Sherman's Food Adventures: Pho 99 (Schoolhouse)

Pho 99 (Schoolhouse)

Normally, I try to be as creative as possible when looking for eats. This is especially true when I'm all by my lonesome. Think of it, I'm already bored due to the fact I have no one to talk to. Why not eat something interesting to make up for it? Well, call it an epic fail this time around. I was scouring the neighbourhood around Maillardville for lunch options, in particular along Austin Road. One after one idea was squashed due to the absence of available parking. What is this? Richmond? Well, I really didn't have time to circle around and around looking for a space since I had to take the car in for servicing shortly after. Thus, I ended up at the new Pho 99 location attached to Zone Bowling right next to Silvercity.

Creative? Nope. Food that can be eaten quickly? Yup. As I walked into the spacious restaurant, it was only about 1/3rd full. Yet, they tried to stick me in a corner with no light. That won't do right? I asked for a window seat and everything was back on track. Normally, I order far too much food and this time it was no different. I decided to start with the Roll Combo consisting of one spring roll, one shrimp salad roll and one grilled minced pork roll. I have to say all 3 rolls were pretty average. First, the spring roll was made with a wheat wrapper. Not a big deal if it were good; but it was kinda bland. Then the 2 salad rolls did not have enough lettuce and didn't have any sprouts or basil. Hence it was mostly soft without any crunch. On the other hand, the Pork & Vietnamese Ham Banh Mi was pretty good. The bread was crunchy on the outside while airy and soft on the inside. There was a good amount of meat, pickled carrots along with crunchy cucumber.

As always, I went for the Pho Dac Biet. Similarly to all the other times I've been to the other locations of Pho 99, the portion size is acceptable - neither too little or a lot. I found the meats to be tender while the noodles were al dente. As for the broth, it was sweeter than I would've liked and it had this "daikon" flavour to it. Not sure if they used daikon in the broth; but it surely tasted more like Chinese soup than Vietnamese beef broth. With that being said, it was good in its own ways. It just didn't taste typical of Pho. So there is my boring meal. It was okay and pretty typical of what you get at Pho 99. At the very least, it is a better value than
Phố Hoàng Tung nearby.

The Good:
- Predictable
- Conveniently located from the Silvercity and Zone Bowling crowd
- Okay value

The Bad:
- Food is predictable; yet it is missing some things
- Service could be more attentive

Pho 99 Vietnamese Noodle House (Schoolhouse) on Urbanspoon

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