A Housewife’s Tale

Vietnamese – my version of the ultimate comfort food. I don’t know any dish so far that I dislike, but I can’t say I have tried every dish; just the typical rice dishes and noodles. Meep and I used to eat Vietnamese at least once a week back in Vancouver. Our favourite place was literally across the street~

It took us a few months of trying out places before we found ‘the one’. This is it!

Menu is simple laminated cardboard. 3 pages of items.

Meep always orders the same thing. He usually get the extra large with everything on it, while I order a rice dish – so I get to have the best of both worlds~ But now that I have all the time in the world and can grill the meats myself. I go for the soups as well~

#1. extra large combo rice noodle soup with rare beef, tendon, tripe and flank brisket.

The broth is flavourful without the “medicine-y” taste that some places have by putting in too much of the cloves or sth while cooking.

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My number 1 pick is the #33 – The spicy lemongrass noodle soup.

It comes with pig’s blood, a giant piece of pork leg, random pieces of beef & beef parts that are infused with the spices.

Look at the giant pork hock! I usually ask them to leave out the pig’s blood n pork leg (too hard to eat without getting soup all over me) and I add meatballs!

This is so rich without being greasy!!

Meep loves the meat in this noodle because it packs so much flavour.

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Another new favourite – I tried this for the first time and loved it. Meep wouldn’t have been a fan because the soup is tangy n tomatoe-y. I like!

#30 on the menu – Thin noodle with meat and ground crab~

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I can’t remember what this dish is called but it is stir fried pho with beef and veggies. I saw this on other tables and finally found it on the menu (after reading about Vietnamese noodles for 2 hours!)

This dish was really good BUT can be inconsistent. Unlike soup broth – this is make to order and prolly by different people. One time I ordered it, it came out greasy, flavourless and with a sad amount of noodles.

We have also tried the salad rolls – which just taste like every other salad roll.

The vietnamese iced coffee– the price for their drinks are cheaper than most places. Can’t really screw up vietnamese ice coffee~

Combination drink – I ordered red bean but got this instead. I am indifferent to it.

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Total Damage: averages about $25 for 2

Personal Rating : 3.75 out of 5 (Very good)

( This are all based on the soup bowls and noodles, so I don’t think it would be fair to rate any higher)

Last trip  we went was on Saturday at about 8.15 pm. It was packed! This place has about 50 tables ( I counted)  and they were all full with more people streaming in. It was definitely chaotic but we still got our food really fast.

We ordered the Fried spring roll but by the time it got to our table, we were paying. The man at the cashier was really accomodating. He must realised how busy and chaotic it was, so when I said we didn’t get it and now we are leaving. He did not question me but apologised and took it off the bill.

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Pho Kim Long

(408) 946-2181