Review Series: Chinatown Challenge
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
Would love to be added to the list too!
my mom likes this place for some reason. my joint is also train. best late night dining experience!
The most famous Vietnamese restaurant in downtown. I’m actually waiting for them to open so I could go there for brunch. It’s been about a year since I last went there..
a bit overrated, but still very good. my fave in chinatown is still choo choo train
pho hung fed me through my UT years! thank you mr. hung!
i’ve actually heard of this place, even though i’m not from here. i guess they are pretty famous