Tran Cantine Vietnamienne

Tran, Cantine Vietnamienne is one of the many new little Asian babies in town. I'm just happy this one happens to be on my side of town. Yay, South-West wins again! Or something. Anyhoot, I headed to Tran with my bud Margo on one of MTL's first VERY cold day.

There was no question as to where the resto was: it was lit up like the Christmas Tree in Rockefeller Center in New York City. Like lightning. Like fireworks. You get it, it was damn bright. You could've seen it from space. Aaaand I'm totes exaggerating again. Very simple décor: white walls, black tables, open kitchen. It was quite cold, and every time someone would open the door, it would be freezing. There are ways to fix this problem. Buy an Abris Tempo :p

We shared everything, because that's how we dso. We started with the spring roll: vermicelli, shrimp, mint. Everything was very fresh and the noodles were perfectly cooked. Obviously, this was awkward to eat, split in two. We should've just taken two. You live and you learn. The peanut sauce was just thick enough and very tasty.

The pho. Margo was worried about msg (I'm more of an msg? No worries! kinda gurl). When Margo asked, the girl who seemed to be the manager/owner, kind of lowered her head and said 'there's a little bit'. Hey, at least she was honest. The noodles were perf (not too soft, not too hard) and the beef was perf too (just bloody enough). Basically, everything was perf. The broth was awesome too. A really good pho. I've read that it's one of the best in town, and although I find this a bit exaggerated, I don't think it's far from it.

Banh mi. I looooves me a good banh mi. Like, LOVE. The bread was soft and ubs  (short for uber of course!) fresh and the grilled chicken was nice and juicy. The veggies were, seriously, some of the best pickled veggies I've had in a banh mi. Dikon and carrot, HELLO! The level of sauce was also right on. Damn it, I want to get another one right NOW!

The beef salad had some great flavours goin. The beef was great and the coriander was, well, duh, it was coriander! They could've added somewhat of a sauce to make things a bit less dry. Also, even though y'all know I'm a huge fan of onions, there were way too many on there. Like a whole onion. A big one. It was a good dish, but it could've been better.

We were totes in to try a good Vietnamese dessert, but they didn't have any. Boo. It's a new resto, so there's always room for improvement :)

Service was just OK. The girl we spoke to at first was great and gave us info on the resto and how she came to open it, etc. The waiter forgot to bring us extra plates about 3 times. Hahaha. But seriously. We did get our food very quickly though, which was much appreciated since we were starving!

And now, the scores!

Food: 8
Service: 7

Well, as previously mentioned, I'll be going back for one of those banh mi. For SURE.

Pho Viet

I saw this restaurant on one of the 8 million best-resto, most-liked-resto, must-go-to-resto, anything-resto lists in Montreal. It was close-ish (the village) and it was Asian. Basically, the perfect place to meet a friend for lunch! Isa and I went a couple weeks ago.

First off, I literally had to open my eyes wider when I came close to the address but couldn't find the restaurant. I finally found it, only because I saw Isa waving frantically through the window. OH, it's there! I entered the restaurant and wow was it ever UN-wow!! No decorations whatsoever, brown paper on the tables, a decrepit coat rack, no ambiance whatsoever, and to finish it off, a huge piece of plastic covering the back wall. It's a good thing I was already in and Isa was already seated, because I had the instinct to get the f outta there! ***Note: Someone made me notice that I should've asked about the wall and, indeed, they had water damage a little while back and that's why it looks like this!

I had the beef pho. The waitress said 'oh, l'authentique'! Omg, she KNEW I was half-Asian! She gave me lemon instead of lime, which did not give the same flavour at all. You can't just give me any citrus; imagine if she had given me an orange. Alright, that's just ridiculous! The broth was very tasty and beefy: just the way I like it. The beef was actually perfectly red; not overcooked like a lot of pho places. The coriander is just always awesome. The bean sprouts could have been a bit fresher and crunchier. Those have a life span of like 2.5 hours. Every time I purchase some, I must cook them ASAP or else it's straight in the compost. Just add a bit of sriracha in there and booya, you got yourself somethin' tasty!

Service was OK. It was quick, and the woman did it with a smile but there was no water refill. And with that sriracha in ma mouth, I was lookin' for more o' that!

And now, the scores!

Food: 7.5
Service: 7

Clean it up a bit (a lot) and get fresher ingredients and THEN I'll consider going back. Muchas gracias.

Pho Bac 97

When you're sick, you need a couple things: your mommy, Perrier, lemon and ginger tea and a good soup. This is why, when I was sick as a dsawg last week, I went for some pho. I asked my Asian persuasion friend, Jer, who, coincidentally, is in Vietnam right now, where I should head for some good pho. He mentioned that Pho Bang New York is a fave but HIS fave (in Chinatown) is Pho Bac 97.

Pho Bac 97 is located at the end of Chinatown on St-Laurent. OK, saying it's the end of Chinatown ain't sayin' much; it's so small that it's like pretty much when you get in, you're out again. The place itself is like a lot of Asian restos: lots of tables, a tad crammed, pots on tables with chop sticks/napkins/sauces, no music. Basically, get in and get OUT!

The fillers, as I like to call them. Or... the garnishes? Whatever. That! The essentials, basically. Thai basil, bean sprouts, chilis and lime.

I had the #7, or the beef pho. The broth was just awesome and so damn meaty and oniony. You KNOW how I feel about ma onions! The meat had had too much time to cook in there, damn it! It would have been even better with it being a tad less cooked. The noodles were cooked to perfection: not quite al dente and not soggy either. Oh, and I practiced my noodle slurping technique! I believe Jer would have been oh-so-proud. The coriander was oh-so-fresh, which made it oh-so-yummy. Putting the thai basil, the bean sprouts, the hint of lime in there was just the cherry on top. Oh and don't forget the hint/heat of sriracha. YA BABY! What better thang to help my sickness? NOTHING! I obviously added some sriracha in there to make it spicy and also to sweat out all the sick! And it worked btw.

Service was very quick. It's like, you turn around and BAM, there's tea. BAM, garnishes. BAAAAM, your meal is there. Very efficient. It would have been nice to have water tho. I only thought about it at the end of the meal. I think tea is like water to Asians. And yes, I'm very deep. Totes. Oh I must also mention that when I went to pay, the man at the counter told me they only accepted cash and I was like DANG! He told me I could either take out some money at their ATM with mucho dinero charges OR come back another day! Uh, what? 152 points for niceness right there! Actually, going back tomorrow to pay the nice man. And trust me when I say I'll be giving a GENEROUS tip!

And now, the scores!

Food: 8.5
Service: 7.5

Well, obviously I'm going back. To pay AND to eat some more amazing pho!

Pho Bang New York

My friend Val and I LOVE restauranting (oh ya... btw I invent verbs now) together: she doesn't care that I spend a third of the time taking notes and pictures and I don't mind if she talks on the phone. Anyhoot, Val and I decided that, since we are uber poor right now, Chinatown will be our new hang out spot. Many restaurants, some of them good, most of them cheap!

That evening, we decided on a place that had gotten mostly great reviews; Pho Bang New York. Well, for me, any place with 'Bang' in its name is a done deal. So we're about to walk in and notice that it's full, overly lit and cafeteria style, meaning there are long tables and many dining groups sitting beside one another. I know it's not going to be a long dinner so cafeteria style sitting is ok by me.

We were seated quite quickly and as soon as we hit the chair, some tea was on our table. Thank the little baby Jesus (or as I like to call him, Heysus) for that hot tea 'cause I believe it was nearing the minus 8000 Celsius outside. Not cool man, not cool. We looked at the menu but knew what we were going to have, we were there for some Pho (more on pho: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pho). I really needed something hot to thaw my insides (insert picture here).

We decided to share a spring roll entree and both ordered the grilled chicken pho.

The spring roll. I LOVE spring rolls. This one, unfortunately, did not live up to our expectations.  I was dry and quite hard. Plus, I did not even taste the shrimp. And y'all know how much I loves me some shrimp.

Grilled chicken pho. Not the best decision ever made by either of us. The broth didn't taste like much; let's just say we added a lot of sriracha and hoisin to make it taste like somethin'. The chicken was good, thank Heysus, and the charred taste really came through. The choice of veggies... I mean, who wants what I call 'carottes d'avion' (you know, those tiny stooopid carrots) or cauliflower in pho? It smelled amazing when it was placed in front of us but even the yummy thai basil, the lime, nor the sprouts could save it.

Service was lacking, as it is in a lot of Asian restaurants that serve a shiz load of people per meal. Water was on the table quickly and we got the food really fast too but our waiter was looking around while taking our order and that just pisses me off. 

And now, the scores!

Food: 6

Service: 6

I'm not sure I'd go back, even for another kind of pho. Pho sho (hahaha, get it? mmmmya).



 

Pho 198

So, I lived for many years 2 blocks away from this marvellous spot and had never tried it. Bravo Marie, Bravo. Anyhoot, Pho 198 (so it's called Pho 198 because the owner's address is 198...)is located close to many restaurants in Côte-des-Neiges and right beside a Subway. No competition there!

I was sick (and still am...grrrr) so I decided to get myself a nice soup in an effort to try to get better. You know, soups do that. The waitress was very nice and considerate. She asked me if I wanted them to add ginger in there, you know, cause I'm sick. I thought that was nice. And then when she saw me take pics, she gave me a card and I told her I was a food blogger and she practically threatened the cook: 'if you FORGET to put ginger in there.....'. Hahaha.

Broth and goodness

I ordered the chicken pho. Mmmmmm....phooooooo! It had been a while for pho and I and this reminded me why I like it so much. Just opening the bag, you get a wiff of goodness. The thai basil brought so much flavor to the broth...so wonderful! The noodles were perfectly cooked. The chicken was charred and had great spices. Thing is it was a bit chewy. Meh. There were big chunks of ginger in there which could have been overpowering but it was actually very nice to bite in a big piece like that. The green onions and the bean sprouts added a needed crunch to the soup. Oh and they give you a mix of hoisin and hot sauce to either dip your chicken in or to simply put in the soup. 

And now, the scores!

Food: 8 Damn chicken!

Service: 9

You want pho? Go to Pho 198 and you will be pleased, I guarantee it!