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This place just opened up and is across the parking lot of superstore, right next to burger priest. I’m not a huge pho fan – but my boyfriend loves it. We usually go to hung phat and although I don’t like pho all that much, I am a big fan of hot and sour/Tom yum kinds of soups. They didn’t have anything like this on their menu, so I decided to try the “southern Vietnamese noodles” which was said to come with bbq pork, shrimp, chicken, and squid. My boyfriend got the 6 colour vermicelli bowl and we shared an order of green onion cake. Appy – for green onion cake it was satisfactory. Not the best, but not the worst. For my main meal – the broth had no flavour and my bowl basically consisted of noodles with a few select pieces of meat and vegetables. Seriously. I’ll upload a photo of all the meat I could find in my soup before I started eating (note after taking the pictures and eating, I found 2 more pieces of meat – 1 small piece of chicken and 1 small piece of gristle pork). My boyfriends meal came with a half cup of fish sauce so I decided to throw that into my soup since it was flavourless. It definitely added some flavour, but still wasn’t good. I didn’t even eat half. My boyfriend said his vermicelli bowl was just okay. He pointed out that they barely gave him any meat and that a big portion of the meat they did give, was very fatty. It was also kind of pricey at $16.99 for what you got. Over all, we will not be going back there again. The amount of bbq pork in my “bbq pork” named soup was really laughable.

Pho Binh Minh Restaurant – Menu with Prices – 819 Sargent Ave, Winnipeg

Lovely new Vietnamese restaurant on Sargent! It’s a rather large restaurant that’s has a very bright, simple yet pretty decor in a very clean space. This place is where the former “Martini’s” Italian restaurant use to be (years ago) which has it’s own little parking space. P2 – rare beef pho (large $8.50) – there could have been more slices of beef but overall it was a good pho. The broth was lighter and leaned to a slight sweetness with a tinge bit more oil than I normally like but it was still good. The noodles were cooked perfectly and tasted great with the small dish of bean sprouts, Thai basil, lime and real bird’s eye chili. The ice coffee here is super strong and delicious – I highly recommend if you like stronger coffee! The best dishes here has to be their vermicelli bowl or “bun” and the “banh xeo”. V27 deluxe vermicelli bowl ($9.75) has grilled pork, spring rolls, grilled pork meatballs with veggies/herbs and vermicelli noodles. The vermicelli is served warm (which is a subtle thing many Viet places don’t do) which really adds to all the flavour once you pour on the fish sauce. The grilled pork is nicely seasoned and everything mixes really well in this dish. The banh xeo sort of looks like an omlette but it’s really more like a crispy savoury crepe/pancake. It’s made of rice flour, water, turmeric (which gives it that yellow colour) and it’s filled with pork, shrimp and bean sprouts. You eat it with lettuce and dip it into the fish sauce. I don’t normally order banh xeo as they always taste soggy but this one is super crispy and has lots of great flavour! Definitely give this one a try. Good as a shared appy or a light meal. Overall, great place with good prices and the service is very friendly!

Viet Thai Restaurant – Menu with Prices – 216 Horton St E, London

This was our first time at Viet-Thai Restaurant. We (3 of us) were told to seat ourselves as soon as we walked in. The restaurant is very small with only 6 or 7 tables. It definitely has a ‘hole in the wall’ feel to it and a bit of a strange smell. Regardless, we sat down and decided to give it a try. The waitress (owner?) brought us a pot of tepid tea and then a few minutes later, glasses of ice water. We ordered (from the waitress, not by writing our own orders as is usual at Vietnamese restaurants) and the waitress asked each of us if we wanted our food spicy or not. Then we waited about 5 minutes until my soup arrived. I ordered a small brisket pho with 1/2 noodles. The soup was indeed small. It was probably half the size of a small pho at other Vietnamese restaurants. The broth tasted nothing like pho. It was very spicy (had chopped Thai bird chilies in it) but other than being spicy, it wasn’t very flavourful. I added soy sauce and a little hoisin as that’s what was available. It wasn’t bad, but definitely wasn’t pho. The brisket was very tough and chewy and there was maybe 1-2 oz. of it in the whole bowl of soup. Our son ordered Singapore vermicelli and it came about 5 minutes after my soup. It was nothing like the usual Singapore vermicelli as it was topped with broccoli and cauliflower. He had asked for mild and it was exactly that. The noodles were cooked perfectly and the flavour was good, but it was a bit sweet. The pieces of egg were also nicely cooked. The broccoli and cauliflower were lacking flavour, as if they’d been thrown in as an after thought. My husband ordered the house special rice dish. It came with grilled pork, which was tasty (if a tiny bit overcooked), egg (folded like an omelette) which was very tasty although he had expected a sunny side up egg as is usual with this dish and 3 shrimp which cooked perfectly. There was also some shredded lettuce on the plate. All in all, the food was pretty tasty (hence the 3-star review) but the main problem was that there was nothing Vietnamese or Thai about any of the dishes. Our best guess is that this is ‘Vietnamese’ food cooked by a Chinese cook. The washrooms seemed clean enough and the prices were very reasonable. Not bad if you’re looking for a cheap and cheerful meal but just don’t expect it to be authentic Vietnamese or Thai food.

Le Petit Saigon – Menu with Prices – 2783 E Hastings St, Vancouver

Le Petit Saigon is my all time favourite Vietnamese restaurant. I’ve been eating pho since I was old enough to chew, and have had plenty of bowls of it in my lifetime. My favourite spot always changed, but ever since I’ve been to Le Petit Saigon in 2014, nothing else compares. My dad and I are regulars at the restaurant and we come for some lunch every weekend. I’ve tried a couple dishes from the menu but my favourite is just a regular bowl of pho. The broth has a strong umami flavour and because of the richness, you can tell it’s been simmering for the appropriate amount of time. Another dish on the menu I really enjoy is the seafood soup with egg noodles. It’s a very different flavour from the pho broth but again, the rich umami flavour is incredible. Overall, the broth at Le Petit Saigon rocks. Every meal I’ve tried, I’ve absolutely loved and practically licked the bowl. If you’re looking for a comforting meal (especially on a cold and rainy Vancouver day), definitely consider Le Petit Saigon.

Double Greeting Chinese Snack House – Menu with Prices – 355 McDermot Ave, Winnipeg

Haven’t been for a long time til recently. Wonton noodle soup (has pork & shrimp in wontons), noodles with spicy shredded pork, noodles with green onion & ginger, and steamed pork buns are all still very good. Atmosphere is old and basic, owners are friendly, quality is good.

Yummy Express – Menu with Prices – 6441 Yadkin Rd #2166, Fayetteville

I’ll start off with saying I spent a year and a half in Korea eating out almost every day and always trying somewhere new.. so with that said my expectation might be higher because I’ve been searching for that same taste I enjoyed while in Korea. I think I’ve been here twice but I can’t remember the first time and it felt like I had been there before which automatically made me want to leave.. the staff was nice I can say that but my issue comes from the disconnect between food and cost… I spent $40 that day and what I got was Samgyeopsal-gui , and a bowl of ramen… This entailed about 8 small blan pieces of grilled pork belly a bowl of over cooked rice that had a weird taste (I love almost all kinds of rice) a bowl of ramen which was under cooked and poorly flavored.. (anything noodles are my favorite) there was Romain for the grilled pork belly but it was poorly prepared. It was just 5 pieces of extremely long leafs that looked like they were just ripped off and neatly stacked on a plate. The traditional way of eating the grilled pork belly is the leaf with one or two pieces of meat some rice and kimchi and pretty much whatever on the table that you would like to add put on top of this palm sized leaf. The leaf I got from here was so large in comparison that using 1 piece of meat some rice kimchi and sprouts I used two leafs that I had to tear apart multiple times and couldn’t even use half of the leaf. And the bowl of ramen wasn’t a lot at all like one bag of the Nissan ramen at Walmart you get for 50 cents, no it wasn’t those noodles they tasted like they had potential they were just handled with out care to how much they charge customers for the disappointment.. Now compare that to when I was in Korea, I would have spent $10 for all you can eat grilled pork belly that I cook, and a bowl of ramen at that size cooked wonderfully would have been about 4 bucks maybe cheaper depending on where I went. Who ever owns this store, I’m sorry for the bad review, please get back to the roots of taking pride in what you are selling.. when I was in Korea I got a huge bowl of Jjajangmyeon for 8 bucks by a man who spent $20,000 at a school just to learn the art behind the dish. Literally it was only for that dish now he runs a Jjajangmyeon shop. It was the best I’ve ever had

Boulder Pho – Menu with Prices – 2855 28th St, Boulder

Dad and I had a craving for Vietnamese after a long hike in the mountains. I love a good vermicelli bowl (or “grilled noodle bowl” per the menu) so given Boulder Pho’s ratings decided to try. Suffice to say, I wouldn’t recommend. Service: Sat immediately, but had to flag down for the order. Given how not busy it was, the food took awhile. Received apps and dinner all at once, had to go up to the counter to ask where our drinks were (a beer and tea). We received the drinks well after the food arrived, and were charged for everything. Fine, but it’s weird to get a pot of tea after sitting for a half hour with water and after the food arrives. Never got checked on after the food was delivered. Went to the counter to pay, waited to pay while he cleaned tables, sat a couple. Another party arrived, he still didn’t ring me up, he chose to greet the new people, wash tables, seat them. This happened three times with new people arriving and me trying to pay. A note to the waiter: the person about to pay is about to tip. I shouldn’t wait at your counter for 15 minutes to do so. Food: If you like spaghetti noodles chopped into one inch pieces as “vermicelli noodles” then sure. Never have I had my noodles chopped into pieces. It was exceedingly difficult to eat with chopsticks. The noodles were also about spaghetti thickness, which was strange. Not a deal-breaker overall, but I think of this dish as a delicate noodle dish. The pork in the bowl was actually thin sliced pork, fried/charred to oblivion, and not cut properly. You’d pick up one bit of pork and get the entire thing connected by tendon. Not appetizing, and again, not made for chopsticks. The egg roll on top was the saving grace. Not remarkable, but had flavor. Overall the ‘noodle bowl’ was bland / burnt when you could get a bite. We also got the spring rolls. They were again filled with this spaghetti noodle. The sauce was the best part. Maybe their pho is the signature, but the service could use a LOT of work, and the noodle bowls should be removed from the menu.

Thanh Huong Restaurant – Menu with Prices – 534 Sargent Ave, Winnipeg

Been eating here for years…it feels like it’s under the radar a little bit as everyone seems to know more about Viva (on the same street). But they’ve been around for a long time and their food is legit – great flavour, generous portions and decent prices. At first glance, their prices seem higher than other places but they offer larger portions so it all works out. I’ve always stuck with the Vietnamese dishes here but there are the tons of other stir fried dishes that I have never tried. Their vermicelli (bun) bowls are great all around $9-$12. I like #33 which has egg rolls, grilled pork and grilled ground pork with the veggies and vermicelli ($9). I always get #11 which is the pho tai – medium rare beef slices in the pho ($8) – big bowl filled with lots of thin vermicelli that have that perfect consistency and lots of beef. Hands down the most generous beef portions in the city. And of course the pho comes with the plate of veggies – bean sprouts, lime and thai basil but no chilies. The soup is delicious though it is a more oily that I prefer but great balance of flavours. I love ice coffee ($4.50) but I don’t love their version as much. A little too much condensed milk which made it really sweet and the coffee isn’t as flavourful. Food service is extremely fast and lunch isn’t packed so you can eat your meal fairly quickly. They are probably one of the hardest working Vietnamese restaurants out there as they are open DAILY. Many Vietnamese restaurants are either closed on Tues or Wed so this is a great option and there’s always plenty of parking on Sargent Ave. M-F: 11am-10 pm Sat: 11:30 am-10 pm Sun & Holidays: 11:30 am -9 pm No delivery available. They take debit and credit as well.

Joojak Restaurant – Menu with Prices – 3337 Kingsway, Vancouver

It’s been a year or two since my first visit to Joojak Restaurant. Been back twice recently. They’re a Northern Chinese hole in the wall spot right next door to Sushi Aji. The inside is small with only 5 tables but service is sweet and run by two ladies who run the front. Nice that they bring you out water and hot tea. The menu is split into Xian specialties, noodle soups, boiled/fried dumplings, wonton soup, soup, vegetables, main dishes, congee and special combos. Trip #1 We dropped in on a Tuesday evening (around 7:00pm) and it was busy. – Xian pork burger (#1) ($5.50) – pork was moist and tender. Dip in vinegar sauce for some extra flavour. – Xian lamb burger (#2) ($5.95) – lamb had a decent cumin rub on it. – Xian cold noodle (#3) ($8.50) – with gluten, bean sprouts and sliced cucumbers. This is legit! Love the springy bite from the noodles. Everyone had a bowl of li piang on their table. – Beef & noodle soup (#10) ($9.95) – broth is plain and simple. Beef slices were thin and tasty. – Dumplings in spicy sour soup (#23) ($11.99) – you choose from four different dumplings; we opted for the pork and chive. You get a dozen dumplings with a solid meat to skin ratio. The wrapper was excellent, broth was well balanced and seaweed was a welcome addition. – Steamed chicken with chili sauce (#36) ($10.99) – this is their best (aka. signature) dish. The chicken is incredibly tender, moist and flavourful. Love the sauce underneath. There’s even bits of pickled vegetable. Wish they gave you a bowl of rice to soak up all the sauce. Trip #2 We dropped in on a Saturday (around noon) and were the only ones there. – Xian pork burger (#1)( $5.50) – our friends ordered one to share. – Green onion pancake (#9) ($4.50) – it’s cut into 8 pieces. A little small but tasty. – Xian cold noodle (#4) ($8.95) – this one is with gluten, sliced cucumbers, bean sprouts and sesame paste. Solid. – Hand pulled noodle with hot chili oil (#13) ($8.95) – first time trying their Biang Biang noodles; good bite but there weren’t a ton of noodles. – Boiled dumpling with pork & bok choy (#19) ($9.95 for 12) – we opted for ours to be boiled. Dumplings are homemade and the pork filling is excellent. – Steamed chicken with chili sauce (#36) ($10.99) – always a must order. Their chicken still reigns supreme. Another solid Northern Chinese spot. Will be back to try their larger main dishes next time.

T H Dang Restaurant – Menu with Prices – 1425 Pembina Hwy, Winnipeg

Good. I try to eat pretty healthy and when I ordered the wrap it yourself lettuce wraps, hold the rice paper+vermicelli noodles and add extra lettuce and veggies, they were more than willing to accommodate with no questions. Their portions are good and always tastes great. Love the flavour of their pho broth as star anise really presents itself as the stronger flavour. I recommend this Vietnamese restaurant (as there aren’t a lot of Vietnamese restaurants in the south area) and this seems to always get it right!

Kaizen Shabu – Menu with Prices – 303 N Spurgeon St, Santa Ana

My friends and I decided to meet up at Kaizen fusion shabu shabu bar since it was a fair midpoint that complied with their dietary retrictions. Kaizen is located in downtown Santa Ana a few doors down from the famous YOST theater. There is a parking lot with meters you can pay for with credit card nearby. Lamson and Joselyn were helping us out and they were very welcoming and informative. They were passionate and thorough about the menu and their specials knowing it was our first visit. They made our meal extremely enjoyable! They have this awesome Combo bases (additional $2) where you can 2 soup bases, and they have a 10 oz Combo plate where you can choose from angus beef, chicken, kurobuta pork, pork belly, salmon, swai fish or shrimp. All of their shabu shabu plates here come with veggies, noodles, goma and ponzu sauce and rice. My first friend started off maximizing his options with the combo bases ($2) with spicy miso and tonkotsu and with combo protein ($25) option with angus beef and kurobuta pork. He had this with the white rice. My other friend went with the fancy coconut curry soup base (additional $2) with 7oz Angus Beef ($19) and white rice. I decided on the Tonkotsu broth since I enjoy the rich pork flavor for my soup base. For my proteins I definitely wanted variety so I also went with the combo ($25) and opted for the angus beef and pork belly. I know my eating habits well, so I asked for no rice, since I knew I would not be able to finish it. In addition to their complimentary sauces, I also asked for the Garlic Cilantro sauce (additional $1). The food came out pretty quickly and everything was delicious. 10 oz of meat does not sound like a lot but when the slices came out, I knew I would have to pace myself to finish the meal. I am so relieved I did not ask for rice! I am really happy with the richness of the tonkotsu base. They gave us garlic and chives to season our broth in which I really took advance of that garlic in my soup base and my sauces. The veggies were fresh. I wish they were cut a big more consistently in size, but overall still very good quality. With every shabu shabu meal I always start off eating about half of the meat with the vegetables I don’t love but eat for health reasons. Then I saved the things I enjoy like bokchoy and mushrooms for the udon soup portion. I asked them for their house soup base, then mixed it with my broth and some goma and pozu and made myself a nice bowl of udon soup with the remaining meat. It was such a DELICIOUSSSS bowl of udon. I was so full but still finished it. We loved the ambiance at Kaizen so much, we hung out while we recovered from our food coma and even decided to get desserts. My first friend had ube ice cream ($2.99), my other friend had mixed mochi ($3) with strawberry and green tea. I had the green tea ice cream ($2.99). It was a sweet way to end an incredible meal! I can definitely see this as a go-to spot to enjoy a fun and healthy-enough meal with friends.

Minh Chau Restaurant – Menu with Prices – 1318 9 Ave SE, Calgary

Are you Pho real? Ohh, bad pun. Awful way to start a review, but I went there anyways. I stopped by this weird little place last night after absolutely crushing myself in the gym. I feel it’s important that the reader understands that I was feeling extremely manly and also very hungry. The guy at the front door was incredibly attentive and got us seated right away. I ordered what I normally get when I go for Vietnamese: Vermicelli noodles with spring rolls, shredded pork, char grilled pork and char grilled shrimps. I was feeling a little tense, so I picked up a Tiger beer as well. Decor was … well, confusing. It looks kind of like an upscale truck stop in there. Maybe that doesn’t do it justice, but it WAS clean. So.. there’s that. Don’t go here if you’re an atmosphere glutton. Now, I don’t think our server was Vietnamese. In fact I have no idea what he was. He was just large, and friendly and very good at his job. Well done, man of mysterious ethnicity – well done. When my meal came it was large, hot and full of delicious meats – just he way I like it. I immediately doused it in fish sauce, hot sauce and whatever that brown sauce is (as I normally do). And then, dear reader, I ATE IT. I ate the whole thing. I ate it with chopsticks like a champion. I shoveled that vermicelli in my mouth like it was the last bowl on God’s green earth. Had one of the ladies I was with tried to steal a spring roll I would have probably gnawed her fingers off – that’s how famished I was. And by the end, I was full. I was pleased. Joy coursed through my veins. So, on the whole this is pretty standard Vietnamese. There wasn’t anything special about it, though like another writer pointed out their meat is really well done. I’d definitely recommend this place if you’re in the mood for some Viet in Inglewood.

Old Taro Taiwanese Noodle – Menu with Prices – 4370 Thornton Ave, Fremont

One of my (and my mom’s) favorite beef noodle soup places ever! It’s definitely a hole in the wall, so usually on weekdays there is no wait. Occasionally, on weekends during lunch there will be a wait – a lot of families love the lamb hot pots (?), and it’s very family friendly. The place is not big, there are probably only 10 tables total, with 4 seats at each table. The spicy beef noodle soup is so good – it reminds me a lot of beef noodle soups found in Taiwan, and they give 3-4 pieces of meat in each bowl. They also offer the sour mustard greens é?¸è? and hot sauce on the side. Personally, I don’t add anymore hot sauce – it’s spicy enough for me. And recently, they just added “thick” noodles that look like handmade noodles. I love thicker noodles, the texture is much chewier than the original thin noodle. Occasionally, I get the plate of pork ears, since I like to dip them in hot sauce. Price of a bowl of beef noodle soup is $10.25 right now, which is similar to other beef noodle places around Fremont. I come here probably once a week or so, sometimes more. I just got it yesterday for take-out, and I know for a fact I’ll be getting lunch here again in 2 days. The service isn’t amazing, but it’s very efficient. I don’t expect great service at small, family run places like these though. There is no decor, but prices are decent, food is pretty great, and service is efficient. I highly recommend giving the beef noodle soup a try.