ottawa foodies

FF reminded me of experience with Bột Chiên Trứng at Huong's. So here is another review and pic for comparison.

I had ordered it as a main. I was hungry and wanted comfort food. It did the trick.

Mr. Huong (he is sooo nice ... a great host) recommended the Tương Ớt (crushed chillies) sauce and not the sriracha sauce. It brought the simple dish to a new level.

By the time I had finished it, Huong and staff/family were sitting down to their late afternoon meal. They told me that it takes a while to prepare the dish. Each side of the rice cake needs to be slowly fried pan side down.

(sorry for the blurry pic)

Huong's is one of the gems in Ottawa's flourishing Vietnamese food scene. Overall quality is good, and it's the best or only place in town for certain hard to find dishes like bánh xèo, bún riêu, bún chả cá, bột chiên trứng, and hủ tiếu sa-tế. Free parking in the lot across the street after 5pm on weekdays and all day on weekends.

At a friend's recommendation, we shared an appetizer of Bột Chiên Trứng "flour-fried (with) egg" ($8) before our meal. This is a large and filling plate of delightfully crispy fried fingers of rice cake intermixed with luscious fried eggs and scallions. It was presented to us by the waiter along with a joking reference to "Vietnamese poutine." Haha. :P

This is a dish that doesn't challenge North American tastebuds. If you like eggs and hash browns, you'll like this one! This comfort food is a great way to take the edge off your hunger at the start of a meal.

On my latest visit, I had the Special 6. Bún chả cá (~$8). This is a slightly sweet-sour tomato soup with the delicious patties of fried fish paste and thick rice vermicelli noodles. This was tasty and satisfying! Definitely recommended if you want to try something different from the usual. It came with a garnish of shredded lettuce, perilla leaves, lime wedge, and chili pepper.

I am a regular at Huong's and have been for a few years now. Recently tried Pho Van Van for the first time since they moved into their new location. My impression from visiting them years ago was that the food was less than stellar and the service was poor. Well they seem to have improved on the service side but not so much on the food side. My husband and I tried a couple of dishes and both were disappointing. One was a crispy noodle dish which was greasy and tasteless. The other was satay stir fry which was not a bad dish except that it tasted nothing like satay--it was actually sweet tasting. Which brings me back to Huong's and reminded me why I rarely go to any other Vietnamese restaurants since trying Huong's. They have a beautiful satay soup which is rich and spicy. Everything I have tried at Huong's (Pho, Vermicelli, spring rolls and wraps) has been delicious , well prepared and served by a staff who seem to care about their customers' satisfaction.

On a side note, the best crispy noodles in town are at Oxhead across from the Landmark Cinema in Kanata Centrum.

After reading FF's latest post and the rest of the posts, we decided to come here for lunch yesterday. We shared an order of Rice Paper Style Spring rolls which were excellent. We then shared the Vietnamese Pancake with Shrimp and Pork and while we found it messy to eat, we really enjoyed it. Next time we will think to order a couple of extra lettuce leaves. DH then had Spicy Satay Beef Soup with beef. He really enjoyed the flavours but found the beef tough. Next time he said he would order it with chicken. I had the Hot and Sour Chicken Soup. While I enjoyed the flavour of the broth, I was expecting, probably wrongly, that this soup would have more substance. It was all broth except for one baby corn sliced and a couple of very tiny slivers of chicken. Finally, we shared a deep fried banana with chocolate ice cream. Service was very good and I do believe we have found a new spot to get our Vietnamese fix. A nice touch too was that our dessert came with two spoons, without having to ask for them.

Tried the Pandan Water Fern Cake (Bánh Bèo Lá Dứa) that blubarry had recommended. It's a small cup-and-saucer sized plate, perfect for one or two people after a big meal. Delightful dessert if you love coconut milk and its creamy sweet saltiness!

Their new location (practically next door to the old one) was bustling on a Monday evening. The glow of green lights is either fun or tacky, depending on your perspective, but no matter.. the food is great as always!

The spring rolls and summer rolls (gỏi cuốn) are some of the best in town -- freshly made, tightly rolled, crispy and chewy as appropriate. I went out on a limb and tried Special #1 on the board: cơm gà hấp muối (steamed chicken rice). This involved pieces of chopped steamed chicken with a relatively plain minced ginger sauce, served on a bed of their delicious rice. While it was fun to try, I wouldn't order it again. There are much tastier dishes on the menu here.

One offering I haven't seen elsewhere is grilled meat in soup. Most places offer these meat on rice and with vermicelli, but here you also have the option of having it in a bowl of hủ tiếu. Genius! Delicious too.

My kids always enjoy the won ton (hoành thánh) soup. Great choice for those who prefer mild flavours.

Thanks Poutine! When I passed by the resto a couple of weeks ago the bus just went sailing past so I didn't see too much and I took a different route home so I didn't get a chance to inspect. That udon looks really good - I will definitely have to try Huong's sooner rather than later.

Pasta Lover: the location you saw with papered windows is actually the new future location (formerly St-Honoré). The present location is still going strong, we go almost weekly. I decided to try something new last night, #9 on the board. A thicker broth with crab and very tender and moist pork with Udon. Very tasty!

Thanks Fresh Foodie! That means I can still go and try one of everything. Time to start fasting...

Another great deal. $9 for grilled pork, pork meatballs and shrimp on a bamboo stick on vermicelli noodles and vegetables. Mix in the fish sauce, a bit of hoisin and hot sauce, and it’s perfect. It is one of the best in town.

The Bún Chả Giò Tôm ($9) was tasty and hit the spot! Lots of crunchy bean sprouts and lettuce, vermicelli, a spring roll, ten tasty tôm (shrimp). Stirred up with the nước chấm dipping sauce, this made for a wonderful light dinner.

If you don't want meat, you can get bún with just spring rolls for a mere $7.50. A steal to be sure!

A truly rich and delicious implementation of one of Vietnam's best soup meals. Still incredible!

When I saw Bún Bò Huế on the Specials board I absolutely had to try it. As usual, Huong's did not disappoint. This is a spicy and lemongrassy soup with more robust and pungent flavours than the Bún Bò Huế I've had elsewhere in Ottawa. Delicious to the last spoonful.

If you love Bún Bò Huế, you owe it to yourself to try this one.

My daughter had the wonton soup. Nice “homemade” style wontons with a bit of vegetables in a hot, flavourful broth.

A nice portion of light broth with some strips of leafy yellow cabbage and eight small shrimp dumplings. We shared it four ways (and were provided 4 little bowls and spoons unasked). I'm already dreaming of my next visit where I'll be tempted to feast on an entire bowl of this soup followed by the still-untried Crispy Seafood Noodle (Mi Xao) dish.

The grilled beef, grilled chicken and grilled shrimp with rice was fresh and tasty. The grilled chicken was my least favourite. It was a little too marinated. The side of marinated cabbage and shredded cucumbers was a nice touch.

One of the fun things about dining with someone born and raised in Vietnam is when they point out the discrepancies. For example, the "La Lot" in the "Com Bo La Lot" turned out to be "Tia To". Thus, Betel Leaf Wrapped Beef Roll on Rice turns out to be Vietnamese Perilla Wrapped Beef Roll with Rice. ;-)

Anyway, these crispy little cylindrical ground beef and glass noodle meatballs derived more of their flavour from the salty-sweet marinade than from their snug and leafy cocoons. They are a wonderful alternative to the ubiquitous grilled lemongrass beef.

At $8, this is a pretty incredibly priced meal! The rice is perfect and the meat is fairly tasty, although not as well grilled as I've had at other places. My plate (pictured here) included BBQ beef and pork chop. The pork chop was terribly disappointing, but I admit to having been spoiled by the late Mee Xim . Wifey had BBQ beef, BBQ chicken, and BBQ shrimp.

So the quality is not great but the value is fantastic!

I said it before and I'll say it again.

Spicy .. beefy ... slurpy ... goodness.

.... and I like their new location. Fresh, clean and full of mirrors !

Don't for get to rub Buddha's belly on the way out. It'll bring you wealth and good luck.

mother of god! strongly echoing the recommendations on the satế soup at Huong's. this stuff is effin' incredible (yeah that's right). for the record the dish is listed under the Hủ Tiếu section of the menu.

as previously noted, it is stew-like in thickness/richness and very different than other Vietnamese satay-style soups in the city. it is spicy, but not overpoweringly so. the well rounded depth of flavour will knock your socks off and the consistency with the ground nuts and sesame seeds is really just sublime. think Vietnam's take on a hearty chili! that's the best way i can describe it.

very impressive and really just one of those gems you may not have found without the Ottawa Foodies community (i know everybody has a short list of these).

Huong's Vietnamese Bistro has reopened in the former Honore Bakery location on Booth. It is newly renovated (not super fancy but new and clean) and a bit bigger than before. We had the Vietnamese pancake with rice paper (on recommendation by the server) dipped in fish sauce and wrapped with lettuce, bean sprouts, marinated carrots and cucumber. Yes, one of Ottawa's better appetizers for $8!!

Then hubs and I both had the Spicy Satay Beef rice noodle soup. Never had anything like this in any Vietnamese restaurant in Canada. Thick, saucy soup. Could have been a little spicier. The beef came out nicely against the satay soup with thin slices of onions. Yum!

Attached is a picture to show what us inside the soup! :)

The Hu Tieu Sate is so flavourful here! This one didn't seem as spicy as usual, but that might be because it had cooled by the time we got to it. I already described it here when I first tried it so I won't repeat myself. Suffice it to say that my Vietnamese friend was impressed with it.

Another bowl.

Spicy .. beefy ... slurpy ... goodness.

Great on a cold winter's day.

The satay soup here is excellent, like nothing termed "satay" that I have had in the other Chinatown Pho joints...if you are looking for a variation on Pho, this is a great way to go, very filling, not too spicy and with great depth of flavour.

Had the satay soup - was really, really tasty and very rich and filling. It was spicy (not overkill), loaded with chilis and maybe even some chili oil. As previously noted, the broth here is more stew-like, quite thick and thickened with finely ground roasted peanuts along with other ingredients. This had rice noodles in there along with some sliced onion, tomato, cilantro, and green onion. I had it mine with chicken (was sliced white chicken meat), was able to finish about 2/3's of a bowl after eating some spring rolls and I was done in. This is definitely Ottawa's best satay style soup that I've had - I'm glad I have leftovers for my lunch tomorrow!

Our server assured me that the Satay Soup at Huong's is the real thing. He said only one other restaurant in Ottawa serves it, and some internet research indicates to me that this is a sought-after dish that is quite hard to come by in our corner of the world.

It is nothing like the (admittedly delicious) satay-style soups you find at most Pho restaurants. For starters, the broth is not a clearish chicken one but is instead a rich, slow-simmered beefy broth. It has been thickened with an assortment of ground nuts (cashews, almonds, peanuts, and sesame seeds if I remember correctly), onion, garlic, tomato, and chilis. It rates quite high on the spiciness scale and has an impressive depth of flavour. The nuts and chilis make it quite a rich dish, which may be best shared with someone else as part of a meal. There is a choice of chicken or beef in the soup; I opted for the beef and was pleased to find a generous number of thin (pho style) beef slices.

If you like Malaysian curries you will absolutely love this soup! Those with a good spice tolerance will delight at the savoury symphony that results when this soup dances the tango on your tongue.

the bánh xèo remains as big as ever in Huong's new digs! a must-have app to share when you're here. pro tip: ask for a couple of extra leaves of lettuce.

You guys weren`t kidding. What a dish! It`s now on my short list of best eats in Ottawa...

So Good, and very crispy.
Tastes just like mamas.
Almost... haha :)

The banh xeo at Huong's is big, ultra crispy and delicious! It doesn't seem to have coconut milk in the crepe batter like some that I've had in the past, but that's ok! This iteration is loaded with shrimp & pork, bean sprouts, shallots, then comes with mint, basil, lettuce, fresh bean sprouts, carrots & cucumber to garnish it with and some fish sauce to dip it in. One of my fav meals of all time, now it will be hard to decide between Huong's Bun Bo Hue, Bo Kho, Satay soup or the banh xeo! I love this place!

The bo kho is off the menu now! I spoke with the owner, apparently too many people complained about the fattiness of the beef... so disappointing! I'll have to keep working on my bo kho recipe at home, very close to Huong's!

I had the honour of lunching here with a friend who was born and raised in Vietnam. Apparently, my pronunciation of dishes in Vietnamese needs a lot of work! :-)

We started with the mild but minty-fresh Green Papaya Salad with Vietnamese Beef Jerky. Paper-thin julienned strips of cured beef adorned a haystack of green papaya and shredded mint leaves. Chopped peanuts added richness and crunch, while a side bowl of nuoc cham added saltiness and umami complexity. Highly addictive!

The Shrimp Rice Paper Wraps (aka Goi Cuon / Summer Rolls / Salad Rolls) were of very good quality, freshly prepared and containing a good ratio of vermicelli, lettuce, mint, and meat. The 4 separate bowls of peanut dipping sauce were a nice touch (most places give you one per order).

Less garlicky, smaller fried tofu, and still not very spicy, the bún riêu cua has changed a bit since I first had it here 4 years ago. A few tasty blobs of brown crab meat and lots of slippery thick rice vermicelli. I loaded all the shredded lettuce into the bowl along with the basil. Very nice for a change in my routine!

Enjoyed a bowl of bún riêu cua after reading about it on Anne DesBrisay's review (www.ottawacitizen.com).

The soup was good, although I don't remember details. It was less spicy than I expected but quite garlicky.

I was there just a few days after the Citizen review was published and the place was hopping! Like Momomoto, I had already posted my photo to Twitter (twitter.com) and didn't remember to put it here until now.