It’s a Friday night in Ottawa and I’m excited for my first official Pho experience. My dining partner and I drive casually down Somerset St looking for a restaurant that peaks our interest. Gazing through the window of Pho Bo Ga La, we see that virtually all seats are taken- surely a good sign as the quality of the cuisine- and so find a car park and make our entrance. Perfect timing, a table is just being cleared so we settle ourselves and begin pouring over our respective menus.
Pho Bo Ga La
Having tried the traditional Pho soup a few years – and a 25hr plane ride- ago, I decide to expand my horizons and go for the Vermicelli with Sugar Cane Shrimp and Pork. It sounded interesting, and I had no idea what to expect. My dinning buddy went for a more traditional Pho option, something I later wished I’d done also!
While we sipped our Jasmine tea and munched on the accompanying bean sprouts and various other greens, it was time to take in our surroundings. The lights are quite bright, but this adds to the warm and up-beat atmosphere of the long narrow room filled with small tables and happy patrons whose animated chatter drowns out the background sound of the TV, which incidentally is showing a beauty pageant being held somewhere in south east Asia.
After a short wait our dishes arrive, looking and smelling wonderful. In an instant I envied my dining companion for her choice of pho… while my vermicelli looked delicious, I had no idea how to eat the large, thick stem of sugar-cane covered in mashed up shrimp! This was due purely to my inexperience in the area of this most delicious of cuisine. Not wanting to look too out of place, I opted for carefully prying the delicate shrimp away from the sugarcane and mixing it in with the vermicelli, bean sprouts and other fresh goodies residing in my bowl. Whilst there wasn’t really a sauce on the dish, the traditional array of condiments already found on the table were able to provide any extra flavour a diner could have wanted. The vermicelli itself was cooked well, not too soggy and certainly not still hard! Before I knew it I was staring at the empty bottom of the bowel wondering where all that food had gone, surely I didn’t just eat the amount of food!
Pho Bo Ga La is on the main strip in China Town, on Somerset not far from down town Ottawa. It’s generally busy at all hours, so you may have to wait but it’s certainly worth it, there’s a reason the place is always packed!
Pho Bo Ga La
761-763 Somerset St W.
613-233-2222
This post was submitted by Jen Martin.
Would love to be added to the list too!
This place is so tasty, and such great value. The avocado shake is really good but very filling.