds of being seated you are provided tea, and within minutes of ordering, a steaming hot bowl of pho will be placed in front of you. 

Pho Dac Biet at Pho Xe Lua - Packed with Beef

Pho Dac Biet is the type of meal that can vary between restaurants depending on the ingredients the chef chooses to focus on. The staples of course are beef and noodles but there are variations within these two ingredients. Most Pho Dac Biet will include a variety of beef options but Pho Xe Lua has concentrated on serving it with beef flank, beef brisket and tendon and perhaps more importantly they concentrate on packing a lot of beef into the pho. This was the first thing I noticed when the bowl was slapped down in front of me. My bowl was overflowing with the different cuts of mouth watering beef.

The beef sat on a bed of thick rice noodles that absorbed the flavor of the broth. The pho did not contain as much scallions, onions or cilantro as other restaurants making it clear that the beef is what is important to this restaurant. Like all Vietnamese restaurants this one serves pho with a plate of sprouts, basil and lime for those who want to balance the beef with some vegetables. 

The beef itself was so tender that it almost melted in your mouth as the meal went on. The noodles and broth were incredibly flavorful as well and sucked in the flavor of the hoisin sauce I had poured on it. Overall the Pho Dac Biet was very satisfying and I would recommend it to anyone especially beef lovers.

Pho Dac Biet Prices – S – $4.95, L – $6.00, XL – $8.00

Pho Xe Lua
254 Spadina Ave.
Toronto, ON M5T-2C2
(416) 703-8330

In the coming weeks, we’ll explore the Vietnamese restaurants of Toronto’s Downtown West End, seeking out the best Vermicelli combinations. Often overshadowed by the ragingly popular Pho, Vermicelli really should be a contender for the greatest noodle dish.  In a typical vermicelli combo, various grilled meats, fresh herbs and vegetables, are arranged on top of thin vermicelli noodles. The diner then mixes the toppings into the noodles, dressing them with Nuoc cham (dipping sauce composed of fish sauce, sugar, lime juice and chili) to taste, making this a deliciously creative dish to eat.

Vermicelli combo with spring roll, grilled pork, and shrimp wrapped around sugarcane

Walking down a lonely stretch of Dundas, populated largely by Portuguese sports bars and defunct plumbing outlets, the façade of Pho Phuong draws you in like a beacon. Huge plate glass windows open into the restaurant, revealing trendy, modern décor in a style best described as Zen-hotel-lobby-chic. A multicultural crowd, whose demographic leans towards the young and hip, fill the room, happily slurping noodles. The restaurant is busy, even on a Tuesday after 9pm.

Tea is set down in front of you as soon as you slide into the dark brown banquette. Fresh orchids decorate the room. A well-designed menu, seemingly an inch thick, is set before you. Well over 200 items, not counting drinks and desserts, are listed. I consider myself lucky that I don’t have to contemplate all 200 items; tonight I have come to eat Vermicelli, of which a mere 28 combinations are on offer. I choose #70 Bun cha gio, thit nuong, chao tom (Dry Vermicelli with Spring roll, grilled pork and shrimp wrapped sugar cane) at $8.50.

The noodles arrive in a large, shallow bowl with an elegant shape. Arrayed on top of the noodles in orderly rows are the pork, shrimp and a darkly crisp spring roll, along with strips of vinegared carrot and daikon, shredded cucumber, fresh mint leaves and bean sprouts. Nuoc cham sauce arrives on the side in a pretty little star shaped ramekin. The aroma of the grilled pork tantalizes. It has been sliced thin to maximize the crispy charred exterior, while still being pleasantly fatty and tender. The spring roll is perfectly fried and filled with a dense mixture of delicately chopped meat and vegetable. The shrimp has been finely minced and mixed with a good dose of garlic, before being formed around a sugarcane skewer, reminiscent of a sophisticated Pogo. The texture of the shrimp is slightly hot doggy, but the flavor is pleasantly sweet and mild. Each element of the dish stands alone, but only when all the elements are aggressively blended together in the bowl and topped with the Nuoc cham, does the complexity of the dish as a whole emerge. The grilled pork imparts its lovely smokiness to the entire dish. The Nuoc cham lends a sweet saltiness. Refreshing mint and cool cucumber contrast with warm slippery noodles. No two bites are identical, which makes consuming the dish exciting, and much more than the sum of its parts.

Just as the décor is unusually stylish for a noodle joint, so too has the management gone the extra mile to make the dining experience comfortable for a wide variety of dinners—big booths can easily accommodate large parties, high chairs and booster seats are available. While you will pay a slight premium over run-of-the-mill Vietnamese restaurants, the extra couple bucks are well worth it. Pleasant lighting and ambience make this an ideal date spot, particularly if the object of your affection is less than familiar with Vietnamese Food. Pho Phuong provides the uninitiated with a great first impression Vietnamese cuisine. Follow up your dinner with some Latin music at the nearby Lula lounge and you’ve got an authentically Torontonian evening out.

Pho Phuong
1603 Dundas w. (East of Brock)
416-536-3030
10 am-10 pm 7 days a week