White Lotus

Sometimes, we often overlook things that are right in front of us.  Kinda explains all the car accidents in Richmond...  LOL...  I digress.  Anyways, for me personally, I tend to travel for food and it seems that anything close to where I live doesn't exist.  They really do exist and some are quite good.  Back in the Summer, I tried one of the newer spots in the White Lotus situated in the old Kah Mun Bakery location.  With only 4 tables, we had to wait a bit, but it was well worth it as the Vietnamese food was on point and well-priced.  I didn't bring my camera that time, so I returned once again ready to take some photos.

For myself, I had the Bun Bo Hue just like last time and I chose spicy again as well.   There was no choice of size, but I assure you, it equated to a large.  Beyond the ample layer of meat on top, there was plenty of slippery lai fun noodles nestled in a spicy broth.  Despite the spice level, it didn't interfere with the rest of the ingredients and actual broth.  I could enjoy each component without having my taste buds destroyed.  I liked how they added ample sliced pig's feet, but was wanting some pork blood as well.  My daughter went for the same thing she had last time as well with the Pho Dac Biet.  Steaming hot, the broth was sweet and fragrant.  The flavours were clean and not overly salty.  Much like my bowl, there was plenty of tender sliced meats.  However, the noodles were clumpy and we couldn't even do a noodle pull because they broke apart.

Keeping with consistency, my son also went for the same with the Lemongrass Chicken on Rice (added a fried egg for $1.00).  Another solid dish where the chicken was broiled bone-in.  Not particularly convenient to eat, but the meat was tender and succulent.  There was enough marinade that the meat was flavourful.  Viv wasn't with us the last time, so we finally had something different in the Pork Patty Vermicelli Bowl.  This was large in portion size with fluffy vermicelli noodles that weren't too soft nor too chewy.  On top, the aggressively seared pork patty was crispy, sweet and smoky. 

For good measure, we added a Cold Cut Banh Mi which was a good call, as my son was hungry after dusting off his rice dish (ravenous teenager!).  Although the baguette was a touch dense, it was still fairly crunchy.  Inside, there was no shortage of meats and the pate was impactful.  As you can clearly see from the pictures, things looked quite standard.  In some sense, yes, but in general, the food tasted great.  Coupled with fair prices and friendly people, White Lotus not only serves the locals, you might want to check it out if you are in the neighbourhood too.

The Good:
- Fair pricing
- Solid eats
- Nice people

The Bad:
- Well, there are 4 tables only
- Noodles were clumpy this time, but were okay the first time