vietnamese – Tiana Feng

Pho @ The Guava Hamilton

May 3, 2013May 3, 2013Food, Restaurant ReviewsLeave a Comment

I spent some time this week in Hamilton visiting grandma. Me and my sister Livia decided to head to find some Pho in the area and found The Guava. Inside it looked like it had been recently renovated.

We shared an order of shrimp summer rolls. Presentation wise they were very beautiful but the giant lettuce was a bit impractical. When you finished the roll you’d be left with a chunk of lettuce.

We both had different vermicelli. I ordered the shredded pork and Livia chose chicken. The portion sizes were generous and the fish sauce was flavourful. The pork itself was flavourful and the vegetables well pickled.

The prices were a bit more expensive than similar restaurants in Toronto, but the quality of the food was great.

More Than Sandwiches At Banh Mi Boys

November 4, 2012March 27, 2013Food, Restaurant Reviews2 Comments

Banh Mi Boys have been quite the hype around Toronto for the past little while. We were in the area for a concert recently and finally decided to try it. The menu was pretty extensive for Banh Mi sandwiches. I didn’t know you could put more than just ham in them! I ordered the Five Spice Pork Belly Bahn Mi.

The sandwich was was way bigger than I thought for a price of $5.99. Delicious sweet pork belly was sandwiched into the traditional Vietnamese sandwich ingredients of pickled carrots, radishm cilantro and cucumber.

Nash ordered the Braised Beef Cheek Bahn Mi. The baguette was filled with meat! Even with just the sandwiches we would have been stuffed.

However, not knowing what the portions was like before we ordered (remember we’re big eaters), I also had the Kimchi Fries. Yes you heard right. Kimchi on fries. Oh, and pulled pork. These 3 ingredients don’t normally sound like things that go together, but it did. And it was pretty damn addictive. I gobbled most of it up. The fries and 2 sandwiches was way too much food for the both of us though.

For a fad restaurant, I expected the prices to be way higher than they were. I’m glad it isn’t because they offer a nice selection of sandwiches as well as tacos and steamed baos. My only concern about the place is that you have to prey like a hawk for seating in their small squishy location.

Pho Hung- The Junction

October 15, 2012December 30, 2012Food, Restaurant Reviews2 Comments

I’ve been to other Pho Hung locations including the one in Chinatown and the other in the Annex, although I’m not sure if the latter exists any more due to redevelopment projects in the area.

The one in the Junction may not be of the same owners as I have yet to see the location listed on their website. It was much nicer renovated than the other places I’ve been to and they had fancier shaped plates. The prices are very similar to other Pho locations with most meals being between $6-9.

My favourite so far has been their Hue-style noodle soup. It has a bit of a kick to it (as indicated by the red broth), some thicker noodles. It’s also packed full of meat. I ignored the fact there was a pig foot in my soup though. That thing is too hard to eat. Otherwise, its so nice to have as the weather gets colder.

We’ve also tried the vermicelli dishes. The portions here are a bit smaller than normal, but the meat is always flavourful and there is plenty of little shredded peanuts. They don’t skimp on the bowls of fish sauce either (or any of the sauces for that matter).

Sugar cane shrimp, sausage and chicken vermicelli

Me and Nash are used to places with way bigger portions, so sometimes we wander around for desert after. I have yet to try just regular Pho here, but I am sure I will soon. The food is cheap and good here, but don’t expect the normal sized portions!