Nguyen Huong

Date Visited: Lunch on Tuesday Jan 27, 2015

Company: Myself

After talking about Vietnamese Sandwiches at pho dinner last week, I was craving one ever since. Luckily, there is a shop right by my work that my aunt told me about. She brought some banh mi over to my house for lunch last year and I forgot how good they were as I hadn't had them since I was a kid. I decided to check the place out during my lunch break and grab a sandwich to eat at the office. 

The location is in a huge plaza beside the T&T Supermarket and among all the Asian stores, it's easy to miss unless you knew it was there. I walked in and it was half groceries half sandwich/made-to-order with lots of ladies were there making fresh sandwiches in front of you. I ordered a Spicy Vietnamese Assorted Sandwich for just $2.25 and they had it there in hand immediately. They had a lot of different options of sandwiches so I'd try something else next time but I wanted to just go for the classic.

I headed back to the office to eat and enjoyed how compact everything was inside the fresh bun and not falling apart. The size was good for me but I'm sure some people could easily eat two. The Spicy part of the sandwich is just adding some jalapenos inside which I probably won't do in the future. Everything tasted as it should otherwise but the bread was definitely my favourite part. When I saw them making it, the only sketchy part was the mayo which looked like it was out in the air for a while and starting to harden. All the other ingredients tasted fresh.

Food: 4/5 - What a deal for $2.25, classic Vietnamese Sandwiches, nothing else.

Decor: 3/5 - Bigger than I thought it would be, lots of things to buy also.

Service: 4.5/5 - So fast, no nonsense.

Willing to go back: 5/5 - Will be a go-to spot for lunch when I'm in the office now.

Overall: 4/5

Website: http://www.nguyenhuong.ca/

Pho Vietnam

Date Visited: Dinner on Thursday Jan 15, 2015 

Company: +Stephanie

After our first pho date, +Stephanie was craving for more so we decided to go again another night I was in Scarborough for work. There's a ton of Vietnamese restaurants in Scarborough so I decided to look up what the best one was for pho. I saw Pho Vietnam come up few times in Google and it was fairly close to our area so we decided to check it out. Trying to find the place wasn't very difficult as it has a huge brightly lit sign of the restaurant name. Upon first glance, you can tell this is a more modern and glamorized pho place compared to the usual hole-in-the-walls. The size and layout of the restaurant was very standard though with order sheets still at the table.

We ordered Large Pork Spring Rolls to start and they actually didn't even come until after we got our pho! I didn't think that the Spring Rolls would be as large as they were, we definitely could have done with just a small! The flavour and texture were on point, so crispy on the outside and meaty on the inside. The sauce we were given was a little too sweet for me, we were trying to figure out what it was as we still have no idea. Really wish we got them earlier to enjoy them on their own first. The pickled carrots and radish on the side were good to cleanse the pallet but I wish they were more fresh.

I ordered my classic Rare Beef and Beef Balls pho and the broth was very clear. I noticed later that all the pho was rolled up in a ball at the bottom which is probably why the broth looked like it had nothing in it. I found the meat a tad too lean and tough to chew. I thought that they didn't even give very much but a lot had sunken to the bottom. The cut of beef wasn't the best for pho. The noodles were also thicker making it heavy and very filling, and not as glassy as I like them. The broth was good but altogether, it was a very mediocre bowl of pho.

Food: 2.5/5 - OK food, nothing outstanding and probably overrated.
Decor: 3.5/5 - Very chic designs.
Service: 3/5 - Fast service, fairly nice.
Willingness to go back: 2.5/5 - Probably would go back, awesome spring rolls!
Overall: 3/5

Website: n/a

Pho Real

Date Visited: Late dinner on Saturday Dec 20, 2014

Company: Post-Secret Santa get together dinner with +Kelvin, +Stanley, and Vanessa

After our Annual Secret Santa gift exchange in Woodbridge, some of us were leftover and decided to go for a small, late dinner. We looked up some Pho places and found Pho Real in the area which had some decent reviews. It was a little hard to find the location in the dark at the back corner of a plaza with small signage. The restaurant was medium-sized like a typical Vietnamese restaurant with tons of windows but very interesting decor in the corners. 

We got a table for four easily, it surprisingly wasn't empty on a late Friday night. I did notice that the prices were a bit higher than you would usually pay for pho. I ordered Grilled Chicken Vermicelli which ended to be around $14 after tax/tip. There was 4 of us so it took a bit longer than usual to get our dishes. +Stanley and +Kelvin ordered Pho while Vanessa and I ordered Vermicelli. In the end, the Pho was really the way to go. I had a small bowl to taste and thought the broth flavour was wonderful, some of the best I've had. The Vermicelli dishes on the other hand were a totally different story. I found my Vermicelli extremely spicy, nothing in my bowl seemed like it was spicy but I would get random bursts of it every so often so it was probably the sauce... bad idea to pour it all in? I found it a bit difficult to finish but managed to survive. But mine didn't even compare to the level spiciness of Vanessa's Beef Vermicelli had, her and +Kelvin had to order a drink in order to even be able to eat it. Other than that, the chicken its self wasn't the greatest, it was a fatty piece of chicken and just covered with spices of all sorts. The spring roll was also shaped oddly and very oily. Despite the fact that the Vermicelli wasn't very good, I still have faith from the few bites of the Pho I had that this place is worth checking out if you don't mind spending a bit more and they also have an interesting 7 course beef meal.

Food: 2.5/5 - Authentic pho, wasn't a fan of the vermicelli.

Decor: 2.5/5 - OK, pretty clean, your average pho spot.

Service: 3/5 - Pretty on top of things.

Willingness to go Back: 3/5 - Definitely would recommend it if I was in the area.

Overall: 2.5/5

Website: none

Pho Viet Nam 999

Date Visited: Dinner on Thursday Dec 26, 2013
Company: +Lilian




+Lilian and I decided to check out Pho Viet Nam 999 on Boxing Day when our parents were going out for dinner with their friends. We had noticed it opened a while back and wanted to check it out, but never got around to actually going there.  When we pulled in the parking lot, we could see that it was pretty busy and parking was scarce. They share part of the lot with the popular Red Lobster next door so that may have been why there were so many cars. We were told to seat ourselves upon entering and there were a few open tables around but it was surprisingly full for the spacious restaurant.

Checking out the menu, +Lilian and I both felt nostalgic toward our University pho restaurants we'd regular back then as the set-up was identical to them. We were served tea and wrote down our orders on the paper on the table for the waitress to take. To start, we got the classic Vietnamese Shrimp Spring Rolls. I read some reviews in the meanwhile and many complained about the service received here. I was surprised because our food came very timely and the place was busy too. Just after eating half of our Spring Rolls, our Pho came right away. Their Shrimp Spring Rolls also included shredded pork which wasn't something I saw regularly. I think the most important aspect of this simple dish is having fresh ingredients which they did. They were stingy on the shrimp though, only two in 1 roll (maybe because of the pork) and the rice paper didn't fully wrap the ends. The sauce was also a bit bland, needed to be more sweeter as I felt like I had to put a lot of it on.

For the pho, I ordered my go-to Rare Beef & Beef Balls Noodle Soup in medium. The portion size was good and there was a perfect amount of beef. The bean sprouts, mint, and lime was very fresh and I was happy they just had all the classic staples of a Vietnamese restaurant like hoisin and Siracha sauce. I found the broth a bit oily, especially just looking at it. The lime gave the broth a very strong sour flavour rather than a subtle one which I am used to. The beef was very tender and the balls had excellent flavour. Other than that there's no real criticisms, it was very authentic pho and even run by a family. We went up to the cash after having some more tea to pay and we were on our way! Most people will point out that it is pricier than what you would find in the Toronto area but I'm super excited to have a place like this so close to me. I left with the perfect amount of fullness in my belly. Brings back a lot of memories!

Food: 3.5/5 - Not the best Vietnamese food I've had but still good nonetheless

Decor: 3/5 - So classic, large open space, lots of tables, minimal random decorations.

Service: 3/5 - Quick, to the point with no small talk, just the way it should be. Decent waiting time.

Willingness to go back: 4.5/5 - For sure would go back when I'm craving pho.

Overall: 3.5/5

Website: none