This time, we hit up the new place right by my neighborhood, Pho Tan. It replaces the old Pho Saigon restaurant on Kingsway, (which… was good? Bad? I dunno – never got to try it). Despite being sandwiched between a Greek restaurant and a Japanese sukiyaki place, parking was still plentiful in front and on the street.

The spacious interior looked like it was recently renovated, with lots of natural light coming in, new furniture, and clean! As an added surprise, one of our members reported that he had seen Peter Chao there before. Well.. I don’t know if that adds to the ambiance, but who cares, we’re here for the pho.

The portions were good, with definite steam coming off of the bowls as they got to our table. The soup was piping hot, which is always approved by our members. We dug right in and we weren’t disappointed. One member ordered the satay pho, and subsequently declared it the Best Satay Pho Ever. Which, says something.

Satay pho!

Service was okay, nothing special. Pretty much what we expected. It seemed like there was only two servers, but they seemed to be able to keep everyone happy.

Pho Tan Spring Rolls

Overall, everyone seemed to enjoy the food, with one member even admitting that he had convinced his coworkers to come here for lunch 3 times in the last week. That’s dedication!

This is... ah... It's... green

Here’s our review of the pho!

Sm: $5.99 Lg: $6.99
Beef: Good portions!
Noodles: firm, al dente
Broth: light, piping hot
Presentation: 3 out of 4*

*We forgot to write it down, so I made it up from memory

Overall: 8 out of 10

Have you ever seen Lemongrass? What about Green Lemongrass? I had no idea it even came in that colour! You know.. because of the lemon..

Anyways, this place is on Kingsway near Windsor – and it’s actually where the old Lu Quan pho restaurant used to be. And that’s a good thing – because Lu Quan was Scary. You remember Lu Quan right? If not, google up “pholicious scary pho”… what? You’re too lazy to google it? Okay. Here’s the link, you sloth!

The good news is that Green Lemongrass is now looking much better, with 100% less scary-looking gangsters compared to Lu Quan. And, with green walls, fake “bamboo” counters, giant bulbous fish, and lots of plants, our members agreed that it qualifies as an official “quaint & traditional” Vietnamese restaurant. The entire place looked very clean, with the notable exception of the fish tank. Our club biologists did not approve.

With that said, they did have a very nice menu, with pictures! Great for the pho-newbies.

Fancy new menus!

Service was impressive at first (fast, memorized orders), but then the server had to come back to check on the order (errr…) and they got one order wrong! One member decreed that service rated a “meh”. Although they offered an option for cooked beansprouts.

Salad rolls

The pho itself was a bit disappointing with the portions – the small was really small, and there seemed to always be much more noodles than beef. The spring rolls were rather greasy though. Which was too bad, as they looked pretty tasty.

All you need for a meal!

Here’s the pho review!

Sm: $6.75  Lg: $7.75
Beef: stale meatballs, but the soft tendons were especially good!
Noodles: average, but some were clumpy
Broth: strong anise/clove flavor, and was a bit oily – but beefy.
Presentation:  3 out of 4

Overall: 7 out of 10

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This tiny little restaurant on Kingsway is in a low-rise next to a Canadian Tire and across from a condo building under construction. It was pretty busy when we walked in, with lots of Vietnamese customers digging into their bowls of bon bo hues (a great sign!). Wait, you don’t know what Bon Bo Hue is (I had to look it up too). It’s beef rice vermicelli soup! Yes yes, I realize we’re a pho-review club, but… we like to extend the umbrella from time to time. And since it’s still has noodles, beef and soup – it practically qualifies as pho! And, I have a feeling it’s going to get even busier once the condos across the street are built, especially since this place only has 8 tables.

Bean Sprouts - the best part of any club...er.. pho I mean.

Sadly, despite its size, service was still rather poor, and it was quite cold near the door. However, once we got our steaming bowls of beef vermicelli, things started to warm up!

Bon bo hue: a cure for the cold

Overall, presentation of all the food was excellent. A real bonus was how they included banana leaves – which added some great texture – and, they garnished with banana flowers!

Here’s the review for the bon bo hue!

One size: $8
Beef: “Excellent” (Seriously. That’s all we wrote!)
Noodles: Not bad, not great. As expected!
Broth: Light and sophisticated, very flavourful.
Presentation: 4 out of 4

Note: this place is cash-only.

Overall: 8 out of 10. A couple of pholicious members gave slightly lower scores – but everyone else loved the bon bo hue!

The service at Lim Kee was a bit unusual – the server was really quiet unless you spoke Chinese. At which point (our notes are unclear here), the server gets loud… I guess? Perhaps it was to make up for the fact that they seemed confused.

The atmosphere is East Van chic, with old booths on one side.

Lim Kee Banh Mi

The subs was light on the filling, and while the spring rolls had a lot of filling, it had pretty tough skin and didn’t seem very flavourful. Quantity doesn’t make up for quality people! Well, sometimes it does, but not here!

Spring Rolls!

Sadly, they only gave us cooked bean sprouts. That’s right, no hoisin sauce, no hot peppers, nor lemons/limes. Oh the humanity! Luckily basil was included in the pho itself.

There's some booty on those beef slices

Here’s the review for the pho!

Small: $6.75, Large: $7.95 – ample portions with lots of noodles
Beef: thicker slices, although a bit fatty, with soft & tasty tendons
Noodles: al dente =)
Broth: Sort of tasteless, moderate MSG, and oily. Although one person liked it.
Presentation: 3 out of 4

Overall: 6 out of 10

If you’re wondering, my phosition in the club is ensuring that someone order the cooked bean sprouts.

Anyways, for the next while, I’ll be posting all the new pho-reviews, and twice a week I’ll post an older review until we’re all caught up. Nothing fancy, just phrank reporting of the review. Heh, couldn’t resist.

I read through the Chowhound forums for pho in Paris. Many people recommended Pho 14 located at 129, ave de Choisy in the 13th arrondissement.  The first time I went it was snowy and freezing, yet, Parisians were still patiently lining up. The subsequent times I’ve been there, there was always a lineup. They have a  patio with some heating lamps but definitely not warm enough. The pho gets cold within minutes Even though the restaurant is fairly small, the line moves rather quickly. There’s not enough space to accommodate big groups. The place seems to attract people all over the world- just standing in the lineup you hear people chatting in many different languages. The staff speak up to 4 languages as well!

The menu was very easy to read. It had a picture of all the dishes and the names next to it. The pictures always get to me and make me want to order everything! One appetizer that caught my eye was the steam crepes.  This dish was amazing; the skin is so different than the thick white ones we have here. It was soft, chewy, and melts in your mouth.  One of the best things I’ve ever eaten.

In my opinion, I think the pho in Paris is tastier than the ones I’ve had in Vancouver. The broth have more flavor and depth. The beef is of very good quality and cut nice and thin. The ingredients all tasted very fresh. It comes with the usual sides- sprouts, basil, and red chili, but they also provide a house made chili sauce.  I was addicted to that sauce! Wish I asked how to make it.

So when in Paris, try the pho! It’s a budget dinner and good break from the heavy French food.  Not to mention a good option when you are pressed for time and can’t sit through a 3hr meal!

http://www.lovingpho.com/

lots of information on pho

a great read for any pho lover!

This was our last meeting of 2010! We ended the year early because I had to go away for school  We first noticed My Chau years ago when we had a meeting next door- Hoa Sinh. My Chau is located on Kingsway between Knight St. and Victoria.  I had a habit of scheduling meetings then finding out the restaurant wasn’t open after everyone arrived . Learned my lesson the hard way! I checked their hours and found out they were opened at odd hours! They open at 9am and close at 6pm

My Chau is known from their Pho ga (chicken pho).  It looked amazing but I had to stick to the beef pho for ratings.  I will have to come back for the other Gotta stay focused! The restaurant was small; they couldn’t accommodate all of us in one table so we split up.  We were there for a Sunday lunch and it was very busy. That’s always a good sign Because they were so busy, the service was slow. We waited a while for them to take our orders and had to remind them to give us more teacups.

Here’s the review for the pho!

Small: 6.00, Large 6.50- ample portion for both

beef slices were thin and of good quality

noodles: al dente

broth: light, sweet, piping hot

overall: 8 out of 10. Definitely better than the average place. It’s one I would like to come back to. Recommended!

Once a year on our anniversary in August, we have our pho-a-thon/ pholympics.  We go to the top 2 restaurants rated by us this year. The winners are Thien Kim on Nanaimo and Broadway in Vancouver and Pho Thai Hoa on Capstan way in Richmond.  It’s also called Pholympics because we come up with silly events and prizes

We met at Thien Kim for lunch; it was busy as usual. Since we weren’t rating their pho this time, we took the opportunity to try out the other dishes people have been raving about.

seafood noodle soup

satay noodle soup

Just like the pho, the other dishes were delicious.  We didn’t stay long as there were people waiting outside for a table.  This place will definitely become one of my regulars. Highly recommended!

The dinner meeting is where all the fun events take place.  Pho thai hoa serves a very good bowl of pho too.  Our Pholympics categories this year include: fastest eater, spiciest eater, most meatballs stuffed in mouth, and broth hurdles.

chilis for spicy eating contest                             interesting design

broth hurdles! It almost came back out after I was done!

meatballs (+extras) stuffed in mouth and the spiciest eater!

kings and queens of pho: fastest eater and yes, most meatballs stuffed in mouth :O

All in all, great food and great company. This little idea which arose during a period of unemployment has been one of the best things that’s ever happened to me It’s kept us all together and given us the opportunity to try new things and meet new people. Live on Pholicious!

Pho Royal is a small restaurant.  It looks more like a take out pizza joint. The interior is small and has a mishmash of different decors.  The staff is very friendly and they seem to know their customers quite well. It had a nice neighborhood restaurant feel to it.

They had only one size and one price for the phos: $8.40.  The portion was decent- it had a good balance of meat and noodles.  The noodles were thin and quite clumpy. They broke off very easily.  The broth had good flavor.  We rated this place a 7/10.  It was a pretty solid bowl; I was pleasantly surprised!