Pho Kitchen is a casual eatery near Renfrew Station serving Vietnamese fare in a modern dining environment.

Spacious and Bright Dining Space

The brightly lit and spacious dining area at Pho Kitchen makes it a warm and inviting environment.

#PhoTuesday Deal – $6.04 Pho

On Tuesdays (aka #PhoTuesday), they have a deal where from 5 pm to close their regular size pho is $6.04 with the purchase of a drink.

Pho Kitchen Menu

Pho Kitchen’s menu is fully available online here. Their pho options include steak; seafood; steak, flank & brisket; steak & flank; spicy & sour seafood; and build-your-own options.

Aside from pho, they also offer starters (like specialty rolls), salads (like papaya salad or lotus stems salad), rice & vermicelli dishes (like chicken with rice and more), Bánh Mì sandwiches, specialty dishes (like beef stew and spicy noodles), bubble teas, desserts (like Vietnamese affogato and banana cheesecake fritter) and more.

What I Tried

I was invited for a media tasting and here’s a look at what I tried.

# 56 – Prawn & Taro Rolls

First up, I went with a more elevated starter option: Prawn & Taro Rolls.

I thought these were a unique offering so I wanted to try them. Crispy on the outside but soft on the inside with a prawn, taro and white scallion filling. Served with sweet chili sauce, these rolls were good.

#62 – Chicken & Porkchop with Rice

This popular dish at Pho Kitchen features 4-oz of tender chicken thigh and 4-oz of savoury pork chop slow grilled in sweet lemongrass sauce. A hearty dish with good portions and flavour.

#24 – Beef Stew

This French influenced dish was right up my alley being saucy and meaty. It had tender cubes of beef shank with carrots, infused with red wine, lemongrass and spices. You have a choice of baguettes, rice or egg noodles or rice. I went with the baguette and happily dipped it into the broth.

Pho Kitchen offers good Vietnamese casual fare in a comfortable environment. Worth checking out if you are in the area.

Pho Kitchen
2915 Hebb Ave, Vancouver, BC
phokitchen.ca

A new Vietnamese restaurant has opened up in the Kensington area. Viet Mama Cafe, specializing in Northern Vietnamese cuisine, emerged onto the dining scene about two weeks ago.

I was invited for a media tasting. Here’s a look at my experience.

Viet Mama Cafe Menu

At Viet Mama Cafe, the homestyle Northern Vietnamese menu aims to offer an authentic taste that you would find in any Northern Vietnamese household.

All the items are made from family recipes and do not use MSG.

For pho, they have three different types: pho dac biet (special beef noodle with beef brisket, rare beef, and beef balls); pho tai (rare beef noodle); and pho ga (free range chicken noodle). Pho entrees are between $12 – $13.

Some specialty entrees that they have include the bun rieu cua cha ca (crab meet noodle with fish cakes) as well as rice roll entrees (like the plain or meat rice rolls) served with fish sauce. Speciality entrees are around $13 – $15.

Rounding out the menu are appetizers which include salad rolls; spring rolls; papaya or mango salad; and clear dumpings. Entrees are around $7 – $12.

For drinks, they have coconut water, Vietnamese Ice Coffee, Vietnamese Hot Coffee, and fresh orange juice.

Viet Mama Interior

The interior of Viet Mama is modern and clean with a range of dining tables and banquette seating.

What I Tried

To start, I had their Vietnamese Ice Coffee which was refreshing and made to be not overly sweet.

Next up was the banh bot loc which were warm, translucent dumplings filled shrimp and pork and wrapped in a banana leaf. Made by the owner’s grand-ma in-house, these dumplings had a smooth elastic texture which was not too sticky. Super delicious and definitely worth ordering.

I tried the pho dac biet featuring beef brisket, rare beef and beef balls. The meat was tender and the MSG-free broth was light.

The bun rieu cua cha ca (crab meat noodle) is a unique offering and I really enjoyed all the components: real crab meat, fish cake, tofu and vegetables. Even heartier than the pho, this was definitely more up my alley with the fish cakes, tofu and water celery and bonus points for the crab meat. Great crab flavour.

The smooth banh cuon nhan or meat rice rolls were well-presented and organized onto stacks. They were filled with pork, shrimp, fried ham, pork meatballs, fried shallots, and vegetables served with fish sauce. I thought the filling to rice roll ratio was very reasonable and the fried shallots gave the dish a fun, textural contrast.

Overall Impression

While pho is an obvious and popular choice, the non-pho options I tried (crab meat noodle and meat rice rolls) were more worthy of ordering in my opinion. Not to be missed are the clear dumplings which made for a great start to the meal.

Viet Mama Cafe
5118 Victoria Dr, Vancouver, BC
instagram.com/vietmamacafe