Kam Ding

Once again, we find ourselves in Coquitlam looking for Dim Sum. As I have mentioned many times over, for the prevalent Asian population in the Tri-Cities area, there is shockingly very few choices. Of course there is the default in Kirin at Henderson Centre. Yah, that is too easy of a choice. Furthermore, it ain't exactly cheap either. So what to do when one wants moderately-priced Dim Sum? Not too long ago, I traveled to PoCo for some decent Dim Sum at Rainbow Butterfly. In that post, Ginseng commented that there is another Dim Sum joint out on Anson Ave. Oh yeah, this place used to be a wonton noodle house in the past. When I used to live in Coquitlam, my family would frequent the place quite often until they decided to take some shortcuts... What shortcuts you may ask? How about passing off ground up red beans cooked in simple syrup, thickened with corn starch as Sweet Red Bean Soup??? Uh... No. I can see why it's not there anymore. What's next? Cardboard replacing pork in the wontons? Oh wait, that really happened in China...

So off we headed over to Kam Ding for some Dim Sum at around noon. Alright, I know what you are thinking. "Are you crazy???" I do realize that is the prime time of Dim Sum and my chances of getting a table are as good as getting the last dumpling at a sampling station at T&T Supermarket. However, we gave it a shot. I dropped Viv off and she ran in to check how long we had to wait. Believe it or not, we got a table right away! Wow, I really can get that last dumpling after all... Right. Some old Asian lady would most likely shove me out of the way to get that last dumpling (especially if it were a shrimp dumpling). I should only continue hoping. Anyways, to my surprise, the place employs push carts. Talk about ol' skool. Not too many joints do this anymore. The benefit of push carts is that you can get your food right away. The negative is you end up filling the table too quickly with food and it all gets cold. Oh, and it makes it hard for me to keep up with the photos too!

To start things off in a different direction, we ordered the Shrimp Sui Mai. Normally, these dumplings are made with a combination of shrimp and pork. This version had a mix of shrimp mousse, corn, carrots and whole shrimp topped off with compoy. The result? Mushy. Nothing inherently wrong with the shrimp per se, it was sweet; but the chew and snap textures I normally look for in Sui Mai were not there. Chalk this up to personal preference. From one shrimp dumpling to another, we got the Scallop and Shrimp Dumpling. This was pretty good. They were large with a mix of shrimp mousse and whole shrimp with a scallop on top. The texture was much more appealing than the Sui Mai, having a nice resistance. This was probably a nice preview to the Haw Gow (Shrimp Dumpling). These suckers were absolutely huge. Once again, there was a mix of shrimp mousse and shrimp encased in a slightly chewy wrapper. I thought the texture was fine, just like the previous dumpling; yet the flavour was predominantly sweet and not much else. Hey, that is not a big issue when the darn thing only costs $2.75!

If that wasn't enough shrimp already, we got an order of the Shrimp Spring Rolls. There were actually 4 rolls; but my son was hungry and ate one already. I mean he ate the crunchy parts only and gave me the shrimp. Nothing particularly amiss with this. It was crunchy and there was whole shrimp inside. Now something that didn't have any shrimp - the Beef Meatballs. I'm sorry to say that these were too soft. Normally, the desired texture of the meat should be slightly bouncy. Basically soft while still having some chew. This one was bordering on mushy. Mushy balls, no good. Taste-wise, it was fine with a nice hint of dried orange peel. From balls off to Phoenix Talons or Chicken Feet. These were not bad, the skin was a tad loose and the sauce was a bit salty; yet nothing particularly wrong with it either. The mushiness started all over again with the Black Bean Spareribs. Completely over-tenderized, these had no texture whatsoever. One bite and the thing melted in my mouth. Good if it were chocolate, bad since it was pork (unless it was bacon dark chocolate... which Whipping Girl gave me - Yum!). I did like the flavour though, it was a good combination of black bean, garlic and dried orange peel once again.

Now the my daughter was eating most of the dumplings while my son was merely eating spring roll wrapper. So we got an order of the Pan-Fried Soya Noodles for him. Neatly presented, these were pretty good. They were soft while still offering up some textural chew. I thought they were oily; but then again, they are always a bit oily. My son ate a whole bowl of these, so I guess they were more than acceptable. As for dessert, we got an order of the Steamed Custard Buns. Actually, we also got an order of the BBQ Pork Buns too; but I'm not including a photo because it looks exactly like the custard buns, just with different filling. The bun itself was quite good exhibiting softness without going mushy. I thought the BBQ pork was too sweet; however, the pork was quite good not being fatty. As for the custard bun, the filling was not too sweet and the texture was pleasing. My son ate a whole bun, so I guess that was good too. If anything pleases him, then it must be good! In terms of the Dim Sum at Kam Ding, I would say it is generally okay. Yet, there is really not much to complain about since all of the regular dishes are only $2.75 each. Furthermore, the portions are very good. Of course it cannot compare to Kirin and it doesn't try to. It is a good inexpensive alternative where friends can meet for some eats. With that being said, I think Rainbow Butterfly is better for the same price. Oh, and I never made it out to T&T afterwards, so I didn't end up suffering dumpling theft.

The Good:
- Cheap
- Large portions
- Food comes out fast

The Bad:
- Service was decently friendly, it was just very hurried
- Food is a bit hit and miss
- Prepare to wait in line

Lumière

*Restaurant is now closed*

Okay. If you haven't noticed by now, I've been trying to sample the very best meals in Vancouver. Of course "the best" does not necessarily mean the "most expensive". Case in point, the chicken wings at Phnom Penh. Yet, how do we know if something, that is deemed expensive, is good or not? Simple, go try it out. Naturally, that is not an economically sound endevour by any means. The kids don't need a college fund, right??? So, from the Omakase at Tojo's and Octopus' Garden, the seafood tower at Blue Water, the porterhouse at Gotham, local celebrity chef's restaurants Bishop's and Cioppino's, the tasting menus at Market and La Belle Auberge to the best French food in my opinion, Le Crocodile, I am working my way through. Next up is a place I've been eying for quite awhile. Lumière. The tasting menu at Lumière was one of the best in Vancouver prior to Daniel Boulud's arrival. Tonight, our goal was to see if their Grand Tasting menu would live up to the lofty expectations of a $175.00 per person meal.

There are 3 tasting menus at Lumière with the Grand Tasting a the most expensive. Although it is advertised as a 9 course meal, the courses alternate amongst 2 people. Hence, there are actually more than 9 courses to "sample". As long as you have a cooperative dining partner who wants to share that is. As an amuse bouche, we were presented with a Mini-Pacific Oyster with lemongrass veloute topped with sturgeon caviar. This small little bite packed quite the punch with a sweet oyster enveloped by a very apparent lemongrass kick. A nice little start to an epic meal. As our first courses arrived, I started with a Fraser Valley Venison Pâté with a consume gelée, cranberry, cauliflower and Orléans grainy mustard. The pâté was quite firm from all the large pieces of meat. In this respect, it was more like a terrine. I actually liked this since there was texture and it was quite apparent what I was putting in my mouth rather than the more finely chopped type of pâté. I found the flavour to be quite mild and not gamey at all. The condiments provided some nice sweetness and zing.

While I was enjoying my venison, Whipping Girl was working on the Citrus Cured Hamachi with finger lime, tofu, beets and white sturgeon caviar. I really enjoyed this one due to the sweetness of the hamachi paired with the acid from the citrus. The tofu didn't add much for me and was a bit clumsy to eat. The beets were a nice addition to an otherwise soft textured dish. Moving onto another soft textured dish was the Quebec Foie Gras Mousse with celery root, apricot, hazelnut and brioche "waffle". Foie can generally be quite heavy since it is essentially pure fat. Much like the puffed foie gras at The Apron, the foie mousse had an almost non-foie quality to it. This is not necessarily a bad thing though. It still had the good elements of foie, in terms of taste, buttery smooth texture and melt-in-you-mouth decadency. Yet it was presented as a "sundae" of sorts where underneath lay unsweetened apricot gelée and pureed celery root. The red wine reduction along with the apricots helped cut the richness of the foie. The hazelnuts were a pleasant surprise since I wasn't exactly sure if it would interfere with the smoothness of the foie. In fact, the crunch was welcomed as with the nuttiness. And the fact I'm a sucker for brioche made the accompanying "waffles" a treat to eat.

From the foie, we went back to the alternating courses with Whipping Girl starting with the Cornmeal Crusted Qualicum Bay Scallops with white beans, black truffle and icicle radish. Although the cornmeal crust gave a nice crunch to the scallops, I personally would've been happy with a plain sear. Naturally, the black truffles provided a strong earthiness to the dish. So much so that Pomegranate thought it tasted like the ground. Not in a bad way of course, it just did what black truffles do. All along while Whipping Girl was enjoying the scallops, she was eying what I had - Four Spice Marinated BC Black Cod with smoked hen of the woods, pear, cashews, pork rillon and 5 spice pork jus. She was eying it because we were raving about it. The slow- baked black cod was outstanding. Texturally, it was moist and soft while still being flaky at the same time. Everything on the plate screamed out balance from the sweet pears, mild bacon, mushrooms to the cashews.

The next set of dishes caused quite the commotion at our table. You see, Whipping Girl and Pomegranate were presented with the
Celery Root and Pine Nut Crusted Arctic Char with braised red cabbage purée, celery root spaghettini and black trumpets finished with a red wine sauce. Nothing wrong with that right? Let's just say the dish I was served would be the highlight of the night. More on that later... As for the char, it was very moist, maybe a little too moist. Not mushy by any means; yet it lacked some texture. It could've been a bit firmer in our opinion. I personally loved the trumpets underneath the char, a really woodsy taste that was necessary for the mild tasting fish. The whimsical celery root spaghettini along with more celery root and celery gave a nice textural balance to the other soft elements. But whatever really... Because the Three Squash Spiced Ravioli with brussels sprouts, king oyster mushroom and sage brown butter emulsion commanded our full attention. This was an absolutely OMFG dish. One bite into the slightly past al dente pasta yielded a flavour explosion of squash that I would have never imagined. Being a meatarian, I am not easily impressed by non-meat dishes. However, the squash was a delicious combination of natural sweetness, impactful savouriness finished with a smooth, buttery sweet creaminess that yelled out "heaven".

If we thought nothing could top the ravioli, we were all presented with the Spice Glazed Fraser Valley Duck with Du Puy lentils, beet and apple carpaccio finished with apple duck jus. Normally, I'm not a huge fan of unrendered duck skin. However, the skin was so tasty due to the bold glaze, I had to eat it all. The glaze started off with a pronounced saltiness while finishing off with a sweet kick. That was all the tender duck needed to complete the flavour profile. Mind you, the tartness of the apples were a natural compliment to the saltiness. The luxurious duck jus only helped amp up the flavour quotient. What came next were the "meat" dishes. I had the Roasted Rack of Opal Valley Lamb with artichokes, onion, eggplant and lamb jus. Served without the "rack", the lamb was cooked beautifully and evenly. Whipping Girl thought it wasn't gamy at all. The lamb jus, much like all the sauces we had, was luxurious and had depth without being salty. The fried shallots on top looked like a garnish; but it added a lot to the overall flavour profile of the rare lamb. The lamb shoulder was formed into a "stick" which was much gamier and acted as a nice contrast to the rare lamb. On the other side of the ledger, Whipping Girl started with the a stunning Duo of AAA Prime Beef consisting of a red wine braised short rib, seared rib eye, potato fondant and romaine parcel. First off, the braised short rib was sinful. Atop the tender rich meat resided a gelatinous layer of fat. Coupled with the concentrated Bourdalaise sauce, the piece of meat was a party in my mouth. As for the rib eye, it was very tender and properly seasoned. It was cooked perfectly medium-rare. I loved the potato fondant. It shows remarkable skill to cook a potato to the point of almost melting; yet at the same time retaining its structure and texture. The burnt milk & shallot made the potato extra enjoyable to eat. Although the romaine parcel wrapped in butter lettuce was a neat item, it was just lettuce to me.

By now, we were not really in the mood for more food when all of a sudden a considerable Cheese Plate arrived (along with some fig bread and crackers), consisting of Fourme d'Ambert (cow's milk, Auverne, France), Quince Jelly, Candied Almonds, Comté (cow's milk, Franche-Compté, France), Manchego (sheep's milk, La Mancha, Spain), Le Chevrot (goat`s milk, Poitou, France) and La Sauvagine (cow`s milk, Quebec). The sweet quince was a natural compliment to the gamy Manchego and blue cheese (Fourme d'Ambert). I really enjoyed the triple cream brie (La Sauvagine) with the fig bread. We didn't end up finishing all the cheese since we had to save room for dessert(s). The first one was the Pink Lady Apple Pavé on a speculoos crust with a ginger cinnamon panna cotta on top and bottom. The dessert was thankfully quite light and not too sweet. I found that the apple had quite a profound impact in terms of flavour. The mild panna cotta ended up as a textural compliment to the crunchy speculoos. The small pink lady squares combined with the small rounds of tart apple added another level of tart and sweetness.

Our second dessert consisted of a Hot and Cold Tiramisu Sundae with chocolate cremeux, marscapone mousse, ladyfingers and coffee ice cream. The hot chocolate cremeux was served table side and poured over the sundae, melting the top piece of chocolate accented with edible gold. This was both a decadent and not very heavy dessert all at the same time. I know this doesn't make much sense. True, it was rich with all the chocolate, ice cream and marscapone; yet at the same time, I didn't feel overwhelmed. Rather than being incredibly sweet, the individual components provided a nice coffee and dark chocolate kick. As if all this wasn't enough, we were presented a small plate of Petit Fours consisting of chocolate, macaron, caramel, jelly and meringue. And finally, our last little treat was a basket of Madeleines right out of the oven.

Wow. That's all I can think of to describe this meal. As much as I thought that this tasting menu would be hard-pressed to live up to the $175.00 price tag, it ultimately succeeded. The one thing that impressed me the most was the level of execution with every dish considering the quantity of items and the restaurant was practically full. As much as we demand perfection, it is really hard to attain. Another achievement was the balance of flavours. Not at any time was there an overpowering element to any dish. If it was on the plate, there was a reason for it. Naturally, not all of the offerings necessarily wowed us and honestly, that should never be the case since we all have individual preferences. But if we take everything as a whole, including the phenomenal service we received, it is no wonder that Lumière has just recently been awarded the 5 diamond rating from AAA/CAA for 2011. They now hold the distinction as the only restaurant in British Columbia to be held in such high esteem. I must mention that the service was highly professional and spot on. Yet, it was never stuffy or pretentious. I felt comfortable being myself and that in itself is very important to me. What's worse than feeling uptight during dinner? Of course not everyone can justify spending over $200 on dinner for one person; but if you can, do it at Lumière.

The Good:
- Superb execution
- Top-notch service
- Great balance of ingredients

The Bad:
- Duh. It's expensive

Kim Chau Deli

If Robson can be declared the Ramen corridor, then Kingsway should really be known as the street of Banh Mi. Just drive down the blocks in between 12th and Knight. You'll find Ba Le, Tung Hing, Empress Bakery and Kim Chau among others. So on my ongoing quest to find the best Banh Mi or Vietnamese sub, I stopped in at Kim Chau. It was fairly busy inside and the lady behind the counter asked me what I wanted. I replied, "one of each, except for the vegetarian". Her response was, "we only have #1, we sold out of the others!". Uh... really? How come I see meats galore in the store? That really confused me. Whatever, I got 3 of the "Specials" to go. Otherwise known as the Banh Mi đặc biệt, the sub consists of Vietnamese ham, headcheese, pate, pickled veggies, cilantro, hot peppers, butter mayo and fish sauce on a crusty baguette. I have to say right now that for $3.00, the Special Banh Mi at Kim Chau is one of the best values I've seen to date in the GVRD. Sure, Empress is only $2.75; but it is not remotely as big as the one at Kim Chau. It is easily a third size longer than the one from Ba Le. In terms of taste, it was a bit heavy on the fish sauce. Despite this, I could still taste the ample pate and meats. The baguette was not too dense and very crusty as a result of the "Quizno's"-type oven.

Unsatisfied at only being able to try one of their 6 available subs, I returned the next day. I asked a younger lady at the counter, "are all the subs available today???". She replied, "if I'm here, they are all available!". Turns out she is the daughter and the mom does not like making any of the other subs. Apparently, the daughter had asked her mom why all of the other meats were not used during her time away. Mom had claimed no one had asked for any sub other than #1. Hey! I asked for other subs! LOL!!! All the daughter could do was shake her head... So, I got my wish today and tried 3 more of their available subs starting with the Satay Beef. Although, I found the meat to be on the chewier side, it was very flavourful. It had a pronounced sweetness to it with only a slight hit of spice and saltiness. The result was a very tasty sub since all of the other ingredients were quite mild except for the hot peppers. Oh, and the daughter asked me if her mother had offered me hot peppers. Nope. All she could do was laugh and shake her head... For the next sub, I picked a relatively boring one in the
Shredded Chicken. Not really something I'd chose for myself; yet some people don't want spicy or weird meat. As expected, it was pretty bland. The chicken was tender though and the crusty baguette was the necessary texture needed for such a texturally challenged ingredient. This time around, there was less fish sauce which made the subs less salty. Probably mother liked to load up on the fish sauce too.

The last sub was the Marinated Pork which is actually a prepared pork product that is quite sweet. The texture reminds me of a cross between jerky and spam. I know, that doesn't sound great; but believe me, I like the slight chewiness that is still soft at the same time. Despite being predominantly sweet, the pork worked for me since it contrasts well with the fish sauce, pickled veggies and hot peppers. A nice balance of flavours if you get everything in one bite. Strange that I have never visited this place before, it has been around for 20 years! Well, I guess I'll be returning for more Banh Mi, as long as the daughter is around.

The Good:
- One of the largest Banh Mi in town
- Generally all taste good with the Special reigning supreme
- Uniformly crusty baguette, especially right out of the toaster

The Bad:
- When it's only mom there, you only have one choice of Banh Mi

Come Along

What's the place called again? Come Along? What??? Come again? That was my initial reaction when Costanza told me about this Chinese restaurant near his house. That was over a year ago and at first, I merely dismissed it. Believe me, I've actually been wanting to write a post on this place for along time. C'mon, check out the name! Easily misinterpreted and even more easily ridiculed, this was crying out for me to write about it. I guess by virtue of waiting for a whole year, I have certainly "come a-long". So seriously, Costanza suggested we do Dim Sum and since he really didn't want to travel far, we settled on Come Along. We were slightly delayed in arriving on time; but it appeared that Costanza came first... er... arrived first. We planned to meet up at 10:00am in order to avoid the crowds. With 2 sets of kids in tow, it was a good plan! I guess that is the price we have to pay for coming along... several years ago.

We ended up with a table in the corner which suited us fine. Kids could make as much noise as they wanted and no one would notice. Heck, it's Dim Sum. Everyone is loud. Come Along! As with many Dim Sum establishments these days, ordering is as easy as ticking off a checklist. Sure, the era of push-carts is coming to an end; but I really don't mind. This way, I don't have to wait for the beef balls to "come along" at the very end. I can have my beef balls right at the start! And hot beef balls at that! Sadly, we didn't order the beef balls. So we ended up to be ball-less, which would mean "come-up short" instead. Anyways, we started with the classic in the Haw Gow (Shrimp Dumplings). Simply, these were good. Packed with plenty whole crunchy shrimp and well-balanced in flavour, it's too bad we only ordered one steamer of these. We had to sacrifice some of it for the kids. The dumpling wrapper was on the chewier side; but that's a lot better than mushy. The Sui Mai (Pork & Shrimp Dumpling) exhibited the desired texture of being slightly chewy while still tender to chew. The right amount of shrimp and shiitake mushroom added nice flavour. I'm not sure if there was too much MSG or not; but I was quite thirsty afterwards.

Something that is becoming increasingly common is the Fried Daikon Cake. Normally, it is pan-fried in squares. In this version, they are cut into strips and deep-fried. Sometimes they are in cubes at other places. With this preparation, the cake is uniformly crispy on the outside and generally soft on the inside (dependent on the quality of the cake). This one was pretty good and didn't seem too oily. Once again, it had good flavour with the daikon and Chinese sausage. But it was a tad salty... Come again? Next, we had the Pea Shoots & Shrimp Dumplings. Looking at the picture, it is obvious that the dumpling skin was thin, which is a good thing. Only slightly chewy and full of crunchy whole shrimp with pea shoots, this was yet another solid dish.

When the Fried Squid arrived, we were impressed at the size of the dish. It was absolutely overflowing with perfectly fried tentacles. Curiously, it was all tentacles. No real issue with me since I like them; yet I can see how someone might be turned off. In addition to being tender with some snap, the tentacles were well seasoned from the salty batter. Once again, despite being a fried item, it did not seem oily at all. Now for the requisite Shrimp Rice Noodle Roll. As always, this is one of the dishes a Dim Sum service is judged upon. This one passed with flying colours. The rice noodle itself was soft, not mushy and super thin. This is exactly how I like it. Furthermore, the large shrimp within the soft sheets of noodle were perfectly cooked and had a crunch.

With that in mind, the Pan Fried Rice Noodle Rolls were just as good. Exhibiting the same qualities as the steamed version, it was soft while retaining some chewiness. I particularly liked how they prepared the dish with care - from the pan-fry all the way to its plating. Every roll was uniformly cooked with a nice dark soy colour. The way it was plated actually resulted in more noodles since it is not haphazardly strewn all over the plate. Now onto some offal! Actually, that is the best part of Dim Sum in my opinion. Too bad not everyone shares that point of view. Thus, I do not always order it. Thankfully, Costanza is a fan and we decided to get both the Honeycomb Tripe and the Bible Tripe. Other than being a bit salty, the honeycomb tripe was tender with a little chew left. I liked the use of daikon underneath to soak up the flavour. The bible tripe was on the softer side and there was a goopy glob in the middle with bits and ends. Come Along? The sauce had too much starch; thus becoming too thick. This too was a bit on the saltier side. All of this was making me thirsty!

I really liked the Deep Fried Taro Dumplings. Much like the other fried items, it was not oily at all. In fact, there was no evidence of an oil slick on the bottom of the plate. This is a clear indication that it wasn't oily to begin with or they somehow soaked up the oil before serving it. They were crispy on the outside while the inside yielded soft taro with a flavourful ground pork filling. Whenever we get together with Costanza and family, we seem to order too much food. Well, this was no exception this time as it just kept going and going. Up next was the Mini Loh Mei Gai (or Sticky Rice wrapped in lotus leaves). Unlike recent mushy ones I've had lately, this one was soft; yet only soft enough. There was a slight bite to the rice still. Moreover, there was no shortage of ground pork and shiitake mushroom filling. Mixed together, there was moisture, flavour and some chewiness left in the sticky rice. Very well done.

For dessert, we got what the kiddies always look forward to - the Egg Tarts! Right away, I have a bias towards the ones made with flaky pastry (which this one did) rather than a tart shell. Somehow, the hard tart shells spoiled the entire dessert for me since it is supposed to be silky smooth with a buttery flaky crust. Although these ones were not exactly served hot, they were still very good. I really wished that they had not brought these as our first dish (yes, I left it to the end of this post because it just seems right). Somehow, Chinese restaurants do not understand the concept of food expediting in correct order (well, the high-end ones know this...). I digress. Anyways, the tarts were exactly how I like them and it was a fitting end to a surprisingly great Dim Sum meal (in lieu of the indifferent reviews of the place). Price-wise, I found it to be quite reasonable for the amount of food we got. As expected, service is very sparse due to the "mad house" otherwise known as Dim Sum. However, the service was courteous and responsive to our requests. As we left, the lineup was getting long, so it's best to arrive before 11:00am to avoid that. Not sure about dinner; but as for Dim Sum, I'll definitely "come again".

The Good:
- Solid Dim Sum
- Reasonably-priced
- Large portions

The Bad:
- Not uncommon to these types of restaurants; but the seating is a bit tight
- Service is hurried, still courteous though
- Long lineups

Phố Hoàng Tung

It seems you can find a Vietnamese Pho joint anywhere. On a major street, Downtown (a few), in the burbs, a dark corner and of course in strip malls. Much like the beloved sushi restaurant, there always seems to be a small family-run Vietnamese restaurant tucked in a corner somewhere. To keep costs down, many of these establishments are remnants of former restaurants (which are usually never remodeled or renovated). Thus, we see Vietnamese food served in a dining room that looks strangely Italian or Greek. Hey, how else can you get full for well under $10.00 otherwise? Then you have the type that occupy a small hole-the-wall where the only decor consists of dollar store art. Phố Hoàng Tung fits this description to a T. Hey, I don't really mind. If the food tastes good and it's cheap, that's good enough for me.

This place is obviously a family-run operation with the son as the lone person server. He seemed quite interested in my picture-taking. I just said I like taking photos of food. Well, it's true! LOL... So we started with the Salad Roll and they were pretty large. Maybe a bit too large. You see, there was so much in the way of sprouts and lettuce, the shrimp and giò lụa were completely lost. But then again, when dipped into the peanut sauce, it gets lost anyways... so don't mind me... We also tried out the Cold Cut Banh Mi and this wasn't bad. On the positive side of the ledger, the roll was crunchy and a bit chewy. Yet, the pickled veggies were bland albeit crunchy. Lack of pate did not help the relatively blandness of the sandwich.

Like always, I went for the Special Pho with every practically every meat possible. For a large bowl, there didn't appear to be much in the way of noodles, meat or soup for all that matter. I had to ask for more soup! However, in the end, it was an okay amount. I found the broth to be on the sweeter side while the noodles were cooked properly. Meats, as little as I got were tender. Viv had the the Chicken Skewer & Spring Roll Vermicelli Bowl. Curiously, there was very little vermicelli. For something so inexpensive, it would be easy to add a bit more to give the dish an appearance of value. Despite this, the chicken wasn't bad and I must give them props for using rice wrappers for the spring rolls, although they lacked filling.

Okay, there is nothing majorly wrong with the food here. In fact, it's not bad really. Sure, we had way better Vietnamese food elsewhere; but there is nothing in the way of competition nearby. Pho Hoa is a good drive up the hill to Austin and it is really nothing to write home about either. So despite the smallish portions and somewhat average food, this place is still a viable option for those who work nearby or those on their way to catch a flick at Silvercity.

The Good:
- Friendly family-run joint
- Okay eats

The Bad:
- Smallish portions