Delectable Vietnamese in the heart of downtown, Vietnam Restaurant

One cuisine I always turn back to when having a bad day or requiring a quick meal is Vietnamese. The combination of fresh ingredients in a hearty bowl of soup is perfect for the busy at work professional. Thus it should be of no surprise to anyone that a bevy of delicious pho restaurants surround the Health Sciences Centre. On a rather non-busy day at work I made the quick trek out to Vietnam Restaurant for a bite. 

Located in a strip mall off Balmoral Street in the west end of the city, Vietnam Restaurant will not win any beauty pageants. In fact the drab exterior is an eyesore for anyone passing by unknown of the delights inside. The interiors are similarly decorated with plain glass top tables that house small advertisements underneath the glass ... tacky indeed! Nevertheless the service staff are nice and attentive; more than making up for the barren esthetics of the restaurant.

The vast and cavernous menu houses so many options that one wonders how a small family run kitchen can possibly create them all. A finer perusal of the menu reveals that the majority of the dishes are simply permutations of each other, mostly offering a difference in protein or sauce option. Nevertheless the classics are there including a smattering of delectable pho options, a bevy of bun (Vermicelli) and an almost exhaustive list of stir fries. There is nothing there that will surprise anyone who frequents Vietnamese restaurants, but that should not be taken as a negative. In reality, Vietnam's owners show a matter of self confidence in offering the no frills classics of Vietnamese cuisine.

My usual order of Medium Rare & Beef Ball Rice Noodle Soup (Pho) was one of the better ones I have had in Winnipeg. A luxurious broth that sings the many aromas of star anise and beef bones is both delicate and rich and works well to envelop the tender noodles and thin cuts of beef. The beef balls were large and springy, as they should be, and the beef slices delicate and light. The symphony is finished with tender and light bean sprouts that add a delicate crunch to the entire meal.

My second dish to try, Sizzling Spicy Satay Beef & Onion, was less of a success. While tasty, the entire dish lacked finesse and tasted unilaterally of satay. I recognize that I deliberately ordered a satay dish, but I wished that the sweetness of the onions or the inherent richness of the beef played a stronger note here, rather than simply that of the sauce. Make sure to enjoy this dish with a heaping bowl of steamed rice!

Vietnam Restaurant is exactly what I am looking for in a Vietnamese restaurant. As per its namesake, the owners strive to offer authentic cuisine at reasonable prices ... and for the most part, it succeeds! Ignore the rather drab decor and come to enjoy one of the best options for pho in the Health Sciences area.

Kim Thanh - Average Pho

Finding the best pho in Winnipeg is a difficult process with new restaurants popping up on an seemingly daily basis. With each boasting authentic home inspired cuisine, it can be a daunting process to find the best pho in town. Therefore in my continued need to establish the best Vietnamese (and other cuisine) restaurants in Winnipeg, I find myself at Kim Thanh.

Kim Thanh is located close to the hospital on Notre Dame by Arlington. The unassuming exterior might be a seemingly drab contrast to other newer restaurants, but is serviceable and most importably, noticeable for passersby. Similarly, the interiors are nothing to shout home about, but seem clean and feature a modest number of chairs for diners and patrons.

The menu itself is rather sprawling. Impressed by the number of dishes here, diners should be pleased by the great variety of Vietnamese cuisine found here. Starting from the classic Vietnamese phos and noodle soups, one also finds the popular Vermicelli bowls, traditional stir fries and French inspired submarine sandwiches. An impressive feat considering the small family-run aspect of the restaurant.

My hallmark for any Vietnamese establishment is the Rare Beef & Beef Balls Pho and the version here was simply average. Kim Thanh's pho broth, the most important ingredient, lacked a depth of flavour usually found in pho broths, but rather had a MSG filled instant soup flavour to it. Furthermore, the beef balls were missing the sponginess one usually finds but rather were firm and rather unappealing. The rare beef, thankfully was as advertised and thinly cut.

Prawn & Pork Salad Rolls are a favorite of mine and another marker of the quality of a Vietnamese restaurant. These rolls were again average with nice springy shrimp and pork slices all wrapped together with a bevy of vegetables and rice noodles. The accompanying hoisin based sauce was a tasty, albeit extremely salty, dip that complimented the intentionally bland ingredients in the roll well.

Wanting to try a number of things (and also starving from a tiny lunch) I also ordered a Banh Mi Grilled Pork. Harkening back to a French inspiration, the Banh Mi is a classic Vietnamese submarine sandwich taking crusty bread and filling it with a host of grilled meats and vegetables. I enjoyed the version here with nice pieces of tender grilled pork, salty and sugary pickled vegetables and fresh cilantro. Encasing it all is a nice bread that had the needed crunch on the exterior while being velvety soft in the middle.

Fresh bean sprouts are always necessary at a Vietnamese restaurant and while the initial visual passed the test, further inspection revealed old and slightly yellowing sprouts, definitely a turn off for a supposed traditional Vietnamese restaurant.

I have to be underwhelmed by Kim Thanh. Most of their food today was average at best, stale and tasteless at worst; and while the crunchy Banh Mi was a highlight, it did not elevate Kim Thanh above many of the Vietnamese establishments in Winnipeg. You can find better even in the hospital vicinity.

T.H. Dang - Average Vietnamese

After a busy and long week of work, I found myself craving for good homey cuisine, and despite the warming weather, I gravitated back to my soul food of choice, Pho. The combination of warm soup with crisp noodles and a bevy of vegetables and meat is the perfect combination of flavours and textures that serves to re-energize and warm myself before embarking on new adventures. Thus after coming from the hospital, I had to stop at T.H. Dang's Restaurant for some Vietnamese.

T.H. Dang's rests on the busy corner of Pembina Highway and Howard Avenue. The exteriors are average with large signage that should attract attention from passers-by. I appreciated the dedicated parking lot as parking in the periphery can be difficult to find. The interiors are simply average with its combination of drab olden decor with cheap tables and rickety chairs. Finally, the one employee does an admirable job tending the restaurant, but service does suffer a bit with long wait times.

I have to continually laugh at the hybrid Vietnamese and Chinese cuisine restaurants in Winnipeg. As if the owners are not confident enough in creating their own niche, they feel the need to offer dishes from two massively divergent Asian cuisines. As with most other restaurants with this moniker, T.H. Dang's is first and foremost, a Vietnamese restaurant and features the usual pho noodle soups and vermicelli rice bowls. The addition of stir fries and hot pot dishes seem like an afterthought and tacked on to give the illusion of variety. Nevertheless, the menu does have all the usual suspects and should be able to satisfy the wishes of most diners.

I was disappointed by the broth in the Medium Rare Beef & Beef Ball Rice Noodle Soup (Pho). The broth here was devoid of the usual  depth one normally gets in pho broth but rather had an artificial sweetness that overpowered the dish and robbed it of any richness. Granted, the tender thinly sliced beef and large springy beef balls were above average, just shame about the broth.

Dang's Deluxe Vermicelli is a gargantuan boal of grilled meats (Pork, Pork Patties, Pork Hash, Shrimp, Beef) with spring rolls and a bevy of vegetables on a bed of tender rice noodles. Although I appreciated the litany of grilled meats given, each had the same flavour and texture with a hint of lemongrass and a slight bitterness from charred skin. In truth, the best part of the dish were the spring rolls with their crispy skin and moist succulent interior. The addition of the fish sauce dip adds much needed sweetness to the overall dish.

Another marker of a good Vietnamese restaurant is the crispness of their bean sprouts and accompaniments and TH Dang surpasses expectations here with fresh sprouts that added a crisp, slightly sweet crunch to each bite of pho.

Overall I found T.H. Dang's completely average. The disappointing pho broth unfortunately renders any of its noodle soups a monotonous artificial sweet flavour, a shame considering that their beef and beef balls are actually quite good. The vermicelli, while an impressively large portion, was a simple rehash of the same flavours just with different meats. If you are in the area and in need for Vietnamese, then T.H. Dang's should suffice, but there are much better in the city.

Thanh Huong - Tasty Pho

Post-call days are meant for rest and relaxation. There is no better accompaniment to a relaxing day at home than a bowl of delicious pho. After another all nighter working at the hospital, my trusty stomach companion decided it was time to wake up and refill the energy tank. Wanting something quick but nourishing, I landed upon Thanh Huong, a local Vietnamese joint that promises to offer up delicious Vietnamese and Chinese cuisine.

Thanh Huong is located on Sargent Avenue close to Balmoral Street in a less than spectacular part of town. In seeming contrast to the clientele and seedy-ness of the area, the restaurant itself is beautiful and well presented. A magnificent oak door welcomes you into the spacious and bright establishment, while sleek modern tables beckon you forward to sit, tasteful decor greets your eyes, and attentive wait staff show you the path to food enlightenment. Very impressive.

Although they bill themselves as Vietnamese and Chinese cuisine, the menu is classically Vietnamese. Most of the first few pages center upon their pho noodle soups and Vermicelli bowls, the lifelines of any good Vietnamese restaurant. And while they feature a number of other items that do branch into Chinese stir fries, the emphasis is placed upon the traditional Vietnamese dishes. Curiously, this is the only place I have frequented so far that feature Vietnamese Submarines, a popular street vendor dish featuring crusty bread and tasty sandwich toppings.

I, of course, had to get my usual: Beef Ball & Sliced Beef with Rice Noodle Soup (Pho). This steaming hot bowl was one of the better versions I have had, with a rich deep beef bone based broth adorning a bevy of tender rice noodles and topped with sliced beef and springy large beef balls. I do have qualms with the sliced beef which were added too early in the dish, resulting in them being overcooked and slightly tough. Overall though, the nice broth brings this tasty dish together.

Having to try something new, the Vietnamese Submarine with Grilled Pork was a tasty accompaniment to my Pho. The sandwich begins with crusty French bread that had a nice crispy exterior but soft interior and is adorned with tasty grilled pork and tart pickled daikon and carrots. In truth, it is the dichotomy of the pickled vegetables and fatty meat that work well here and while I appreciated the extremely reasonable pricing ($5 for the sandwich), I felt there was too few toppings to the amount of bread, resulting in an imbalance of flavours.

Always another way to judge a Vietnamese restaurant, Thanh Huong presented nice crisp bean sprouts and fresh basil.

Thanh Huong is a nice addition to the Vietnamese restaurant community in Winnipeg featuring one of the better bowls of pho I have encountered in the city. Despite their location, the restaurant is handsomely decorated and feature good enough food to bring in customers a plenty. And while I felt their submarines could be improved I was impressed they simply offer the dish at all ... and at such a reasonable price to boot!

Pho Hoan Pasteur - Quality Pho (Edmonton 30 in 30)

Vietnamese food is soul food for me and finding a quality pho restaurant is akin to finding the needle in a haystack. Most large cities these days are filled with a litany of Vietnamese restaurants and while most offer solid food, I consistently found myself returning to Pho Hoan Pasteur when hankering for a bowl of pho in Edmonton. Literally a five minute drive from Edmonton's Royal Alexandra Hospital I would often take my lunch breaks at Pho Pasteur warming up my soul with a good bowl of noodle soup.

Pho Hoan Pasteur is located on Kingsway Avenue on 114th Street slightly Northwest of downtown Edmonton. The restaurant itself is located in a stripmall and features a handsome yellow billboard with bold lettering beckoning you forth. I always found the "fusion noodle house" wording a little puzzling as they serve nothing but the most authentic Vietnamese noodle soups in town.

The menu is small and compact and features three main types of food: rice plates, vermicelli bowls and noodle (beef and chicken based) soups. Along with those are a few small appetizers for those wanting to tide themselves over while waiting for their meal. I always appreciated it when restaurants choose to focus on the dishes they do best and ignore any pressure to create huge large menus full of dishes they might or might not be able to pull off.

I started off with Shrimp Salad Rolls. Pho Pasteur here features three large rolls filled with lettuce, bean sprouts, vermicelli and shrimp served with a side of Hoison based dipping sauce. These rolls were plump, large and had a nice sweetness imparted from the shrimp. Overall these were as one would expect them with nothing exciting or extra-ordinary about the rolls.

I always mention that the broth used in their pho is the marker of a great Vietnamese restaurant. Indeed, the base of the Steak & Meat Balls Pho was excellent and featured a rice robust beef flavour that had a hint of spiciness. The beef balls were impressively large and firm while the  slices of steak were plentiful and sliced thin enough to cook in the warm broth. Wrapping the dish together are the tender rice noodles and a nice hint of freshness brought out by the green onions and cilantro. Overall excellent!

Another marker of a good Vietnamese restaurant are the freshness of the pho toppings. Here Pho Pasteur featured fresh and crisp bean sprouts and plump aromatic basil. All aspects key to a great bowl of pho.

Pho Hoan Pasteur remains my top Vietnamese restaurant in Edmonton. Their broth top notch, their meat flavourful and plentiful, their bean sprouts crisp and fresh all make up an excellent Vietnamese restaurant that should be considered for anyone in the mood for a good bowl of pho in Edmonton.

Phuong Nam - Good Vietnamese

Readers of the blog quickly realize that my kryptonite is Asian food ... good ones at that. On a tough night of call or a long day of clinics, there is nothing better than a cup of fried rice, a wholesome bowl of Gamjatang or, during this particular long night out, a bountiful helping of pho. Phuong Nam has consistently ranked on the highest lists of Vietnamese restaurants in Winnipeg and is known for its hearty servings of delicious pho and other Vietnamese delights. Thus it was an easy choice to make when me and my co-resident felt the hunger pains after a particularly long night of work.

Phuong Nam has the benefits of being in the direct vicinity of the Health Sciences Center on William Street. Thus it has become a popular outing for the majority of residents and physicians looking for something different than the rather drab cuisine and food in the hospitals.

The interior of the restaurant is rather roomy and sparsely decorated. Clearly this is a restaurant meant for quick and fast food and not designed for the romantic or entertaining crowd. The menu itself is filled with the regular phos, stir fries and vermicelli bowls one would expect from any Vietnamese restaurant. I was quite impressed by their specials which included a, difficult to find, seven styles of beef. Unfortunately one has to pre-order said dish and we were too late that night to embark on that adventure. Nevertheless off to the food we did order!

Going with my typical order I went with the Rare Beef & Beef Balls Noodle Soup (Pho). This incredibly priced bowl of pho features a hearty and rich base with tender noodles and a bevy of fresh beef slices and spongy beef balls. The broth was the star here with its rich and deep beef flavours that complimented all the ingredients well.

Beef Stew with Rice Noodle was the bowl of choice for my co-resident. A similarly large bowl of soup features an accentuated beef broth with chili and oil encompassing the same tender noodles and cubes of braised beef. Also found in the dish were potatoes and carrot which had completely soaked up all the flavours of the dish into their spongy starchy cores. Delicious!

Always wanting to try something new I ordered the Beef in Honey Garlic Sauce. Served on a hot stone plate, it features beef slices and onion slivers in a honey and garlic sauce. While the sauce had a deep rich sweet and slightly salty flavour, I was underwhelmed by the rather tough beef. Further complicating matters is the relatively stingy portion size which took away any value from the dish.

As with all good Vietnamese restaurants, Phuong Nam features tender and fresh bean sprouts and a bevy of other ingredients including basil, lemon, lime and fresh red chili to top off your bowls of soup.

Overall Phuong Nam offers a solid bowl of Vietnamese soup. The marker of the best Vietnamese restaurants are the broth and one can taste the hours that went into making the wonderful broth that becomes the base for all their soups. While their stir fry dish was disappointing, it does little to take away from their noodle soups and becomes one of my first recommendations for good Vietnamese in the HSC vicinity.

Ha Long Bay, Disappointing Vietnamese

One of my first rotations in residency was the nursery at Women's Hospital at HSC. Some days and nights on call I would stare across the street and see the large bright sign for Ha Long Bay. During those long nights with multiple deliveries or sick patients, I could not help but wish I had some delicious comforting pho waiting for me. But alas I had to settle for hospital food. When I moved to Children's Hospital for the rest of my rotations, the dream of Ha Long Bay drifted away. That is, until I frequented on Urbanspoon and was reminded again of its tantalizing food. Therefore, on a day off, after running some errands, I made the trek out to Ha Long Bay.

The restaurant is located on a busy stretch of Notre Dame Avenue. Situated directly across from the Women's Hospital and Brodie Centre, it attracts numerous hospital staff and patients. Arriving just prior to noon, I was impressed by how busy the restaurant was. Thankfully the wait staff was attentive and quickly ushered me to my seat.

Ha Long Bay touts itself as serving Vietnamese & Chinese Cuisine. The menu betrays their namesake and offers pure Vietnamese food. The bright and colourful menu has the basics all would expect from the noodle soups to the stir fried rices and noodles. It was obvious the restaurant was pandering to its large lunch-time crowd by offering a number of "combination plates" designed to give a premium of food at a reasonable price.

I started off with Summer Rolls. Two large rice paper rolls filled with vegetables, Vermicelli, shrimp and pork, this was a nice start to the meal. The accompanying peanut and Hoison sauce was a nice contrast to the delicate rolls.

I am adamant that a Vietnamese restaurant is measured by their pho. Unfortunately, Ha Long Bay's Sliced Beef & Beef Balls Noodle Soup (Pho) was a huge disappointment. To start, the broth lacked any depth of flavour and was devoid of the usual richness you would find in a pho broth. The few scant pieces of beef were tough, chewy and barely edible. The beef balls, thinly cut to fool the customer into believing there were lots, were even worse and had an accompanying metallic irony aftertaste. Finally the bean sprouts tasted old and lacked any freshness.

Thankfully their next offering was better. Sizzling Shrimp with Vegetables was served on a hot plate and brought the entire restaurant to stare when the sizzle of the dish declared its appearance. A mixture of vegetables and shrimp are fried together in a sweet soy sauce, this was innumerably better than their pho.

There were a nice assortment of tender vegetables and a moderate amount of springy shrimp. The sauce itself was nice in bringing all the flavours to the fore and went very well with an accompanying bowl of rice. Overall this was simply average and did not have any components that excited or impressed me.

Overall Ha Long Bay was a major disappointment. Bland tasteless broth with borderline inedible beef make this one of the worst versions of pho I have come across in Winnipeg. I cannot help but wonder if this restaurants' popularity is solely a reflection of its location rather than its food. There are simply vastly superior Vietnamese options in Winnipeg (and in the extreme vicinity of Health Sciences Centre) and therefore I cannot, for whatever reason, recommend Ha Long Bay.

Pho Kim Tuong

In the winter time, soups and stews make up a large amount of my meals. I love them for their nutritious value but also for the warmth and heartiness they provide, especially on cold days. Some of my favourite restaurants, therefore, have been Vietnamese places where they offer up steaming piles of soups, stews and stir fries, all at reasonable prices.

Pho Kim Tuong is a well known Vietnamese restaurant on Ellice Avenue. In a corridor of Winnipeg with a litany of Asian establishments, it takes some effort and notoriety to become well known and established. Therefore on a cold night I decided to warm my soul and made the trek out to Pho Kim Tuong.

The menu was as one would expect it. Featuring classic Vietnamese dishes there was nothing surprising or shocking about their offerings. The restaurant itself had a nice ambiance and was well decorated. The oak tables and comfortable seating, combined with an attentive wait staff made this a pleasurable dining experience.

Ordering my usual, the Rare Beef & Beef Balls Rice Noodle Soup (Pho) was excellent. The hallmark of a good Vietnamese restaurant is in the broth and the version here had a nice depth and richness of flavour. They provide a moderate helping of thinly sliced rare beef which cooked up nice and tender in the piping hot broth. I appreciated the large size and springy-ness of the beef balls, they certainly are some of the better I have had in the city.

Taking a suggestion from the owner I also ordered the Stir-Fried Honey Beef. Served on a hot plate, this tasty offering consisted of a generous helping of beef and vegetables all in a honey and black bean sauce. Tasty! I appreciated all the nuanced flavours here and thought the sweetness of the honey played well with the beef and the tartness of the onion slices. Finally, the peppers added a nice textural crunchiness while also giving some color to the dish.

The meal ended with some complimentary Fruits. Small things like this go a long way to differentiate restaurants and I appreciated this nice touch to end the meal.

Overall Pho Kim Tuong is a tasty, authentic and pleasurable dining experience. In a city full of good Asian restaurants, Pho Kim Tuong deserves mention as one of the better Vietnamese restaurants.  Flavourful and reasonably priced, this should be a consideration for anyone in the mood for Vietnamese.