ottawa foodies

The pork rice dish. It did come with a lot of pork! I just wish it was a little tastier and crispier.

Last week-end was my first time checking out New Mee Fung. I have often driven by but sacred to try other spots besides my usual (New Pho Bo Ga La has been good so I usually stick to it and Co Cham is above average too).

Overall, the experience was good but not stellar. The shrimp muffins, as it is called in the menu, came in a bed of shrimp chips. It was crispy and came with red chili sauce. (4 over 5)

I had a regular pho with rare beef. I thought the soup was rather bland and overall skimpy on beef. (3 over 5)

My sister had the pork chop rice dish. I tasted it. It was ok. It tastes good but nothing mouth watering. I had have better pork chop rice dishes in town. (3 over 5)

I'll keep trying other vietnamese spots and reporting back on them. I did notice that a lot of people at the other tables were having the rice rolls (to be rolled yourself). Maybe it is their forte?

We have been going to Mee Fung when they were located at where Fuschian is now- when their children were pre-teens! They were a real gem of a restaurent and couple. Excellent food, friendly service, great price. We followed "Mr. and Mrs. Mee Fung" when they moved to Booth Street. After many years of hard work, with kids grown up, they sold the business and started another one (I think it was named SoGo)with their kid(s)on Bank Street. We noticed the big drop in food quality at the Booth Street New Mee Fung after they left, we stopped going; in our opinion there is no substitute in the entire City of Ottawa (Fuschian is up there but in a different way)and we missed them! We tried to go to their Bank Street store, but parking was always a problem and the menu was different as they were catering to the lunch crowd and take-aways. We were so happy when they came back to Booth a few years ago. The quality has definitely returned, so are the regulars like us. Our favorites include shrimp wontons soup (the broth is so flavourful), wrap and roll with tropical leafed beef rolls, shrimp on sugar cane, spicey beef stew noodles soup, etc. etc., plus the occasional specials on the board on weekends. It is now as busy as usual. One new thing- the City has decided to widen the sidewalk right and make Booth Street narrower at the restaurant entrance (to calm the traffic? Go figure!). So be careful as you turn right on to Booth from the side street, we hit the new curb a couple of times!

I think the restaurant has been bought back from the previous owners.

The first time I went since the old owners are back the food was okay, but the spring rolls had a bit too much of a funny flavour.

But the last two times I went, the spring rolls, the beef salad rolls, and the Rice with 3 skewers of chicken were all so tasty!

As a reward for a marathon study session, I walked to New Mee Fung on my way home from U of O and picked up some tasty cuisine. The place was hopping for 8pm on a Thursday night. Staff were pleasant and gave me nice hot tea while I waited for my order.

I was quite pleased with the quality of my summer rolls which were loaded with fresh ingredients and herbs. I had ordered some from another place recently and they seemed to go overboard on the rice noodles and didn't have any cilantro(which I like in summer rolls).

The assortment of spring rolls were good. A little less crispy due to the bus ride home. The Shrimp muffin was interesting-tasty but a little on the dry side.

Don't ask me why I ordered wontons at a Vietnamese restaurant but these were amazing. Unusual flavor and very meaty. Must try them again so that I can decipher what was in them.

The BBQ pork bun(as in rice vermicelli) was great and I really enjoyed their peanut sauce too.

The only downside about this place is that they close fairly early. One night I thought about trying them out and realized they closed at 9. Too early for this nighthawk.

I knew that the New Mee Fung had been sold to new owners last year and wondered if the excellent food, service and prices would last.

Unfortunately, on my last visit, we noticed the changes.

We went at 1:30 on a saturday afternoon, and the place that we once knew as buzzing, was close to empty.

The service was somewhat slower as in the past and the staff looked tired and sad.

We ordered the noodle soup with bbq'd meats and were astounded on how the bowl and portion had shrunk. My bbq'd beef was a bit undercooked and where there used to be plenty of veggies, there were but a mere few.

The price also went up.

We were dissapointed as this was one of our favorite spots but can say that i will cross the road to Chez Nam who was and remains excellent.

Had the sate chicken noodle soup. (It's one of the last listed soups.) It was incredible today! Sometimes it's a little dull but today the peanut chili lemongrass sate was perfectly thick, spicy, tangy. Perfect on a cold day. We always order it with chicken because I find the flavours go better with it than with beef.

Had the condensed milk coffee which I find is very good here.

Hearing that there's a change in ownership is welcome news to me. I had heard from somebody "in the industry" that the past owners would keep all the tip money for themselves! I cannot verify whether or not this actually happened, though, or if it was just restaurant competitiveness.

My friend told me that New Mee Fung has changed hand. The original owners have sold the business to the existing owners and this may explain the difference.

This place used to serve great food. The staff has changed a lot since 2 years from now.

I don't like their spring rolls anymore. It's way too greasy and it doesn't taste as good as it was. I'll mention the same for the soup.

I was upset about the food. The service is not the same as well. Though, the staff is still friendly.

I guess that restaurants are like the decorations and colors in a house. You like it or you just don't!

BBQ pork vermicelli

Spring roll, BBQ beef, and BBQ shrimp.

Best in town! Specially the ones w shrimp on sugar cane!

Spring roll, BBQ beef, and shrimp on sugarcane shown here. Very good but it takes patience to put together. They've improved how they serve the wrappers -- they are individually separated by little disks of plastic mesh.

pork summer roll

Here is a picture of the rare beef pho after a few bites. There wasn't a lot more beef. They seem to only offer it in one size unless I misread the menu.

Our Sunday morning Aikido class goes here every week for brunch after class, though yesterday was my first day joining them. Overall a good experience with extremely fast service and excellent food.

I didn't even bother sifting through the menu - I just got the same as someone else - which was the 136 with chicken. I'm still not sure what it was - but it sure was yummy! And spicy! It's the first Pho I've had with a really thick broth, and really spicy. Just on my threshold for spicy, but fortunately not beyond my threshold.

I liked it so much I got another one to take home for my wife - who enjoyed it every bit as much as I did.

Generous serving for a decent price.