It’s been awhile since I’ve tried a new Vietnamese restaurant, usually sticking with my current favourite, and trusted, Basil Garden. When I suggested Basil Garden to my mom, she said she’s been before and didn’t like it. I was shocked! I guess everyone has different taste buds, which is why I’m hesitant to recommend restaurants to people sometimes.

Anyway, since Basil Garden was out of the question, I suggested Got Pho Thein Kim which was only about 4 blocks away. It’s been on my to-try list for over a year ever since Maki recommended it to me.

It’s a pretty small, no frills hole in the wall Vietnamese restaurant. However, there was always a healthy amount of customers so you knew it was not sketchy!

House pho, large: We were pleasantly surprised at how cheap the pho was! My parents both ordered the house pho which came with all the usual meat. Normally, my dad complains that there’s not enough noodles and he is still hungry… But this time, he was really full.

Pho, small: I ordered the brisket, rare beef, tendon and tripe pho. There was a very generous portion of meat underneath the noodles which surprised me! For $7 in 2019, you really can’t complain about it!

Because I love food, I did some reading on pho. According to chef Chi Le, who was on Masterchef Vietnam and the owner of Chi Vietnamese Kitchen in Kitsilano, different regions have different styles. Northern Vietnam pho tends to be lighter. The south tends to be sweeter, and the central part tends to have more depth.

Based on this knowledge, I would say Got Pho is more Northern style. The flavour does not have much depth as Basil Garden. The more you learn!!!

Pho with lemongrass chicken: The boyfriend enjoyed his plain pho as well. The star of the show was the lemongrass chicken though. It was extremely fragrant and full of delicious lemongrass flavour. The chicken thigh was cooked perfectly and super juicy.

All in all, we left very satisfied. It was only $40 including tip for 4 people, and we were all super full! I’m glad that we finally tried this place out and found another Vietnamese spot in this area.

The Viet Noodle Guy has been on my radar for about a month now. It is a new Vietnamese restaurant that opened up by Brentwood, in the same complex as Brown’s Social House and across from Madison Center.

The reason why I wanted to try it was because a) it was new, b) it looked clean and modern, and c) it had a high rating of 4.5 stars on Yelp already. Smores and the boyfriend were down to try it too, so we went one weekday evening.

There is free underground parking in the building, which was nice. Walking in, it was spacious in there due to the very high ceilings.

They had nice, matching decor going on and there was also a small balcony upstairs where they make their banh mi. We were wondering whether or not customers were able to walk upstairs and order banh mi, or was it for takeout customers?

Popcorn shrimp: It’s been awhile since I’ve seen popcorn shrimp in awhile! I don’t know why I was expecting American style popcorn shrimp, but it was different than I expected. It was more of the Chinese style and I would describe it more as a deep fried shrimp instead of popcorn shrimp.

They came fresh and crunchy, and bursting with garlic flavour. It tasted like Chinese deep fried shrimp, which I am definitely not complaining about because it’s one of my guilty pleasures, although it’s been awhile I ate it because #health. There was also a thick sweet chili dipping sauce too, which went well with the shrimp.

Viet noodle with rare beef and tripe P5: I wanted to see how their pho was. There was a generous portion of rare beef and tripe, and I was really full after this bowl.

Broth-wise, I found it to be pretty salty and flat, but still satisfying. It could have used more herbs because it mainly tasted like a beef broth without the standard herbs they add.

House special vermicelli bowl: Smores and the boyfriend ordered the house special vermicelli bowl, which was a lot better than mine! It came with so much stuff- lemongrass chicken, beef, pork patty AND spring rolls! To make things better, all the meat was seasoned perfectly and so deliciously juicy. As for the spring rolls, it was crispy and full of meat too.

The Viet Noodle Guy is a decent choice if you’re wanting Vietnamese food. In particular, it seems their vermicelli bowls are quite popular, and for good reason too! I can see us coming back to the Viet Noodle Guy if we’re feeling like not going to our usual Vietnamese place, Basil Garden.

Service was also attentive, quick and friendly here too! And easy, convenient, free parking is great as well 🙂

Yay!

I really enjoy eating Vietnamese food – it is delicious, cheap, and filling! One night, I was feeling like trying a place that we haven’t gone to and trying out other Vietnamese dishes that weren’t a pho or lemongrass dish. After some Yelping, we came up with Mui Ngo Gai because they had a big menu offering different types of Vietnamese food that we don’t usually order, and a high rating online!

Mui Ngo Gai is located on Kingsway and Victoria, where there is a plethora of Vietnamese establishments. There was easy street parking outside and along the small streets, and they also have a small parking lot that could probably fit about 3-4 cars in the back.

Steamed pork and shrimp tapioca dumpling: I was in the mood to try something new, so I ordered this! Well, it backfired on me because it wasn’t what I was expecting. It came with tiny dried shrimp and a very small amount pork. The texture of the tapioca was very sticky and goopy too. I ended up only eating one, and packing up the rest for my parents. No regrets ordering it though, I wanted to try something different!
Spring rolls: The boyfriend ordered his usual spring rolls to go with his pho. They were served differently than what we were used to, in that they use the smooth spring roll skin instead of the rough skin. Taste wise inside, they were delicious and had a decent amount of filling inside!
Rare beef and flank pho, large: The boyfriend was quite satisfied with his pho! He marveled at the quality of the beef flank and rare beef. It was a comforting bowl of noodles which filled him up.
Crispy prawn & fish patty soup: Continuing my adventurous streak that night, I ordered a bowl of noodles that I haven’t had before! For those who haven’t had this before, I would best describe it as large flat pieces of fish cake with some prawn. I found it delicious because I love my seafood!

Soup wise, the broth was light and had a hint of tomato and sweetness. The fresh dill was a nice addition to the soup and gave it more dimension. It was also my first time having Vietnamese water celery, which I would describe was a thinner version of regular celery.

All in all, our meal at Mui Ngo Gai was tasty and left us satisfied. The service was quick and friendly as well. I would love to try more Vietnamese places in the Kingsway/Victoria area as there seems to be a lot!

Yay!