ottawa foodies

assorted meat chow mein @ pho thi fusion. welllllll among the more (half) decent eateries around barrhaven cineplex an hour before showtime....

this vietnamese chow mien had a wide array of lightly wokked veg, light & crispy noods, liquid broth (where chinese chow mein is much thicker with corn starch) and fresh garnishes. deeeelish.

however, this was supposedly an assorted meat chow mein. we were all puzzled in awe...WHERE'S THE @#$^@^$ IS THE MEAT??? just a couple of strands or two of beef, chicken and bbq pork buried somewhere in that pic. SUCKY SUCKY! as the pho thi chain of restaurants are infamous for skimpy meat portions, next reorder would simply be the veggie chow mien which isn't much different from this. i'd gladly pay more for more meat but alas...

Before hitting Barrhaven Cineplex, I find it a regular treat to eat at Pho Thi Fusion right beside. They have a pretty tasty Pad Thai and you have a choice of chicken, beef or shrimp and you can ask for spicy from 1 to 10. Here is the chicken Pad Thai and I usually have it a spciy 6. The portions are generous and the garnishes are great and pickly.

banana ice cream served with hot banana spring rolls garnished with assorted berries, caramel and speared with a dried banana @ pho thi fusion. exotic desert for the hedonism in you.

rice paper wraps @ pho thi. now no need for rip-off fake buttered pop corn @ farrhaven cineplex.

spicy seafood pho @ pho thi

assorted tempura goodies

pizza is like sex? wawazat? pizza is always good. sushi pizza 3.0. better grab food here before movie nights at barrhaven cineplex.

Whenever I'm in Barrhaven I try to go here.

The place is always packed (cause it's so good haha), but I find you never have to wait that long to be seated.

Staff know the menu inside and out, and help you if you don't really know this kind of cuisine.

I usually stick with the vegetarian Pad Thai, cause I love that dish so much :)

Green tea cheesecake, if they still have it.. I reccommend it to everyone! At least try it once!

My husband and I went to Barrhaven on Friday night to have dinner with friends. This is the first time I've ever eaten outside of my centretown bubble. I have to say I'm a bit of a snob when it comes to my area of town and prefer not to venture too much outside of it. But I was pleasantly surprised when we had dinner here.

Once you're inside you quickly forget that you just drove through a strip mall parking lot to get there. The decor is very modern and inviting. And within seconds you notice the beauty of the plates being delivered to the tables – the presentation is fantastic.

My friends ordered the pho, it's their usual and they're very happy with it. I started off with the Wonton Soup made with minced pork and shrimp. It was very nice. I also got to try my friend's Rice Paper Wraps served with a roasted peanut garlic dip, fresh and yummy.

My main was the best tho, vegetarian Pad Thai. I love pad thai and rarely go to a thai restaurant without ordering it, so I've had a lot of different variations. I have to say that this is one of my favourite. It had the perfect amount of spice and the veggies were cooked to perfection.

The service was good. Apps range between $5.25 and $15, mains from $7.95 and $16. It's a pretty busy spot so I recommend making a reservation if you can. They don't take them on Friday or Saturday nights but the tables turnaround fairly quickly and the wait is never too long. If I ever have to eat in Barrhaven again, this is where I'll be going

I've heard that comment made from other people who have eaten at Pho Thi Fusion, actually: the plating varies with the whims of the staff, the phase of the moon, and/or minute fluctuations in barometric pressure ;)

tom yum on noodles. it was alright. when it comes to thai, i find most asian fusion restaurants dumb down authentic thai flavors in a mish mash to please the masses. the connoisseurs are still left to look for something a little more.

my personal fave at this joint - the black bean noodle dishes. it has the zing. as pictured with beef and shrimp. again, meat portions were small.

Wifey had the "lemon grass beef" wok. It comes with a choice of rice or noodles and is extremely tasty. The lemon grass and galangal/ginger flavours are prominent and there is a decent hit of spice. The meat had a bit of a "reheated" texture, almost as if they'd julienned a well-done roast and tossed the pieces with amazing sauce. The dish was very good but would be improved with less-cooked beef.

The fresh spring rolls were very tasty, as was the accompanying peanut garlic dipping sauce (not shown). Our only complaint was that the rice paper had the very slight toughness that indicates they were probably made ahead of time. We've had tougher ones at other places though, so we're just trying to be picky here. They certainly ranked up with those found on Somerset.

The sweet pickled red onion garnish was good too!

The pho was very similar to the one I've had at Pho Thi on Merivale (good!), with maybe a little more depth to the broth. I had the chicken broth soup with chicken and shrimp. Accompaniments were as usual.

They only have two sizes here -- small and medium. Sucks for me because I like to have a large.

This week’s discussion of bad Sushi at Loblaw’s unfortunately reminded me of the sushi-less dry spell that Barrhavenites have endured for years… fortunately, Pho Thi Fusion - Pho Thi Fusion has rectified that wrong!

“The Man” and I are both sushi fans… I a more recent newcomer. On a recent visit we sat at the Sushi Bar and were able to talk to those making the sushi. The sushi bar features a refrigerated display case where the fish is both chilled and visible, and we were pleased with the obvious cleanliness and preservation of the raw fish. The Sushi Chef taught us about the various types of fish and seafood used. Besides the standard California, Cucumber, Avocado and Spicy Rolls, they offer 16 different types of Fish or Seafood including - Egg, Tofu, Mackerel, Surf Clam, Crabstick, Salmon, Shrimp, Snapper, Sea Bass, Butter Fish, Flying Fish, Tuna, BBQ Eel, Scallop, Cuttle Fish and Yellow Tail.

Besides eating off the Regular Menu a variety of items (Restaurant Review to follow) we have enjoyed as appetizers several of the sushi items. We have found the prices quite reasonable and todate have tried the California Roll ($ 6.50 for 8 pcs), Tuna ($ 6.50 for 8 pcs) and Salmon ($ 5.50 for 8 pcs).

Although we have only recently discovered this Barrhaven gem, we are very happy with the quality of food and plan to return often… and we are also excited to know we can call ahead, and do take out from the Regular Menu (including sushi) so our days of bad Loblaw’s sushi will remain FOREVER behind us.

We had the Shrimp Spring Rolls on our first visit... they were very yummy. And as Fresh Foodie has illustrated with his photo, the presentation in a martini glass is really neat. We noticed that this appetizer is very popular... there were a lot of them being distributed the night we were there.

Consequently, I got to thinking that because this restaurant also serves a variety of fancy cocktails, that they must go thru a lot of martini glasses in an evening.

As you can see, presentation is nifty -- using a martini glass for these guys. They weren't piping hot but they were delicious!