Curiously Carmen

H&P Noodle House Burnaby

Ever since it opened nine years ago, Thai’s Saigon Bistro has been our go-to Vietnamese place in this area. We were quite sad when they closed down but I wasn’t too surprised as the owners were getting older and probably wanted a well deserved retirement. I wish we had known they were closing beforehand, so we could have went one last time!

H&P Noodle House replaced Saigon Bistro a bit after, and has both Vietnamese and Thai food. This is their second location, with the first one in Port Coquitlam.

House special pho: My parents and I ordered the same thing, their house special pho. Unfortunately, I didn’t enjoy the pho. The broth was pretty bland and flat. In a city where there are so many good pho restaurants, this bowl did not hit the spot.

Vermicelli bowl: The husband couldn’t decide between trying their Vietnamese or Thai food, but decided on a vermicelli bowl. He found it to be pretty meh and disappointing as well.

Unfortunately, we didn’t enjoy our lunch here and would go elsewhere in the area if we wanted Vietnamese food. However, I’d be willing to give this place another try if someone suggested it, or maybe perhaps their Thai food is better as it seemed like the restaurant was Thai-owned. Since H&P replaced Saigon Bistro, we’ve been going to Pho Mr Do instead.

Little Minh’s Kitchen

The husband and I go to Market Crossing occasionally. During our last visit there, we saw Little Minh’s Kitchen and decided to try it out. I remember when they first opened, it was under a different name. But then a few months later, the name was changed to Little Minh’s.

Walking in, the restaurant was quite spacious and there were many staff working. It was a weekend during our visit, so it was pretty busy in here.

Spring roll: It was a pleasant surprise that they were offering a side of free spring rolls! The spring rolls came piping out and crunchy. The husband enjoyed them.

Pho: I went with their DIY pho and chose my own toppings. I don’t recall what I chose exactly, but it was the standard beef options.

The broth here was delicious! I enjoyed my bowl of pho and it satisfied my cravings perfectly.

Pho: The husband also went with pho. He also enjoyed his soup noodles a lot.

In conclusion, we were both satisfied with Little Minh’s. I ended up coming back a couple of weeks after when I was in the area myself, and that visit was delicious also. If we find ourselves at Market Crossing, we will definitely come by again for lunch.

Little Minh's Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

Pho Net Viet

Whoops, blogging has fell on the backburner recently for a variety of reasons. One of them being that I’ve been reading a lot, since starting up a year ago. You can read my book reviews on my Instagram highlights or on Goodreads!

Pho Net Viet is a new Vietnamese restaurant that opened in Port Coquitlam in November. Since their opening, I have been there a handful of times whenever I am in the area!

There is a parking lot outside, which makes parking quite easy. I never had a problem parking, but the times I’ve gone are also not peak hours.

The restaurant itself is pretty big and spacious. The service is always quick and friendly!

House special: Every time I come here, I usually order the house special pho, which has everything inside (rare beef, beef balls, tripe, tendon, brisket).

The pho broth is consistently delicious and fragrant. I’ve noticed recently when I go for pho, that the noodles tend to be soggy and overcooked. It’s occurred at a few of my regular places, including Pho Net Viet sometimes. I took Sangria here once and she noted it as well, but enjoyed the broth.

Here is a photo from another visit, also the house special pho.

Spring rolls: I took Maki here one time, and she ordered a side of the spring rolls. I forgot if she liked it or not, sorry!

Coconut water: On one of my more recent visits, I discovered their coconut water and have not looked back! The coconut water includes some fresh coconut meat inside, which was delicious. I wanted to order this when I came with Sangria but sadly they were out that day.

Overall, I’ve been to Pho Net Viet multiple times and they have not disappointed so far. I come here for lunch whenever I find myself in the Poco area. The food is delicious, the service is friendly, and the restaurant is comfortable and spacious.

Sing Sing

I have been curious about Sing Sing for awhile now, ever since they opened over 2 years ago. What sets Sing Sing apart from other pubs in Vancouver is that they serve Vietnamese food as well. I haven’t seen this unique combo but I was also hesitant to try pho served at a pub. Bellini had a good time here before, so Bellini, Martini and I came for dinner one evening.

We came in the early evening around 5pm, and the restaurant was already at full capacity! They don’t take reservations here either so I recommend coming earlier. The atmosphere was lively and bumpin’. The entire front of the restaurant opens up to a patio too.

Beef pho: I ordered the beef pho which came with beef balls, brisket, and rare steak. To be honest, my expectations of pho served at a white pub weren’t super high, so I was pleasantly surprised when I enjoyed it. It’s not the best pho, but it’s decent. The pieces of brisket were very thick and big, reminiscent of brisket served at BBQ restaurants.

There were a lot of chopped green onions on top, as you can see. Usually, pho is served with a side of beansprouts, basil, etc but it was already included. There were only a few pieces of beansprouts. My one complaint was that when I asked the server to have cooked beansprouts, she gave me a b1tchy and judgy look *eyeroll*.

Dumplings: You also don’t see dumplings at a pub often. Bellini ordered the vegetarian dumplings, which was topped with a mountain of green onions and fried onion (or garlic?) pieces. She enjoyed the dumplings and didn’t have any complaints about it.

Pizza: Martini ordered a pizza. It was a smaller pizza and probably suitable for one person only.

Our only complaint was that the service was quite cold. I mentioned above how our server rolled her eyes at me when I asked for cooked beansprouts. Another complaint about the service was that Bellini and Martini decided to see if they could another drink at 6:03pm, happy hour ended at 6pm. Prior to ordering, they asked the same server if they could still have the happy hour price. The server said she wasn’t sure and could try. They both asked her to come back and tell them if the HH price wasn’t possible. The server never came back, and was replaced by another server so we thought all was good.

When we got our bills, they were surprised to see that they were charged regular price for the drinks. The new server said that the old server informed her of the situation, and it took some pushing to have her change it to the happy hour price. If the old server had come back and said the HH price wasn’t possible, they wouldn’t have ordered it.

Overall, I am really glad that I finally tried Sing Sing and I would definitely be back. Despite that rude server, we still had a good time here. The atmosphere was great, and I loved the variety on the menu.

Sing Sing Beer Bar Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

Lunch Lady

This review is a long time coming, because I have been wanting to try this for a year ever since they opened last summer. For Smores’ birthday, we finally decided to try it!

Lunch Lady is located on Commercial Drive, and it’s one of those restaurants where you have to make a reservation to get in. It is inspired by the food carts in Vietnam, and apparently there is some sort of far away distinction with Anthony Bourdain. For the sake of this review, I looked it up and apparently the owner of this restaurant met a Vietnamese street food vendor in Saigon nicknamed the Lunch Lady. Apparently she was so inspired by the Lunch Lady that she opened this restaurant with influences from the Saigon place. Anthony Bourdain liked the food cart in Saigon, hence the somewhat association.

The Lunch Lady has got pretentious vibes written all over it. They try really hard to seem like “casual, hole in the wall” street food, but it drips of pretentiousness. For one, the prices are definitely not hole in the wall. Secondly, the vibe going in is supposedly casual, but most of the customers were very dressed up. It reminds me of the “no makeup, makeup trend” where girls try really hard to look effortlessly natural, when in reality it took them 1 hour to achieve the look. Thirdly, what kind of casual, hole in the wall place hires a live singer? Lol!

With that out of the way, Iet’s get onto the food!

Beef carpaccio: The beef carpaccio came with picked onions, fresh herbs, peanuts, and lime vinaigrette. At first glance, the toppings look overwhelming and you can’t even see the beef, but everything went together very well. The fresh herbs, peanuts, and lime vinaigrette complimented each other perfectly. It was a great start to the meal.

Garlic fried noodles: This is definitely more of a fusion than authentic dish. The garlic fried noodles came with garlic XO butter, and topped with parmesan cheese. I only had a few bites but it was delicious, and the 3 of us really enjoyed it. The noodles were very garlicky and the butter made it taste even better! It is quite an oily dish which is why I didn’t have too much of it with my stomach problems.

Beef noodle soup: With my stomach problems, I decided to stick with the pho. I also wanted to try a pho because if you mess up a pho dish, you are a crappy Vietnamese restaurant! It was a bit more pricey than your typical (actual) hole in the wall Vietnamese restaurants, and the taste was alright. The noodles were also wider and flatter than your standard pho, but I didn’t mind it.

House special fried rice: This was the only disappointing dish of the evening! For starters, it was quite small. Secondly, it was really lackluster and something that you can easily cook at home. It was a very basic fried rice and nothing special about it.

In conclusion, the food at Lunch Lady was good but I was not a fan of the vibe, as explained in the intro. It seems like they want to be fancy, but at the same time, they want to be a “hole in the wall” and associated with the simple deliciousness of Vietnamese food carts. You can’t really be both.

I haven’t quite figured out if I want to return because I enjoyed the food, but it felt pretentious to me. It’s a place you go if you want to be seen as cool and hip, but also without trying too hard because it is inspired by street food after all (with the prices of fancier places).