Ottawa Foodies

Popped in here with the family for a quick Saturday night supper. It was unexpectedly warm for a basement restaurant and had a nice large seating area. Something about the decor, menus, and the plethora of fish tanks made the experience somewhat surreal -- this could be the restaurant that time forgot! :-)

We ordered:
* Spring Rolls (4)
* Goi Cuon - Shrimp Salad Rolls (2)
* Butterfly Shrimp
* Vermicelli bowl - grilled beef
* Pho Tai

The spring rolls and the goi cuon tasted okay. Unlike most places, they serve the spring rolls with enough lettuce leaves to wrap each one so you can pick it up while hot. Bonus points for this!

The butterfly shrimp were quite decent. Our kids don't like meat but they do like shrimp, so we order this mostly for them.

The vermicelli bowl was slightly larger than normal. We asked for no bean sprouts and it looked like they made up the difference with well seasoned (nước chấm) noodles (great!). The beef, although quite tasty, didn't have any grill marks or charred flavour.

The soup was good but didn't quite have the depth of flavour found in pho-only restaurants.

Overall a neutral to positive experience. Not exceptional Vietnamese food but it's a place with real character and lots of tables. They were attentive with water refills. Value for the money was quite good ($38 + tip).

this is my all time favourite restaurant when it comes vietnamese food.

we normally order its curry chicken, sweet&sour soup with shrimps and pineapple, and beef saute with green onions.

the service is casual but efficient and friendly.

they have a good vegetarian selection on the back of the menu. I had the imitation meat platter and it was very tasty. it even came with sprouts and really fresh green lettuce. and the sprouts i did not expect from a vietnamese restaurant. nice touch!

i only go to this restaurant when i want vietnamese food. i have never been disappointed so far.

This is one of my favourite Vietnamese eating spots.

I was introduced to this restaurant by a vienamese co-worker about 2 years ago He recomended the fried noodle dish. #42 on the menu.
I never fail to order it every time I go.

I prefer this place to the New Mee Fung. The wraps are great and so are the lunch specials. We used to eat there every weekend after my kids swimming lessons at Carleton U. The prices are a bit higher than the average though (maybe 20%). That doesn't apply to the lunch specials, which are a good deal. Try the fish lunch special; I really liked it.

So, I wasn't expecting much from this basement restaurant on Booth Street. Actually, I was supposed to be going to New Mee Fung, except that it was undergoing reno's. This place is pretty unassuming, and you notice it with the ad hoc decor when you enter inside (bamboo curtain, various fake flowers and plants).

I order V-1, beef and pork vermicelli. When it arrived, there was a tiny bowl of fish sauce accompanying it. Given that I almost drink fish sauce, I immediately asked the server for more. And he told me there was plenty in the bowl - he even took a fork to pull aside some of the noodles, and tipped my bowl forward to show me that there was plenty in the bowl. The noodles were nicely thin, and for once, not stuck together. The pork and beef were fatty, and nicely grilled. The fish sauce was flavourful, and for ONCE, not watered down.

It usually takes a lot to fill me up, but I was stuffed from this $8.95 meal. Good value for the price!

My friend ordered a vermicelli dish off of the vegetarian menu, and found that the tofu they used was especially flavourful. Quite a contrast from the usual just fried tofu that is common in Viet restaurant vermicelli's.