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