ottawa foodies

The fun thing about having a cousin from a small town going to the university of Ottawa is getting to introduce her to a variety of foods that she would not have in Grimsby. One of those was pho. So, today, a nice sunny fall day, we headed down to Somerset, and went to Pho Thu Do.

I'll be honest, I've never been here before. It was just was right at the bus stop, so we went in.

I am very very glad we did. We went in, and after I had explain to her what tripe was, and how she probably doesn't want to eat it (I did, it was good), we ordered.

First off, let start with the beef. It was very well cooked. I like my tripe, I liked the medium rare beef, which had enough fat left on it to give it good flavour. I just wish it had been chopped a bit smaller.

Moving onto the noodles. They were cooked nice, and there was a fair number of em. They're rice noodles, not much to say.

The broth was the star. Even before I added lime, I had a nice citrusy undertone I found. It was rich without being too rich, and easy to drink.

For the price, the size was right. I'm sure I will be back.

This is my absolute favorite place for pho. Their menu is, admittedly, limited as they only serve one kind of broth and pho with only beef variations.

That being said, their broth is flavorful and delicious and the plate of sprouts/seasonings is always fresh and generous.

I also fine the service here to be incredibly fast! The place is usually busy and very cozy - a nice atmosphere.

This restaurant is cozy but has a unique and cool split level layout. They close at 9pm on Saturday! (Many Pho places on Somerset close between 2am and 4am on weekends.)

The sprouts and herbs here seem somehow fresher and nicer than usual (or maybe I've just been eating too much pho outside of chinatown).

Boyfriend and I were looking for good pho around Chinatown. My friend had recommended "Pho Thu Do", and since they're also Vietnamese, I decided to check it out.

The pho was decent. Just decent. It doesn't compare to pho I've had back home; the broth was missing something (maybe coriander?) and there wasn't enough meat and too much noodle. It was okay for the pho craving, and a good value.

We both ordered the pho with beef balls and tripe.

I concur with Fresh Foodie.. the broth, and the Pho are top notch here, if the selection is a little limited. I don't mind the 'spring rolls', but that is not saying they are good, but rather just part of the experience that I have fond memories for at this place. I used to go here once a week... hmm.. wait a minute.. it's been a while since I've been... I think I'll have to start going again. Anyone up for lunchtime, Chinatown Pho?

We tried this place after reading rave reviews on the restaurantthing site. I have to mention that they have just one kind of broth -- the standard "Pho Bo" beef one. (At other restaurants, we normally prefer the pork and chicken broth with seafood or bbq pork.) They offer just one broth but they do that broth very well! The rice noodles are nice and narrow. Small is pretty small. The one in the photo is a large.

I heartily disagree with you, Fresh Foodie. These egg-style rolls are how fried spring rolls are done in Vietnam.

To everyone else, these are delicious. The perfect ratio of crispy to soft, and the shrimp inside isn't broken or blended into an unidentifiable purée. Thủ Đô does one spring roll and they do it very well.

The spring rolls are awsome here.

I think they actually cut them an half once cooked and dunk them back into the deep frier to finnish them off letting the oil seep into them.

Heart attack waiting to happen but oh so yummy.

To eat them the propre way, you have to wrap the spring rolls in the lettuce and then dunk them in the fish sauce.

Bonne bouffe!

I heartily disagree with the guy on the restaurantthing site who said something like, "I've been to 50 pho houses and these are the best spring rolls in town." No way! These tasted okay, but we were disappointed. Spring rolls at Pho Bo Ga are much better than this!