ottawa foodies

The owner pointed out to me that they are offering Bò Kho on weekends, with a choice of rice noodle, egg noodle, baguette, or fried dough stick. They refer to it as stewing beef on the promotional screen.

Just went to Kanata Noodle House for dinner for the first, and last time.

We were seated at 6:30 and waited 10 minutes for a waiter to take our drink order, then another 15 minutes to take our food order. Apps came out 20 minutes later in two batches spread 5 minutes apart. We then sat and waited for 40 minutes watching lots of people come in and place take out orders and walking out 5 minutes later with their pho. After asking the waiter if we were going to receive our food anytime soon they brought it out 1 bowl at a time over 15 minutes.

The broth in the beef based pho had a very strong fennel flavour, which a few people in our party of 4 found to be too strong and as a result they didn't finish their meals.

As we were leaving we commented on the service and the person taking our payments said he would pass our comments on to the owners, but generally didn't seem to care.

I have to say, I was totally underwhelmed by this restaurant that takes an hour to turn out a mediocre bowl of Pho when Ox Head in the Centrum has better broth and takes very little time to put the food on the table.

2nd time there. I can't say for sure, but it felt like it was somewhat more expensive since opening. The food was good, but they never offered us tea and the service was terrible. The staff seems to run around a lot and not get anything accomplished. They also tend to have tunnel vision and refuse to make eye contact for fear of getting asked for something.

I've visited twice since this place opened a few weeks ago and I'm absolutely thrilled to have such a tasty option near my work!

From what I've seen so far, the menu item that shines the brightest here is the Hủ Tiếu. Other dishes are good but not unusually so.

Service is friendly and the owner is energetic and engaging in an endearingly quirky way. This is the kind of new restaurant one hopes will succeed.

I've included a photo here of the Pad Thai, which my coworker said was pretty good.

I had lunch here this week. Its pretty much a standard pho joint, and the menu also includes Bun (noodles with grilled meats/spring rolls), various grilled meat/rice dishes and pad thai. Drinks included fruit/avocado shakes, Vietnamese iced coffee and bubble tea. The bubble tea was unavailable - not sure if it was coming off the menu.

For lunch I had pork springs, the Special spicy soup (Bun Bo Hue Gio Vien) with beef shank, ham ball, and "ground noodle". The spring rolls were ok - nothing special and a bit greasy. The soup was pretty good. The broth was quite spicy - usually even with a spicy soup I'll add some sriracha, but there was no need to with this one. The broth could have used a bit more depth of flavour I think - next time I'll try a non-spicy pho and I'll be able to taste the broth a bit better. I'm not sure but I think "ground noodle" on the menu is a typo for "round noodle". Soup was served with the regular garnishes including culantro. I also had a mango shake that was pretty decent.

A big surprise walking into the place was the interior. Instead of the dark interior of the phenom phen, they painted the walls white. I think this works well, as its now got a nice clean and airy feel.

Overall its a decent enough pho spot. I'll definitely go back again to try the pho and the bun.

My 30th visit here (estimated), but my first time ordering phở! This was 11. Phở Nạm Bò Viên (with brisket and meat ball). The broth is mild and approachable but still flavourful.

Generous meats and perfect rice noodles. The accompaniments here are all inclusive: bean sprouts, Thai (purple) basil, culantro (ngò gai), lime, and bird's eye (Thai) chilis. Tea and fortune cookies too!

Service is efficient and friendly. There are many reasons this place is bustling at lunchtime even on a Tuesday!

The S11. Bún bò huế Đặc Biệt here continues to be amazing! I'm good with a Medium now as I find the Large is too big for me. I don't know where else you can get this much flavour and satisfaction for just over ten bucks.

The S11. Bún bò huế Đặc Biệt (Large) was spectacular. I asked for the flat phở noodles instead of the round ones. So much depth of flavour!

I need to switch up my angles a bit don't I? Anyway, the S10. Phở Bò Huế still rocks. This was a Large. Perfect winter food, especially if you don't mind a bit of crunchy cartilage in your meat.

Realized I never posted this when I had it back in June! The S10. Phở Bò Huế is one of the tastiest soups around! Loaded with tasty stewed beef and Vietnamese sausage meat. The only difference between S10 Phở Bò Huế and S9 Bún Bò Huế is that the rice noodles are flat (bánh phở) instead of round. Highly recommended.

The S14. Beef shank and Vietnamese ham in Hue traditional spicy with rice noodle (dry) was tasty and fun to try but I don't think I'll have it again. I guess as a broth person I don't like the meager soup that comes with the dry option.

Visited for lunch on Saturday to try their weekend Bò Kho. Very nicely done! It goes for $9.50 and consists of a rich, beefy broth, generous chunks of beef, big hunks of carrot, and bean sprouts. Plus a choice of rice noodle, egg noodle, both noodles, or baguette. I went with the rice noodle.

The broth was less spicy than I've had elsewhere but nonetheless very tasty. The owner said he prefers to let people add chili oil (available at the table) to their liking. This makes good sense.

The beef had some "character" to it (fat and tendon bits) which I thought was great, but might turn some people off.

It's great to see more restaurants offering this exceptional dish, and the version at KNH is an excellent contender!

I tried the Chicken and Shrimp Pad Thai because I'd had a lot of soup in the days preceding my visit.

It was okay. Too sweet for my taste and too many bean sprouts for my taste. But I would say that about 90% of the pad thais I encounter. Next time I'll have soup again. :-)

S4 on repeat! Such a tasty broth. This is my favourite comfort food. :-)

S4 once more! The owner was mentioning that he uses 3 times as many bones to make his broth as some other places do.

The S4. Shrimp, BBQ Pork, Tofu Satay with Rice Noodle is still delicious here, although the one I had today seemed to be missing any satay component. No worries... I added a little chili sauce halfway through to perk it up. Such a delicious lunch!

They've now added a fried shrimp cake to the Shrimp, BBQ Pork, Tofu Satay with Rice Noodle soup! Good news, although last time I had it there was no Tofu in there. Either a mistake or they ran out. No biggie.. it always tastes amazing.

On my second visit, I opted for the Shrimp, BBQ Pork, Tofu Satay with Rice Noodle soup. Oh wow, talk about tasty! This (Large for $9.50) was loaded up with 5 shrimp, 5 hunks of delicious fried tofu, and slabs of the most delicious BBQ pork I've ever had in a soup. This one was *better* than what I've had on Somerset. Nice work!

The quantity of shredded cabbage was enough to count as a vegetable component, rather than just a garnish as you usually see. The spice level was very low, but given that you can add chili oil or sriracha at the table this is probably a good choice.

I really, really hope to see this restaurant maintain its quality. So far, it's off to a great start.

My first visit saw me ordering the Mixed Seafood with Rice Noodle soup. It was chock full of seafood and contained a generous amount of noodles. It's all about the broth though, and this one was mild but delicious. It reminded me of the broth at Saigon Boy Noodle House and that's a good thing!

This was the Large and it filled me up well. Like the places on Somerset, they offer S, M, L, XL. Nice to see an XL bowl in the suburbs!

I think it's safe to say that Kanata Noodle House has already joined the ranks of Pho Thi and Ox Head as places that rival the established Phở joints in Chinatown.

S8. Shrimp wonton and BBQ pork with rice noodle
The Large was massive but most delicious. Tasty shrimpy wontons, plenty of pork, and loads of rice noodles. What's not to love here?

Tried the F9. Beef and vegetables with crispy egg noodle today. When Mi Xao is done well it makes for a delicious and satisfying meal. This one was the best I've had in a long time!

Plenty of tender beef, loads of vegetables, a nest of tender and crispy noodles, all sitting in a puddle of delicious gravy. Thoroughly enjoyable from start to finish!

The photo makes it look smaller than it was. Those broccoli spears are a little larger than normal.

Pros:
* Freshly made!
* Plenty of lettuce
* No bean sprouts
* Tasty shrimp

Cons:
* Too much noodle
* Sauce was more hoisin-y and less peanutty (still better than pure hoisin though)

My wife had the vermicelli bowl with shrimp, beef, and chicken. It was all pretty good, although not char-grilled as you might find it on Somerset. The shrimp was very well-seasoned and tasty, and the chicken had an unusual hint of mild curry flavour. Good!

This was very satisfying. A bit of coconut without being overpowering and a little bit of subtle hot chili oil. A few shrimps with a good variety of just cooked enough vegetables (nappa, broccoli, cauliflower, celery, onions and carrots). A nice appetizer.