Pho Vietnam

Finding a pho restaurant especially in the city of Toronto shouldn't be too hard as there are plenty of restaurants out there. Having said that, finding one that is tucked way back in a shopping plaza could be a little bit more challenging especially if one is just driving by and not looking for anything in particular.  Pho Vietnam is a restaurant that has been opened for about 2 years now, however finding it could be a problem as it is tucked all the way back to the third building in the corner of Midland Avenue and just north of Finch Avenue in Scarborough.  We decided to give it a go as we were looking for a quick meal and pho noodles were front and center in our minds.  We only knew about the place as my wife likes to shop at a place just across from the restaurant, otherwise we would have no idea there was a restaurant hidden there.

We got there on a late Sunday afternoon where the restaurant had only a half full of customers.  The lunch rush had dissipated and we were directed to a booth.  The table had not been cleared yet as there were some dirty bowls and tissues still lying around the table.  The waiter came by and grabbed all the dirty bowls however there was still a dirty kleenex located just in front of the chopsticks holder. Thinking that it would be picked up, it actually would remain there for the duration of our meal.  We were then given menus and I proceeded to order the small pho with everything on it including tripe, tendon, brisket, and flank in it ($6.95)

Regular Pho with Tripe, Tendon, Brisket and Flank

Despite ordering a pho that was suppose to be all well done as I would be sharing the bowl with my daughter, the meats as you can see in the picture were still a little bit on the rare side.  The beef noodle soup was fine however the noodles were a little soft and mushy in some areas.  The bowl also contained plenty of green onions and condiments were on the side.  

I think what bothered us the most was the dirty crumpled kleenex that literally sat through our entire meal and was never picked up even when our drinks or bowls of noodles were delivered.  It sat from beginning to end and was in clear sight of anyone who would be walking by.  It is possible that the waiter(s) may have thought that it was one of ours however the first person who was clearing and wiping our tables never bothered to pick it up so hence it sat.  During the meal as well, we actually had to return a couple of smaller bowls as they were still a little dirty and replacements were required.

As for the food, it was average at best. Some will argue that their prices are a little bit more than some of their competitors.  I only ordered a small and it was still close to $7.00 for the bowl.  The restaurant certainly lost some marks for cleanliness as neither some of their bowls and the dirty tissue were ever picked up.  I guess it's a good place to go if you are just running in and out and are looking for a quick bite, however if you are going to charge your customers an extra dollar or two on all your dishes, then that quality has to be somehow reflected back either in the food or the overall cleanliness of the place.  Difficult to give high marks at this place so I will go with the average and give it a 3 out of 5.

Pho VIetnam
3262 Midland Avenue
Toronto Ontario

647-351-0909

Omi Sushi

One has no idea how difficult it could be to find a Japanese sushi restaurant to be open on a Monday, especially when the Monday happens to be a holiday.  Most Japanese restaurant tend to close on Monday after being open all weekend however when there is a national holiday that falls on the same Monday, it makes it doubly hard for one to find a sushi restaurant to be open on that day.  It took us a little while, making a half dozen calls all around the city, but we finally found one that was open in east Scarborough in Omi Japanese Restaurant. 

This restaurant is tucked in some a small plaza located roughly in the corner of Lawrence Avenue East and Kingston Road.  The place is a little embedded so if one drives too fast, you will sure to miss the restaurant. 

We decided to do the take out from the restaurant as there were many hungry friends of ours waiting back home for some delicious sushi and sashimi.  We chose this place because they not offered only sushi and sashimi but they also offered Udon noodles and a variety of tempuras. We placed our order ahead of time over the phone and were told that it would take about half an hour for them to prepare for the food.  As we were waiting inside the restaurant, we noticed that the restaurant was only about one quarters full and that there wasn’t really a whole lot of Japanese décor inside the place.  They did though display a rather large quantity of alcohol and beers behind the cashier.  We went with two medium sushi and sashimi platters, some tempuras and a couple of beef Udon noodles.  We also tried ordering some glass noodles however they were not available on that day. The medium platter contained about 53 pieces and cost about $40.00.

Sushi and Sashimi Platter

The first thing one would notice when they looked at the platter was that all the pieces were rather large.  This could be good or bad, as the bigger pieces actually made the platter look small because of a lack of variety.  There weren’t really any specialty fishes in the tray as it looked like it was mostly butterfish and salmon.  The rolls too looked big with a combination of California and salmon rolls dotting the tray.  Some egg rolls and surf clam rounded out most of the contents of the tray.  The fish itself was decent, as it seemed to be rather fresh and not one that had been kept in a freezer for long periods of time.  The sushi rolls were okay at best and didn’t really have a wow factor to it.  The rolls seemed slightly dry as if the rice had been sitting in the cooker for a little while. 

On the other end, the Udon noodles tasted pretty good.  The unfortunate part was that the proportions in this case were rather small.  They had used a medium size container to hold the soup and a medium size container to hold all the Udon.  We ordered a seafood Udon that day and the seafood contained included surf clams, mussels and shrimp.  However, there weren’t that many pieces of seafood inside the noodles container which was quickly gobbled up by my hungry friends. 

The Vegatable Tempura was equally disappointing in that there were only about 4 or 5 pieces in the small container.  There was the yam and cucumber but that was pretty much it.  For the amount of money one pays and for the amount of food one gets, this certainly was a little disappointing.  The tempura taste wise however was not bad and remained fairly crunchy despite the trip back home.  It was just too bad that there were so few pieces in the container. 

Overall, it might have been average at best for take out.  It’s probably true that one would probably get better bang for their buck if they were to eat in and do their all you can eat special which was $19.99 per person.  For the 2 medium size platters plus two Seafood Udon noodles and a Vegetable Tempura, the total came out to about $130.00.  The problem was that after the sushi, a large pizza was needed to make sure the stomachs were full.  An increase in quantity would have been great and may have made their customers happier.  Overall I give it a 2.75 out of 5. 

Omi Sushi

4352 Kingston Rd, Toronto, ON
647-748-4352

Songcook's Korean Restaurant

If one is out and about town and is looking for a really good Korean restaurant, then look no further than SongCook’s restaurant located at the busy corner of Yonge Street and Steeles Avenue.  This restaurant boasts some of the best authentic Korean dishes in the city.  They also have traditional seating where one could sit on the floor or with a regular table and chair. We got there on a Saturday evening approximately 8:30 pm and had to wait for about 10 minutes.  The manager asked whether we wanted to sit on the floor or at a table and we decided to go with the floor.  They brought us to the right side of the room where there about 5 or 6 of these types of booths or tables for one to sit at.  Unfortunately for us there were nine of us where only half of us were there.  Seeing that we had been sitting there for almost 30 minutes waiting for other friends to arrive, the manager brought out some complimentary dumplings and seaweed for us to chew on while we were waiting for our friends. He kept us entertained and made sure our drinks were full all the time.  Customer service was really important to him and he sure didn’t miss a beat.

Complimentary Dumplngs

 After our friends arrived, we quickly scoured the menu to see what was good.  Some of other friends have eaten here numerous times before and recommended a few dishes for all of us.  They included Kalkuksu ($9.00), La Kalbi ($13.99), Brown and Barley ($3.50), Jengban Jajang ($18.99), Seafood Soondubu Spicy Stew ($9.99), Haemul Pajun ($19.99) and the Tang Siu Yuk ($18.99).

The Kalbi was sizzling as it was set on our table.  The short ribs, mixed with a bit of garlic sauce, were nicely marinated and juicy with every bite.  There was little to no fat in each of the pieces of the rib which was great to see where other restaurants in the past have served a piece of rib that was all fat and no meat.  Having said that, the meat was just a fraction into the tough side suggesting possibly a slight overcook but otherwise it was nicely done.  It was a great side to have and was a great compliment to the barley rice.

Kalbi

 The Jengban Jajang was one of the best noodles I have had in quite some time.  This dish was basically a stir-fried noodles mixed with some vegetables, seafood, ground beef and black bean sauce.  The ground beef mixed well with all the seafood and what I particularly like about this dish was that it was not caked in black bean sauce.  The sauce was there but it was subtle to the point where it did not overwhelm the tastes of all the other ingredients in the dish.  The noodles were soft and thick and did its job in filling one’s stomach

Jengban Jajang

The Kalkulsu was the first to arrive and this was basically a bowl of noodle soup mixed with seaweed strips and shrimp. This dish I have to admit was a little deceiving in that from the surface, there wasn’t a hint or trace of anything spicy in the bowl but once one started to dig into this dish, one quickly realizes that this was one very spicy bowl of noodles. It wasn’t until you got to the bottom of the soup bowl that there was a large piece of jalapeno sitting at the bottom.  That one piece of jalapeno certainly made one huge difference with respect to the taste.  Each with caution although if you absolutely love spicy foods, then this was one bowl of noodles one should have.  

Kalkulsu

After the last dish, the next one the Seafood Soondubu Spicy Stew really didn’t seem so spicy at all.  The major difference is that at least one could tell that the stew was spicy from an orange color soup base.  Inside the soup, it looked there was primarily tofu, shrimp and ground beef mixed with possibly some red peppers.  As mentioned before, I’m sure this stew alone was pretty spicy but after the last dish, one’s tongue was pretty numb so it was difficult to gauge as to how spicy it was.  It was tasty however and the mixture of the three main ingredients went very well. 

Seafood Soondubu Spicy Stew

Next to arrive was the Haemul Pajun, which was basically a seafood onion pancake.  In the Chinese culture, they have an oily green onion pancake which is similar but not quite similar to what was being served.  The pancake served here that evening was much bigger in size, not as oily and loaded with seafood and other tasty ingredients.  It was semi-crispy but the one thing that I truly liked was that every bite till the last bite had something in it and not just the dough of the pancake.  Seafood that I could taste and see included squid, clams and shrimp.  

Haemul Pajun

 The last dish to arrive was the Tang Siu Yuk.  We ordered this because we were just a little bit shy of the full mark for a few of the boys so we decided to go grab one more meaty dish.  The dish consisted mostly of fried pork mixed with some cucumbers, carrots and onions which was then fully immersed into a sweet and sour sauce.  The sweet and sour sauce hit all the right taste buds in that it gave the dish a bit of zip and zang to it.  The pork was perfectly made, nice and hot and not chewy at all.  It was really the perfect dish to order to finish off the night. 

Tang Siu Yuk

We all had a very good time here at SongCook’s.  After an exhausting day, many of us were looking forward to a nice hot meal and this place did not disappoint.  The food was terrific and bonus stars were made to the manager who get us alive as we were waiting for our friends to arrive.  We certainly gave them extra tip as it was well appreciated.  I certainly would go again and would recommend all of you to give it a try.  Overall, I give it a 4.5 out of 5. 

SongCook's Korean Restaurant
6-72 Steeles Ave. W. Thornhill, ON 

647-678-8000