Blogs

Here are the ratings to date. There are lots of places in a virtual tie. That shows how consistently good our choices are.

Vietnam Palace: 9 (1 rating)
New Pho Bo Ga LA: 8.6 (5 ratings)
Mee Xim: 8 (1 rating)
Pho Bo Ga: 8 (1 rating)

Temptation Tea Shop: 7.875 (2 ratings)
Pho Bo Ga 2: 7.83 (3 ratings)
Pho Bo Ga 3: 7.83 (3 ratings)
Pho Rua Vang: 7.75 (2 ratings)
Pho Bo Ga La: 7.75 (2 ratings)
Phu Yen: 7.75 (1 rating)
Pho Thu Do: 7.6 (7 ratings)
Huong Que: 7.56 (9 ratings)
Chez Nam: 7.5 (2 ratings)
Vietnamese Kitchen: 7.5 (1 rating)
Pho Thang Long: 7.5 (1 rating)
Ox Head: 7.25 (2 ratings)
Pho Bo Ga Truc: 7.125 (4 ratings)
Pho Bo: 7 (3 ratings)
Pho Bac: 7 (2 ratings)
Mr. Saigon: 7 (1 rating)
Pho Truc Lien: 7 (1 rating)

Vietnam Noodle House: 6.625 (4 ratings)
May Lynh: 5.83 (3 ratings)
Lan Ky Restaurant: 5.75 (2 ratings)

Cam Kong: not rated, and closed now anyway

700 Kanata Avenue, Unit M1, Box 18, Kanata
613-592-0360
www.oxheadrestaurant.com
Map

This place is tucked away in a pedestrian-only shopping complex and the address and map link above does not really help you find it if you're not familiar with the area. So here are some directions. On the 417 highway near the Terry Fox exit, you can see an AMC movie theatre building. If you go to the theatre building entrance and face outward, you can see the Ox Head a little to your left.

The place has been open for a couple of years and describes itself as serving "Vietnamese Authentic Food." They've recently put out a new menu with a new numbering system but dishes look similar if not the same as before.

700 March Road (Kanata)
613-599-0006
www.phu-yenrestaurant.com
map

This is a very small restaurant in a strip mall across the street from Alcatel (on the corner of Terry Fox Dr). It is actually billed as a Chinese / Vietnamese restaurant, so they have both types of cuisine on the menu. There are less than a dozen soup varieties, although they also have your usual starters, plus rice dishes and vermicelli dishes. They also have a reasonable selection of Canadian-Chinese sounding dishes.

3010 St. Joseph Blvd (Orleans)
834-8088
map

A fairly new restaurant, they had their Grand Opening a couple of weeks ago. It still looks like the Chinese restaurant it recently replaced, although the new owners will certainly add their own touches in time. They have a 10% off on pick-up orders, at least for the moment.

Their menu is similar to other Pho / Vietnamese restaurants that have been all the rage the past year or two, with a few appetizers, a reasonable selection of soup, some vermicelli and rice dishes, and even a few rice paper rolls. To round things off, they have a few special drinks including iced coffee and some shakes (coconut, jack fruit, etc).

300 Booth St.
(613) 565-8410
Map

This restaurant is closed. Pho'licious is now in that location.

Pho Sai Gon.... is gone. A new Pho restaurant with new owners and staff is in its place. The decor has been updated, and the door no longer scrapes along the floor as you enter the restaurant. Even a table was placed in the cramped patio area (I don't want to ask if it's legal to put a table there). The menu looks surprisingly similar to the old restaurant's, although I can't be sure, a lot of the pho restaurants in town do serve the same soups.

324 Bank Street
Map

A small place outside of Chinatown. Open 11AM to 10PM daily, except it opens later on weekends.

Different? yes. Good? read on.

Luckily, there's a patio so the capacity doubles when weather permits. There's a small menu of which more than half contains specialty drinks like bubble tea, bubble sherbet, special calpis drinks (whatever they are), plus others. Rather expensive, too, ranging from $3.50 to $6.00 each.

Food is available as well. There's the usual pho, spring rolls and some bun. Then there's stir-fry's of chicken, lemon grass, oyster sauce and other nice stuff like salads.

Pho comes in one size only, and cost $6.75. Side condiments are sparse. None of them are on the table, not even the hot sauce.

781 Somerset Street W
567-1188
Map

A smallish place that is right in the heart of Chinatown. The decor is simple to non-existant, with regular diner-style table and chairs. Street parking only.

The menu is varied, with many specials, appetizers, and specialty drinks. Most soups are one size, with prices around $6. Drinks are mostly a reasonable $2.

275 Bank Street
233-8717
Map

This is a new restaurant, just opened on June 1, 2006 at noon. It's another in the collection of Pho Bo Ga places, but a bit ourside the typical Pho Bo Ga area. It's closer to the downtown core and that can only help.

The hours of operation were not shown anywhere nor do they have a take out menu.

The menu looks similar in places to the one at the New Pho Bo Ga LA, but this one is much smaller, having about half the dishes. As well as pho, there's bun and some other choices.

Decor is really nice, with fancy tables and chairs. (more about the table and chairs in the comments, though. please see below).

The first impression was a great one. The decor, paintings and atmosphere were all very welcoming. The place was fairly busy - always a good sign. It appeared we might not get a table for 5, but the host took down a "reserved" sign at one of the largest tables, and seated us.

By now, we can order by number from almost any Pho menu on Somerset without looking. Here, we all curiously read every page - wondering... do they have Pho? Near the back, eureka! There was a selection of various types of Pho. We were all fairly safe, ordering our "usual". Except for JJ, he took a leap of faith and ordered a specific regional dish. More on that later.

#10, 1315 Richmond Road
613-596-9270
Map

Another place outside of the downtown core, in a small strip mall not too far from a Walmart. A medium-sized place with good decor that includes lots of newspaper reviews adorning the walls.

The menu is medium-sized as well. A good set of basic and special versions of pho. One interesting item is a choose-your-own pho with choices of medium-rare sliced beef, well-done sliced beef, beef flank, beef fat, beef tripe, quail egg, chicken, beef tendon, beef balls and vegetables. Any one or two items cost $6.75 for a large and 3 or more items for $7.50.

The Sunday hours on the take-out menu were crossed out so that may mean that the place is closed Sundays. Other days, they're open from 10AM or 11AM until 9PM.