Pho-antastic! - September 14th and 15th

September 14th:
On a sunny Friday, my cousin, JT, and I went to Pho Bo Ga LA for some lunch. This was her first time having pho. Sure, the soups at the restaurants aren’t as good as my homemade version, but that doesn't mean it's not good. It's good in their own sugary and msg way. I didn't get a picture of the bowls, cause I was too busy gorging. It was good. Real good. I was full, but not omg-I'm-about-to-pop!-Here’s-my-last-wish... full. JT liked it, but preferred a different kind of noodle and soup with a deep fried shrimp pancake (from Toronto). I can't remember what it was called, but I'll find out and tell you guys. (Update: The dish she prefers is called Hu Tieu.)

We went to Bubblicity for some drinks afterwards. I got the almond bubble latté. It tastes like the fake almond jello. JT got the lychee bubble latté. It tastes a lot like lychee, but she said that it's better in Toronto. I'm not surprised. The food scene in Toronto is so much better than Ottawa's. There's no doubt about it. I wonder when Ottawa's food scene will pick up.


I was kind of bored and decided take random pictures. Look at how many tapioca balls I have left. But don't look directly into its eyes.

Oh no. Now you've done it. Now it's looking back at you.

RUN PHO YO' LIFE!

September 15th:
Hehee, this was one of those rare days where I got to eat out for two nights in a row. Guess what we were going to have for dinner? Pho. Mmm... fff-oooooh. This time, we went to Pho Thu Do - the place right beside Pho Bo Ga LA. My friend, Vanna, told me that the spring rolls were the best (in Ottawa) here. We ordered spring rolls and our bowls of pho. The spring rolls were small and stubby. I found them a bit bland.

The pho itself was the same as the other pho around Ottawa...

I find that most of the pho places in Ottawa that I go to all taste the same - a sweet soup with some cinnamon warmth. I can never taste the cloves or the star anise. Do they even add any? The one thing that's annoying is that when I order the "medium rare beef", it ends up being almost fully cooked. I wish they just put the raw slices of meat on a plate, like they do with the herbs and bean sprouts. Ah well. 

The place that serves soup that tastes a lot like my homemade version is Pho Mi 108. But I'll blog about that later. That way it gives me an excuse to go out and eat pho again.

~*~*~

Addresses:

Pho Bo Ga LA
763 Somerset Street West
Ottawa, ON
(613) 233-2222

Bubblicity
730 Somerset Street West
Ottawa, ON
(613) 230-8833

Pho Thu Do
765 Somerset Street West
Ottawa, ON
(613) 235-7116