ottawa foodies

Last Thursday a friend and I went for an evening out at the Museum of History deciding to go for a bite to eat on the way to the museum. When we were coming up with restaurant ideas most of the places we picked out were on Dalhousie. Since we couldn't make up our minds we decided to take a stroll up Dalhousie starting at Rideau Street heading north and randomly pick somewhere to eat. As we were passing by Pho By Night my friend spotted the pictures of pho in the window and decided that's what she felt like so we headed in. My friend ordered the seafood pho saying it was delicious and it was her favourite pho so far. I felt like a vermicelli dish so I ordered one with two items choosing grilled pork and spring rolls. Everything was very tasty and fresh and the sauce they serve on the side has always been a favourite of mine. I enjoyed my meal and I plan on returning to try the other menu items.

The Special Egg Noodle Soup with BBQ Pork and Shrimp ($11.95) was satisfying and flavourful, albeit a little on the too-sweet side for me. It contained several nice chunks of grilled pork and also a few shrimp. Generous chunks of (fresh, not frozen) broccoli and cauliflower made this bowl an excellent lunch option for which I shall surely return.

So far, I'd say this place is in a tie with iPho for best Vietnamese in the ByWard Market, but best is a relative concept and you really have to go elsewhere for the great stuff. The menu here (still labeled Sweet Art) is in English and French, no Vietnamese to be seen.

Looking forward to going back and tasting their phở!

Worthy of mention is that when I clumsily knocked my spoon off the table and stooped to pick it up, our server noticed from across the room and rushed over with a fresh replacement. I would have just wiped off the dropped one and gotten on with life but this was some nice treatment indeed!

This place continues to be a bit of an enigma. The Seafood Phở ($12.95) is a strange beast having very little in common with beef phở. I'd describe the broth as a sweet version of what you'd find in hoanh thanh (aka won ton) soup. Unlike with beef phở there was no side plate of veggies; rather, the scant vegetables were included in the bowl. Rice noodles were in good supply.

The seafood and the broth were both too sugary for my taste. Next time I'll be back to the beef phở!

The Large Phở ($12) was quite wonderful, with a flavourful broth, good noodles, and a pretty generous quantity of meat. The herb and bean sprout garnish was in good supply too (something I've found lacking elsewhere in the ByWard Market).

The Large here is barely the size of a Medium on Somerset or in Kanata, so you probably won't want the Regular size soup unless you're a very light eater (or are having another dish!).

I've been here twice now and have decreed it to be the best Vietnamese restaurant in the ByWard Market. 😛

A little on the expensive side but it was a choice of 2 meats and 1 spring roll. It was all very tasty with a good mix of shredded vegetables and vermicelli.