Pholicious Meeting 65- Pho Queen

For our September meeting, we wanted to ride the new Canada line so we chose a restaurant in Richmond.  Pho Queen was recommended by one of our members who frequents Richmond Pho restaurants.  The restaurant is opened from 11am to 12am everyday.  When we arrived at the restaurant, we noticed that the plaza was extremely busy!  The parking lot was full and there were lots of cars circling around and waiting for spots.  It seemed extremely hectic.  It’s a good thing the restaurant was not as busy as the parking lot because we had 12 people for this meeting.  The staff quickly put a few tables together for us and served us tea.

The interior was bright, clean, and the high ceilings made it feel very open.  It was very spacious and the tables were not crammed together.  I was told it used to be a Chinese restaurant and thus the decor reflected so.  Most tables were round ones with marble tops.  In the center of the room, it had a huge chandelier!  It certainly adds a bit of class With the chandelier we thought the prices would be higher – but they were reasonable.  $5.50 for a small bowl and $6.50 for a large.

They had subs for $3.50 but it was sold out for that day So I got spring rolls as appetizer instead.  They were delicious! It had lots of filling and tasted fresh.  Now for the main event- the pho!  The noodles were cooked just right- nice and firm.  The portion was a bit smaller as they were only 5 slices of beef in a small pho tai.  Broth had good flavor and was not too fatty or oily.  It didn’t taste like they use much MSG.  I would say low-medium amount.  We gave it a 7.5. I would return to this place if I was in the area.  The pho is good, restaurant is spacious and clean, and hours make it convenient.

4th Annual Pho-a-thon!!

We celebrated our 4th anniversary the end of August.  For our anniversary- we go to the restaurants that we rated the highest within the past year.  We have a lunch meeting, and then meet up again for dinner (one day we will do a midnight meeting to make it a true pho-a-thon!)  In addition to the visits, we also have our Pholympics- where we compete in various categories for pho-medals!

For the lunch meet- we ventured out to Surrey again to Pho Tam.  We went there for our November meeting and it was our highest rated restaurant in this past year… actually, highest of all time!  Thus was the reason why we were willing to make the trip to Surrey just for a bowl.  12 members came to compete for the Pholympics.

Here’s a picture of everyone getting ready to compete! The categories are: most bowls completed, fastest eater, spiciest eater, and most meetings attended.  Last year we made Pholicious medals for the winners.  This year we went for subtlety and gave little bubble wands with the Pholicious logo instead   And here are the winners!

most bowls complete- PhoSho!

fastest eater- minipho!

spiciest eater- evileyepho!

most meetings attended- Cutiepho!

For the dinner meet- we went to Spices on Cambie Street.  I cheated and ordered a non-pho dish! :O It was actually nice to be able to try something different for once!  Their other dishes were very flavorful.  I would say they were better than their pho!

The day was fun-filled and it was nice to be able to celebrate 4 years of having an excuse to meet up and try pho at different places   Thanks everyone for the wonderful memories!

Pholicious Meeting 64- Red Pagoda

For the July meeting, we chose Red Pagoda on Commercial Dr.  It seems as if we have been picking ‘nicer’ restaurants during the summertime but it was only because we were hoping those places would have air conditioning That’s right, we’re wimps!   The Sunday we were there, they had closed off that section of Commercial Drive and there were vendors and performers on the street.  As a foodie, I am truly ashamed of how little time I have spent on Commercial Dr over these years.  So this was a good opportunity to have some pho and get to know the neighborhood a bit more

The decor was very modern and simple- it was black and white with some red accents.  We went there for a 1pm lunch and there was only one other party there.   The service was very quick and friendly.  The menu had the usual Vietnamese dishes and also some Chinese and Japanese dishes.  They had a few different types of pho… including one that I’ve heard about but never seen here in Vancouver- satay pho (peanut sauce based broth)!

spring rolls                                                  satay pho

bon bo hue                                                      pho tai

They had one price and one size for the pho- $7.75.  The price was above average compared to most other places but expected for a fancier restaurant such as this one.  It was presented in a square bowl. The portions were good- the pho tai had 12 slices of meat but the meat was not of great quality.  The broth had lots of onions and thus had a sweeter taste.  I  thought it was a pretty tasty bowl of pho!  However, I wasn’t a fan of the satay pho.  The broth was too greasy for my liking.  Overall, the pho and all the other dishes we tried were all pretty good.  We rated it 7/10.

yummy avocado shake

Pholicious Meeting 63- Pho Viet Vietnamese Fine Cuisine

I apologize for the lack of updates this summer- it has been an extremely busy summer!  We haven’t stopped eating pho… I am just really behind with the updates!

For our June meeting, we went to Pho Viet Vietnamese Fine Cuisine on Kingsway.  We have also visited a Pho Viet in Richmond but they don’t seem to be associated.  Or maybe this is a ‘finer’ version of it   We were intrigued by the name and also because when we drove by, we saw this sign:

A large bowl of pho for 4.99??  How can one resist! Upon entering, we noticed that the place was very clean and well decorated.  It had an oriental decor with a modern twist.  They had very nice lanterns in different shapes hanging from the ceiling.  The restaurant was empty- we were the only patrons during a Sunday lunch.  We were greeted promptly by a very friendly server.  He seated us and immediately served some iced tea in small beer mugs.  We asked him if the Pho was really 4.99 and if the special would be around in July too. He responded ‘it’s the recession, you help me, I help you”.

They had a pretty good selection on their menu- the usual (pho, rice dishes, vermicelli, subs) and also additional specialties (the finer dishes ).  Most of the dishes were $1-2 more than other places- except for the subs.  The subs were a lot more than other places that I’ve been to.  They range from $5.50 – $7.50.

The side plate included red chili peppers, limes, basil, bean sprouts, and the saw-leaf herb.  The pho came in one size and the regular price would be $7.75 to 8.50.  Overall, for $5 it’s definitely a great deal and worth coming for… but I wouldn’t come here for pho if it was regular priced.  It didn’t stand out compared to other places on Kingsway.  The broth was a bit oily tasting and not as flavorful. The owner had said the special would continue and they might have other dishes on special in other months as well.  We rated this place 6.5 out of 10

Pho in Montreal

So I’m back from Montreal!  Before starting this club, I vowed to myself that I would try and pho wherever I travel to.  Although Montreal isn’t exactly halfway across the world- I was still excited to try pho elsewhere.  It was 36 degrees that day… and very humid.  Wasn’t exactly pho weather but I couldn’t pass up on the chance!

There were a lot more pho places in Montreal than I thought there would be!  Pho is called ’soupe tonkinoise’ in French.  There were signs everywhere in Chinatown…I got excited and tried to take a picture of each and everyone!

Out of all the places in Chinatown, we decided to go to Pho Bac.  I’ve heard good things about Pho Bac from a friend of mine who used to live in Montreal.  It seems that Pho Bac is a chain and has a few places around the city.

I had a salad roll and the Pho Tai.  The salad roll did not taste very fresh- some of the string beans and lettuce seemed wilted.   I thought the pho was pretty tasty.  The broth was very flavorful and the meat was tender.  It tasted pretty equivalent to places you would find in Vancouver.  So it was a pleasant experience