Sherman's Food Adventures: Gold Train Express

Gold Train Express

Once upon a time, I used my Blackberry Curve to take pictures of my food.  I would post them on my Facebook and that was it.  No blog, crappy pictures and certainly no official food adventures.  Yes that was 5 years ago and life was simpler back then.  With the beginning of the blog, I had visited a 24 hour Pho joint called Gold Train Express.  Our visit was not exactly memorable for a number of reasons and as much as I begged Milhouse and Polka King to do a return visit, they flat-out refused.  Something about a neon sign indicating there were "fresh washrooms"...

Well Gordo did not fear, nor was he there for the initial visit, so he was more than game to join me after late night hockey. We started off with an order of Pho Tai and it was pretty standard more or less.  The broth was a touch weak with a hint of aromatics while the amount of noodles and meat were modest.  For myself, I had the Bun Bo Hue and it seemed a bit more fulfilling in size.  The broth was quite light except for the chili oil slick on top.  I didn't catch much lemongrass nor spiciness, but it was decent enough considering the time of day.  And no, there was no pork knuckle nor blood either.

As a side, I decided to try their Banh Mi Dac Biet and it was not that great.  There was an interesting array of ingredients which looked like Dole green salad mix.  The bun wasn't exactly airy nor crusty either.  The conservative smear of pate didn't help things either.  I'd pass on this if I were ever here again. "Meh".  Nothing much to get excited about this revisit.  Does the job for a 24 hour joint, but I'd probably hit up Pho Hoa instead.

The Good:
- Open 24 hours
- Lots of mirrors (if you like that)
- Interesting neon inside

The Bad:
- Food is so-so
- It wasn't like the service was bad, but the owner dude loves to give the death stare

Gold Train Express Vietnamese Cuisine on Urbanspoon

6 comments:

Steve said...

I've only been in there once, several years ago, probably attracted to the neon (I love neon). I too found the food to be rather "meh" and the service was fairly slow, although it was quite busy at the time. What really turned me off however, was the overall filthiness of the restaurant. How did it look on your visit? Some of the recent health inspection reports don't paint a very good picture.

LotusRapper said...

Oh no, you didn't go there again did you ? That's the place that intentionally rips you off when you pay your bill:

http://www.shermansfoodadventures.com/2009/01/gold-train-express.html

LotusRapper said...

See VCH's reports:

http://www.inspections.vcha.ca/Facility/Show/7a08fcfd-9b04-11d3-baa8-005004ae1145

LotusRapper said...

Hey, your previous review disappeared.

Sherman Chan said...

@Steve It was still not exactly clean...

@LR Oh, I usually take down posts that are no longer relevant. They charged me accordingly this time! LOL...

LotusRapper said...

But unfortunately there are no other pho joints in that stretch of Kingsway (to my knowledge) unless you head east to Willingdon (Green Bamboo, Pho Century) or over to Nanaimo where all the pho joints start, all the way to Fraser. Mabe GTE is taking advantage of that void. Either way you can't pay me to eat there, LOL.

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