It’s been a while since we visited West Lake Vietnamese Kitchen on No. 3 Road.

Ben and I stopped here for a quick lunch before his business trip.

It was not busy when we visited it on a week day lunch.

We ordered from the lunch combo which includes an appy, main dish and a drink. Ben’s appy was Pork Satay Skewers. It was served with some kind of chili sauce but not very spicy.

Ben’s choice of main was Bun Bo Hue. This was quite spicy which he likes. (more…)

I noticed that there is a new Vietnamese restaurant in Ironwood Plaza while I drove by after having lunch in Pho Ten with Nanzaro.

This new Pho 37 has taken over the location of Red Pagoda which was also a Vietnamese Restaurant. When we asked the server about the name of the restaurant, we were told that 37 is a lucky number for the owner according to a fortune teller.

There is minimal changes to the restaurant from Red Pagoda, the previous tenant.

Even the condiments look the same as the previous tenant. I guess the new owner just took over everything from the previous owner.

I ordered a Chicken Banh Mi. There were plenty of pickled daikon and carrot but not so much of the grilled chicken. The baguette was not as crispy as we would love it to be.

Ben ordered the Pho Tuan which was posted on the wall as chef’s recommendation. It is pho with a twist. It has more pronounced flavour of ginger and garlic in it. The other non-regular ingredient is the raw egg.  (more…)

We discovered Pho Japolo when we visited Cafe Loyal. They are neighbours.

We came here for lunch on a Saturday afternoon. It was a weird day. When we arrived, it was pouring but when we left, the sun was shining.

The restaurant is larger than we expected. The dining area above is just a separate dining area from the main dining area. This restaurant can easily accommodates 70 people.

The usual fixings for Vietnamese meal. The bean sprouts were served raw.

Nanzaro ordered the Bun Bo Hue. He was not sure it was his dish when the server brought it to the table because it did not look as spicy as he expected. We tasted the broth which is quite flavourful with pronounced lemongrass flavour. Nanzaro added the chili paste condiment on the table to spice up his Bun Bo Hue. (more…)

Ben drove to the Continental Plaza for lunch without a designated restaurant in mind. We saw that the Deer Garden was very busy, with people waiting for tables while Pearl Castle was not that busy.

But the boys wanted Vietnamese on a cold day and we went to New Asia Deli. The restaurant was cold especially when the door is opened and a blast of cold air fills the dining room.

The usual fixings of bean sprouts and basil were served on different plates. In the middle of our meal, the server came over to take back the basil plate as she noticed that we did not touch it at all. Perhaps, for recycling. She said she wanted to clear the table for us.

Nanzaro ordered the Pho Bo Hue for $7.95. This does not come with blood cake which we do not mind as we never eat it. (more…)

A new Vietnamese restaurant took over the location where Pho Cao Van was used to be.

It was a rainy cold Saturday evening. It’s the perfect weather for a hot bowl of pho noodle soup.

The restaurant was not busy when we visited. Perhaps, the rain deterred people from coming out.

The server served hot Chinese tea for all of us. But the two gentlemen also got an extra glass of cold water without being ask.

Actually Ben decided to go for Vietnamese after watching a recent Anthony Bourdain show on Vietnam, specifically the region Hue. So, Ben ordered Bun Bo Hue to fix his craving. The Bun Bo Hue here is filled with assorted meat like Vietnamese ham, meat balls, and sliced beef. It does not come with pork hock and blood cake. The broth was quite spicy. This is $7.99. (more…)

Pho Khang is another new Vietnamese restaurant that pops up in Richmond.

Pho Khang opened on April 28 and offers 15% discount until May 15. Nanzaro and I visited Pho Khang just in time before the discount expire.

It was a good size restaurant; much bigger than we anticipated as the previous tenant was a Fish & Chip take out restaurant with no proper sit down tables.

I ordered the Khang House special Vermicelli for $8.75. It has spring rolls, minced pork and grilled lemongrass chicken (pork is also available). The grilled chicken does not have the charred factor. (more…)