Cambodian & Vietnamese

Vietnamese .... still trying.....

Was at the recommended Bun Bo Hue place on Somerset, Pho Bo Ga La to try out their Bun Bo ($10 for a bowl of medium, including tax/tip, for lunch). Somehow, I thought the write ups by MinhD were about a pork noodle soup, but this was beef. At least the ‘covering’ was beef tendons. The noodles were the best part…au dent. Great… (Au dent is in any language, the way to do noodles….) The soup was ok and the stuff on top is pretty well reproducible at home. (Family in Toronto have said that the viet soups, the secret, are better in Ottawa than Toronto. Must be project 2000….). Would I have it again there….no, but I tried it.

Are there any recommendations for beef stew with noodles? Forget the name in Vietnamese. I will try Pho Bo Ga La for that as well, but have not been able to find anything of the calibre of Pacific Village’s… now gone…mother retired; so have not been able to find it anywhere. Have tried a number of places on Somerset, but none really authentic… well I have never been to Vietnam, but from the viets I have spoken with, include the original owner of Mekong, Pacific Village’s was the best.

When Pac Village folded, I turned to New Mee Fong (at it’s new location, the old one on Somerset being too small….story there as well). Was a regular there for the longest time, enjoying their rice dishes, especially the one with steak. Until they raised the prices sometime late last year and early this year. Their noodle soup is average, but with the price increase…’next gen’ running it now, I think it’s overpriced. Mostly local civil servants going there for lunch... as with PhoBoGaLa… Always crowded and uneven service…. But then who eats viet food for service….? It’s like a Chinese greasy spoon…

Does anyone have a place that has really good Vietnamese rice dishes?

Cambodian.......

Phnom Penh

There are two of these, one in Mechanicsville (noodle house) and the other in Kanata...big difference...different owners as well...., the one in Kanata is suppose to suck big time……

I have never been to the one in Kanata; there is also one that closed on Carling near Woodroffe with the same name...

But I have been to the one downtown many times....Somerset in Mechanicsville. It was pretty good. I have never had Cambodian food before and the owners are chui chow chinese, but the dishes are quite different from the viets. I would say I found their stuff interesting, but don't go back regularly.

Very limited menu though.... family run, sisters and mother in the kitchen type of place.

I had warned them of the confusion when I was more regular, but they just shrugged...

2007 06 11.


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