ottawa foodies

We visited last Saturday evening and they were busy! Food took a good 45 minutes to arrive and we were told this was partly because they had a new employee in the kitchen.

It's a spacious place with an extensive menu of Vietnamese foods. Most uniquely, they also have a menu card of Taiwanese dishes!

Pictured here is the Taiwanese Basil Chicken (~$10) aka "Three-Cup Chicken", which I was curious to try after watching the Taipei episode of "Ainsley Eats the Streets" on Netflix. It was okay but didn't have the amount of flavour I'd expect from large amounts of ginger, garlic, and soy sauce. There's definitely some nice basil buried underneath the chopped up chicken drumsticks that you can't see in this pic.

Other foods looked nice but weren't as tasty as we'd had elsewhere. The Spring Rolls were big on size but low on taste and even a bit too oily for my high tolerance.

Tried this west end pho house to mixed results. Service was fast and place seemed clean. I liked the broth and noodles and the veg was fresh in my pork wonton pho which I had never tried before. Sadly I did not care for the wonton filling. It was processed, gross pink "pork" with the texture of spam and a worse taste. I have a renewed respect for the handmade pork wontons in the tiny take out place at my office (Claypot at Place de ville). Which is what I was expecting. Now I know all qontons are not made equal. I may return to MNH as its near my house but will stay far away from the pork wontons.

Went here yesterday for some Sunday Hangover Pho. I found the pho menu a little limited (Basically, options were rare beef, well done beef, beef balls for beef. No tendon, no tripe.). Looking at their other dishes on the menu, they look good, but I wanted Pho. I got the rare beef, and the broth was served hot enough to cook it to perfect. The broth was good, but did need the additions of lime juice, and I think it could use more seasoning. The noodles tasted fresh however, so I am pretty sure they are made from scratch. Service was fast, and it wasn't that expensive. All in all, 6 or 7 out of ten.

In short:
Noodles good, broth ok but could use more season, could use more beef options.

Bún bò Huế is always big on flavour and this was no exception. However, the soup was less aromatic and more muted than I've had elsewhere. In fact, it tasted just like when I add Bún bò Huế paste from a jar to broth at home. The ham slices were nice but the brisket was really chewy.

So it's good but not as great as this dish can be.

This was the most successful (and photogenic) dish we ordered. The shrimp were plump and tasty, the beef was tender and charred with lemongrass and sugar in that addictive Vietnamese way. I'd get this one again!

I went this weekend and tried the off menu item. The rice was delicious. The chicken had good texture and the chicken skin was nice and bouncy. The ginger garlic and onion dip was great.