Pho Xe Lua Restaurant

One thing I had not had in quite some time was Vietnamese pho.  Once upon a time it was a weekly event however it had been quite some time since we last had it so when we passed by a mall sometime last week, we spotted a Vietnamese restaurant that my wife and I had not gone to for quite some time and since it was just before the noon hour rush, we figured that this was a good idea to have.  When I saw the name, I think the name of the restaurant and thus the ownership may have changed recently.  I'm not too sure, but I don't think Pho Xe Lua was the name of the Vietnamese restaurant when we first had it many years ago.The restaurant itself is situated in a busy Asian Mall on the north east corner of Finch Avenue and Leslie Street.

Curry Chicken and Rice

Despite the ownership change, we still went in and we ordered our favorites whenever we go to any Vietnamese restaurant.  I went with my favorite Curry Chicken on Rice combo while my wife went with the Pho with Tripe, Beef Filet and Tendon.  Both dishes arrived within 10 minutes of ordering.  I can see from the curry chicken that there were about three pieces of chicken and after stirring the curry, there was one piece of potato that was sliced in half.  The rice, sprinkled with green onions, came on a separate dish.  I mixed the curry with the rice and discovered the curry was pretty spicy, much spicier than I had originally thought.  I would probably give it a 7 out of 10 on the spiciness scale.  It actually surprised me a little bit in terms of how spicy it was.  Extra water was definitely needed to finish the meal.  Normally I don't need to reach for that glass of water but this curry had some pretty good kick to it.  There was plenty of curry sauce to go with the rice.  The chicken was cooked well as were the potatoes.  Kudos to the chefs for kicking it up a notch to give a strong flavor to this curry chicken meal.

The pho was rather medium in size in where bigger portions have been seen before however having said that, almost every square inch of the bowl was covered with something.  There were plenty thick noodles that covered the entire bowl.  The meat however was all cooked even though I know my wife had wanted it  to be the rare type where she could cooked it herself in the hot soup.  The soup base's taste was not as strong in flavor and compared to the amount of taste in the curry chicken, this was quite tame and mild.  Despite this, it was satisfactory once the hoisin and hot sauces got into it.

Pho with Tripe, Beef Filet and Tendon

It had been such a long time since I had Vietnamese food that I was almost craving it when we were hungry that day.  Having said that the meal was hot and all of it was goggled up that afternoon.  The food was not overly spectacular but the price was reasonable and there was plenty of parking on a weekday afternoon. Overall I give it a 3.5 out of 5.


Pho Xe Lua  Restaurant
157 Ravel Road
North York, Ontario

416-490-8822