| rev:text
| - We never would have tried Pho Linh based on its location and outside appearance -- a bit of a barren stretch on College before Dufferin, the sign reminds of those bad, small town diners that serve frozen fries and hockey puck burgers under guise of "home cookin'".
Still, yelpers recommend it and we thought we'd take a break from Pho Phuong and try a new place. It helps that it's equidistant from our house.
Ambience is low key, very quiet, no multi-TV distraction (YAY!!!), and clean, though the menus were a bit skuzzy. I blame the youth of today.
As we were sitting down, another couple arrived to a chance meeting with apparent acquaintances who had been enjoying a meal: "You've got good taste in restaurants!" they remarked to their friends. "This is the place for Pho in TO." How's that for a first impression upon arriving?
Anyway!
I ordered the S3 and #13, with a bean shake to wash it down. The server informed that, due to Monday being a holiday (Easter weekend), S3 was unavailable -- he seemed somewhat chagrined, as though he was offending me. No worries! I got the Hue style beef pho instead, which is their weekend offering.
Heather went for the ol' standby of noodles, grilled pork, and spring roll with salad (nice greens, no crappy/wilty iceberg lettuce!) and her customary avocado milkshake.
The soup was very good, tasty though not extraordinary, and came with nice, thick rice noodles rather than the vermicelli style one normally sees -- this pleased me greatly! I definitely prefer a more robust noodle, so they score points here. The side of sprouts, basil, limi, and a chili was very generous... which is good, because I usually have to ask for more.
The banh cuon (I think that's the name) isn't normally my style, but it was good. The odd little muffin thing topped with a fried shimp was damned tasty (I didn't bother with the shrimp... it was desiccated, though had served its purpose by imparting mucho flavour).
I have come to realize, however, that I'm just not a fan of Vietnamese style sausage... at least not the spongy, starchy kind served here (and many other places). They taste good, sure, but it just ain't meat. I'd feel the same way if I was served a hotdog on the side.
Heather remarked that her dinner was excellent, though she prefers the crispy spring rolls at Pho Phuong -- not because Pho Linh's are somehow lesser, oh no! Linh's are huge, and crammed with meat. So if you prefer a meaty roll, definitely try them out here... you won't be disappointed.
Shakes were both excellent, though they were served in plastic takeout cups when we were sitting down to eat (and it was pouring rain outside...). Weird. Ah well -- we'll ask for glass next time.
Finally, I've noticed a few people have questioned the service here. We found it very fast, friendly, and good. Absolutely no complaints there whatsoever. Maybe it falters when it's busy... but it was A-OK this time around!
All in all we were quite pleased with our experience -- I tried a couple things I wouldn't normally order, so won't pass judgement based on the things I didn't care for (the sausage, for example). We'll definitely be back, in particular because I want to try their basic chicken pho. If they roast their chicken and the broth is good I'll consider switching my go-to Pho joint!
*** Accepts Cash Only ***
|
![[RDF Data]](/fct/images/sw-rdf-blue.png)
![[cxml]](/fct/images/cxml_doc.png)
![[csv]](/fct/images/csv_doc.png)
![[text]](/fct/images/ntriples_doc.png)
![[turtle]](/fct/images/n3turtle_doc.png)
![[ld+json]](/fct/images/jsonld_doc.png)
![[rdf+json]](/fct/images/json_doc.png)
![[rdf+xml]](/fct/images/xml_doc.png)
![[atom+xml]](/fct/images/atom_doc.png)
![[html]](/fct/images/html_doc.png)