Category Archives: Vietnamese

Little Saigon

Little Saigon Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - ZomatoI love pho, and I wanted to get together with friends to dine for pho. My friend knew this place since he tries to avoid MSG and their pho doesn’t use any. Their tagline is “No Msg, just TLC.”

They even have their own sauce products that are made here in Abbotsford, BC.

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idearabbit_littlesaigon6I ordered the Large Shredded Chicken Pho $9. It came in a nice large bowl, with the sprouts and lime on a plate underneath. So with each individual order getting their own, I got to have lots (all) the sprouts :D

The broth was a bit light, resulting in a slightly blander taste. I used some of the sauces to give it more punch.

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Sheepie ordered the Coconut Chicken Curry Stew (small) $10.95 with rice. It came with huge pieces of carrots :D , though it would have been nice to have them chopped up into bite-sized. I tried a few pieces, and the curry flavour was ok.

Service was really good, considering the girl was running the entire front restaurant on her own. The restaurant has a nice atmosphere and an interesting mural on the back wall. I will be back to try their beef pho next time!

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Pho Central

Click to add a blog post for Pho Central on Zomato I had been to Pho Central when it was at the old location. It was filthy and tiny, though their pho were good. I had always walked by it and seen how full it was, so I suspected that their pho must be still good.

I met a with a friend for lunch around 1pm. It wasn’t overly busy, so it was good timing. The interior was quite spacious and nicer than most other whole in the wall pho places. In fact, this must be the best one I’ve been to in Metro Vancouver area. It has a bar on one side with blue LED lighting which gives it a modern, moody look.

idearabbit-pho_central1 idearabbit-pho_central2 idearabbit-pho_central3 idearabbit-pho_central4I ordered the Beef Ball Noodles Soup $8 (regular). I was surprised by the portion. It must be the biggest one I know. The broth wasn’t overwhelmingly salty, and the noodles and beef tasted great. We kept eating, but it seemed like the amount never shrunk. Each bowl of Pho came with a plate of sprouts, slice of lime, jalapenos and Vietnamese basil. I usually put in all the sprouts, a sprinkle of torn up basil and squeeze the lime. No extra sauces. I know most people use them, but a recent reading has taught me that the use of extra sauces aren’t authentic. I guess it’s like how California rolls aren’t authentic Japanese rolls (in fact none of the fancy rolls are). I often don’t like a lot of sauces on anything since it usually covers up the real flavour.

I love this place! I think it’s the best Pho in town – in terms of quality, quantity, price, atmosphere, location and service. Extra points for serving water in glass, and not plastic. The spoons for the noodle soups are also porcelain and not plastic.

Back for Dinner
This time I returned with Sheepie who isn’t a fan of Pho (what?! lol). Anyways, there were plenty of non-Pho dishes to order and he ended up getting the Chicken Curry. Looked spicy, but it wasn’t too hot. The chicken were super tender and really just melted in your mouth. I again ordered the Beef Ball Pho – sorry, I’m just in love with this bowl!

It was super busy this time with usually 3 groups waiting by the entrance. However there were no compromise with the food quality. Service was a bit slower, but that was expected.

My favourite Pho in Metro Vancouver!

Taste: carrotcarrotcarrotcarrotcarrot    Price for Value: carrotcarrotcarrotcarrotcarrot

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Pho Extreme Xe Lua

Click to add a blog post for Pho Extreme Xe Lua Restaurant on ZomatoI was craving for some Pho around 11:30pm, and the only place that was open nearby was this one – open 24/7. I had driven by it everyday from work, and wondered what their Pho was like. I was disappointed to see the poor reviews, but since it was the only one open, I gave it a shot.
Despite being midnight, it was full-house with 2-3 groups waiting by the door. We were lucky that a table had just opened up.

idearabbit-phoextreme idearabbit-phoextreme2 idearabbit-phoextreme3 idearabbit-phoextreme4 idearabbit-phoextreme5 I had been there when it was a sushi restaurant – in fact there were 2 different sushi restaurants previously there in which I had gone to both. With both of them closing down, I thought this location was poor for some reason, even though it was on a prime location on the corner of Broadway and Cambie. I guess I was wrong about Pho Extreme Xe Lua.

Since it was late, I only ordered a small Beef Ball Pho $8 while Sheepie who was not a Pho fan had the Grilled Chicken Sub $4.75 (Zomato’s menu is outdated – so there are price increases). For a small bowl, I thought it was pricey, especially when the best Pho (that I know of in Vancouver) cost $8 for a regular bowl  – and it was one of the biggest bowl I’ve had. Not to mention really tasty.

idearabbit-phoextreme6The bowl came in a cheap plastic bowl, with the noodles all clumped up. I didn’t realize until more than half way through the bowl that I never got any of the toppings!! Argh! I was hungry but also half sleepy, so I guess I wasn’t thinking. Boo – sucks even more that the table next to us had some which they barely had touched. Sheepie explained that his sub would be great if one had walked for miles in the dessert and was all worn out and it was the first food one had in days…lol.

The broth was super salty, and nothing rich about it.

The server’s shoes were almost black with oil and dirt. His pants were dropping a bit. There was a ant fly crawling on our table. The place is overall ok, but feel a bit dirty.

Being open around the clock is a huge plus, but the food isn’t good. Anyways, it’s bad to eat so late, right? Would not return unless I absolutely, really have to.

Taste: carrotcarrot    Price for Value: carrot

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