It was a cold winter night, perfect for Vietnamese food! I suggested Thai’s Saigon Bistro, but Cinnamon wanted to go to Broken Rice instead, which was fine by me since I have wanted to try it. It’s located on the same block too.
The restaurant was pretty clean and had some gentle classical music playing.
Spring rolls, $7.50: Sangria, Cocoa, and I shared the spring rolls which came with minced pork, taro root, mushrooms, and more. They came very crunchy- piping hot and fresh!
House pho, $9.95: Cocoa and I both had the house pho, which was delicious! It came with a decent amount of rare beef, brisket, and beef balls. The broth was perfect and not too salty.
Grilled beef short ribs, $11.50: Sangria went with the grilled beef short ribs, which she thought was delicious as well albeit pretty salty. It was a big portion and she ended up packing some of it home.
Vegetarian vermicelli: Cinnamon ordered the vegetarian vermicelli which came with fried tofu and vegetarian spring rolls. She had no complaints about it either!
Overall, it was a good first visit to Broken Rice and I would come back again for the pho and crispy spring rolls!
Yay!
Basil Garden is located on Renfrew and Broadway, in a small strip mall where Mr. Sub is. Walking in, the decor was pretty modern and nice. Everything felt very clean and it was a lot nicer than the usual Vietnamese places we eat at.
Spring rolls, $6: The boyfriend was quite hungry that night, so we ordered some spring rolls to start. There was quite a generous amount – 4 spring rolls for $6 is a great price!
Large pho w/ rare beef and brisket, $10: At $10, the price was a bit higher than we were used to but this place is also a bit fancier. With that said, the boyfriend really enjoyed it. The broth was super clear but very flavourful.
Pork patty & spring roll vermicelli: The pork patty was different than the usual places I go to. It was slightly sweeter and the texture was different. Pork patty usually has an even texture and consistency because it’s processed (I think? Not sure) but this one didn’t seem that processed.
One last thing to mention is how clean their sauces are! This probably means that they clean out their sauce tubes quite often? It was pretty busy that night so I’m sure that the sauces get used a lot.
Grilled pork and spring rolls w/ vermicelli, $9.50: The pork was very flavourful with a good amount of lemongrass flavour to it. They do a great job of grilling meats and it’s always very flavourful w a slightly grilled and sweet taste.
The restaurant was very clean, new, and spacious. In particular, we awed over the beautiful plate art wall that was behind us. It looks like they glued a bunch of Asian plates into a nice pattern. I can certainly spot some plate patterns that my family and relatives own!
P4, Pho Tai, Large, $9.95: There are many different pho combinations to choose from, as with most Vietnamese places. The boyfriend chose p4, which just comes with rare beef. There was a pretty generous amount of rare beef, as well as onions.
P7, Pho Nam Bo Vien, Large, $9.95: I ordered the opposite of the boyfriend, aka all cooked beef – beef balls and beef brisket. As with the other bowl, they were pretty generous on the meat toppings and onions.
Rare beef & beef ball pho: A $9 bowl of pho is more than I’m used to paying, but it was pretty good. I liked how it was not oily.
Special beef noodle pho: Macaroni has been here a few times already, and this is her go-to pho each time. The broth is the same, but the ‘special’ part just means there is an assorted selection of meat. You can see the generous portion of meat that they serve, and how clear the broth is! We both really enjoyed our pho.
Sticky rice & mung bean dumpling: Most of the reason why I really wanted to try Mr. Red Cafe is because my friend, and fellow food blogger, 
Banh mi: Macaroni already knew she would not be able to finish both the giant bowl of pho AND this sandwich, but she said it was really good so she had to order it anyways. She ended up taking half of it back home as well!