Restaurant Review: Pho Tien Thanh

PHO TIEN THANH

57 Ossington Avenue Co-Diners: Tim Golem & Sarah Turnbull

If you've been in Toronto lately you know that it's been cold, snowy and sometimes even blizzardy. I can think of no better time to enjoy a big hot bowl of pho! For me, it's super important to know where the good pho is, in whatever city that I happen to be living in. Some cities deliver this well while others fall short. Since blogTO has named Pho Tien Thanh as the #1 Best Pho in the city, this seemed like a good place to start. Phở, the popular Vietnamese soup, consists of broth, rice noodles, herbs and meat (usually beef). It can be quite addictive! The first thing that I look for in a good pho experience is a general hole-in-the-wall type of restaurant. You'll find Pho Tien Thanh in Trinity-Bellwoods and the ambiance is pretty much exactly what you'd want. I definitely don't want my pho restaurants looking too clean... Which I realize seems counter-intuitive, but trust me on this one. Do you want good pho or not? If anything, this restaurant might even have a bit too much decor but the vibe is a little bit bizarre, which I like. The walls are cotton candy pink with a baby blue trim - not a look that can easily be ignored. I also really liked the big decal lettering which reads "I LOVE PHO FOREVER"... Which I mean, accurate. The restaurant features a decent amount of space and when I visited on a Saturday evening I had no trouble grabbing a table near the back of the room (even though the restaurant was quite busy and remained that way for the duration of my stay). Each table was adorned with all of the expected components; spoons, chopsticks, hoisin, and hot sauce. The friendly and straight-forward staff provided us with menus and a pot of tea. The typical dirty pot of complimentary tea is usually a good sign.

A little cup of this green jasmine situation was exactly what I needed to warm up from the frigid outdoors while I perused the menu. The menu is comprised of various sections that feature a variety of Vietnamese dishes, however the pho is the item that the restaurant is known for. I was certainly interested in the appetizer section of the menu and appreciated the opportunity to try something a bit different (IE: no spring rolls!). The Chạo Tôm ($8.00) caught my eye as an item that I don't recall having ever tried before. The restaurant provides paper slips (and pens) to jot down your selections, which you pass to the server. Once that is taken care of the food will begin to arrive fast and furious.

Deep fried blended shrimp on sugar cane.

This reasonably-sized appetizer was just the right amount of a little something to balance out the large quantity of soup that was about to be consumed. The one thing that threw me off is that the shrimp is supposed to be served on the sugar cane, like a skewer. But in this case the two components were separate, making it difficult to understand how to eat the sugar cane (if at all). The woody and fibrous stalks were sweet in flavour and you could kind of gnaw on them, but that was about it. On the other hand, the shrimp was very good. Savoury and smooth, I enjoyed dipping it into the accompanying sauce. The drink section at the back of the menu is quite extensive and involves a whole list of blended drinks and milkshakes. Not one to pass up the opportunity to try something completely new, I polled my co-diners about which drink they found the strangest. Popular choices were the pennywort, durian or carrot milkshakes. But in the end the Sinh Tố Đậu Xanh ($5.75) seemed like the one.

Cooked green bean milk shake.

I could hear the blender whirring away and anticipated my upcoming flavour experiment. And honestly... It wasn't all that weird. Yes, it tasted like green beans. But it also tasted sweet and fresh. Far less offensive than I think anyone might realize. The takeaway here is that trying new things is fun and you should do it. Don't waste your life doing the same old things forever! Time for pho! In the beef & chicken noodle soup section you'll find sixteen different pho combinations, all with various cuts of meat mingling in different ways. You'll see the usual suspects of rare beef, well-done beef, beef brisket, tendon, tripe and beef balls. The soups are offered in three sizes; small, medium and large. I was happy to find my favourite combo on the menu which made my selection easy: Phở Tái Vè Dò ($10.00) in the small size (which I normally find to be plenty).

Rare beef, beef brisket noodle soup.

The soup arrived very quickly along with a plate of garnishes. I was impressed with the garnish plate because it included all of the best items that one should hope for; bean sprouts, lime, Thai basil, sawtooth coriander, and fresh chili peppers. Many (most?) restaurants will cut corners on this and I often find that some of these items are missing (especially the sawtooth coriander). I was very happy to see all of the correct items present! I set about garnishing my bowl, which includes a little bit of everything, plus a bit of hot sauce and hoisin. I eat my pho in a two-handed manner, armed with chopsticks in one hand and a spoon in the other. It’s all about the broth when it comes to pho and this one was pretty good. I liked the robust flavour a lot but found that I wanted it to be even more deep and aromatic. Although I found the broth to be lacking some depth, the flavour was still nice and I appreciated the complexities that were present. Also important are the rice noodles. I look for noodles that are loose and well-cooked, not one big sticky ball. These ones were done perfectly and were wonderful to slurp. The beef was generally good, thin pink slices of rare beef that cooked in the broth over the course of the meal, and thick juicy pieces of beef brisket. The brisket was by far the chunkiest that I've ever seen it in pho before and I also found it just a little bit too fatty for my taste. However, I did appreciate that the larger pieces did allow for me to taste the meat a lot more. Green and white onions completed the bowl. Overall I enjoyed the pho and my experience at Pho Tien Thanh, however I wouldn't say that it was the best pho that I've ever tasted. If we're talking about Canada, I would likely send you to King Noodle House Pho Hoang in Edmonton or Pho Nam Quan in Montreal for my favourite bowls. It's also important to note that Pho Tien Thanh only accepts cash as payment, although they do have an ATM in the restaurant should you require it.