Yesterday, Vince, Andrew, Crystal, Ronald and I headed to Basil Leaf, hoping to have a delicious bowl of pho. But to our disappointment, they were closed! Since when do Asian restaurants close on Christmas Eve?? I swear the only time asian places close is on Chinese New Year! What the heck? It was so cold too! Such a disappointment...

Quickly, we logged onto Urbanspoon to try to find a replacement other than Pho Tau Bay (I'm not a fan like many people are!!). The closest restaurant with the highest rating was Nha Trang.

Is it really #1?

The place was relatively easy to find, located conveniently by the Glenrose Hospital, so I'm sure they get a large amount of traffic in the restaurant. When we walked in, we were greeted by a friendly Vietnamese lady, who promptly sat us at our table in the humble little restaurant.

Like most pho places in the city, Nha Trang offers two sizes of pho - regular & large. Most of the time, I find that there isn't a big difference in the amount of food you are receiving, but the large tends to be filled with lots of soup & a little extra noodle. Considering it was 1:30 pm and none of us had eaten yet, we were pretty hungry and ordered the different sizes for comparison.


My pho!

Basil and lemon slices were served atop ice to keep them fresh, while the bean sprouts arrived on their own in a huge pile.


Keepin' fresh!

I went with the beef & beef ball noodle soup, while the others tried out the pho dac biet. The verdict? The large DID have quite a bit more in the bowl, hurrah!!


regular size


large size

The beef broth was generally tasty, but a little too oily for my liking. Noodles were cooked al dente, but I found the beef was a little on the tougher side. I understand that beef will vary from time to time, but I feel that good restaurants will have consistency and good quality meat, no matter when you go and eat. Last of all - Vince's bowl of noodles was garnished with a long piece of hair on top - yummy!! The waitress was happy to take it back to the kitchen and prepare a new bowl though, all which took two minutes. Not bad.

I'd still say Basil Leaf is my go to place for pho in this city - but I still have yet to pursue them all.

For dessert, we headed over to Dream Tea House to grab some shaved ice. My winning combo includes condensed milk, green apple syrup, tapioca & mango jelly. Delish!


best shaved ice!

Nha Trang
10120 111 Avenue
Edmonton AB


Dream Tea House
7912 104 Street NW
Edmonton AB

On the first day of school this week, Vince and I had a mandatory meeting to attend for work at 6:15 pm. The meeting was near the university area, so there was no point in heading home after class since we finished at 4. We did need a quick dinner fix, and I had chosen to go to the closeby Korean restaurant, Ga Ya. Unforunately, the restaurant was closed due to a family emergency (my condolences for your loss), so we headed over to Phobulous.

A lot of my friends always think I'm gross for liking the food at Phobulous. Why??? It still puzzles me to this day. I think their food is good. It isn't the best pho you can find in the city, but it's decent, flavourful, and awesome for being so close to the university campus. Say all you want, I love this place! And YES, familiar faces this time when we were there - our waitress was great!

Hu Tieu Original

I was feeling a little adventurous and ordered something different today - Original Hu Tieu. It's just like what Vince got last time. So, pho noodles cooked with pork, and served in a pork based broth, garnished with chives and shallots. I actually really like the broth, because it's clearer than the beef soup and has what seems like a richer flavour base in it. This might be my new 'go-to' food at Phobulous, just because my favourite pho is down at Basil Leaf!


Vermicelli bowl with beef, shrimp & spring rolls

Vince had a vermicelli bowl today - served with shrimp, beef skewers and deep fried spring rolls. This dish was also really yummy - I like that the fish sauce it is served with isn't too sweet. I remember a terrible trip to Doan's one time (the only time I EVER went), and I ordered the vermicelli bowl. The sauce was loaded with sugar, I had to ask for concentrated fish sauce to mix the right proportions myself. And ever since then I have always been wary of ordering vermicelli... Gee, you wonder why. Anyways! The beef was a little overcooked for my liking, but otherwise the bowl was great. I especially liked the spring rolls! Very crisp and they had a generous amount of stuffing inside them.


Deep fried icecream!

To finish off, we ordered the deep fried ice cream to see what it was all about! It was definitely different from the deep fried ice creams I've had before. It seemed like they coated the ice cream with a very thick batter - when I bit into it, it compacted in my mouth (somewhat like putting a ton of cotton candy into your mouth and having it compact into a ball of sugar), and I knew instantly that the batter was full of sugar! I'm thinking it was dipped into batter, coated with sugar, and the process repeated once or twice. Not to say it wasn't satisfying, but I prefer a lighter coat of batter. Next time I might check out the deep fried bananas :)

On Friday we headed over to Original Joe's on the south side of the city for Philippe's 19th birthday. Phil is like my little brother - we met back in high school and we always look out for each other. Love this kid. Anyway, Vince and I were CRAZY hungry, and we don't really like lounge type food. We settled for their tractor nachos that everyone was raving about.


Tractor Nachos

The half order was supposed to be enough for both of us, and they definitely were! The plate was loaded generously with toppings, but the chips were heated to a crisp! You know how you can bake chips and heat them so much that they're almost burnt? They're really hard when you bite into them and you can kind of pick out a burnt taste. Well yeah, that's what the chips were like for the most part. The chips beneath the exposed top layer were spared and weren't terrible, but I was hoping they would be better. ALSO, here's a tip. For the full sized nachos, I think you pay maybe $3-4 extra dollars and you get double the amount of food, so order that if you're a big nacho fan! Original Joe's isn't a place I would go out of my way to eat at, but if it happens to be nearby when I'm hungry, maybe I'll check out some of their other options in the future!

Phobulous
8701 109 Street
Edmonton AB

Original Joe's
9246 Ellerslie Rd SW
Edmonton AB

Yesterday, after studying at the library, I met up with one of my good friends, Dan, for dinner. We originally planned to try out Samurai Bistro located downtown, but to our dismay, the restaurant was closed when we got there! So instead, we headed around the corner to a Vietnamese restaurant called Basil Leaf.

Basil Leaf Restaurant

Basil Leaf has been open for a while now I believe, as Vince and I had made a prior visit sometime in March of this year. It's located where the old Chinese supermarket "shun fat" used to be (I have no idea what the English name was, because I was always told in Chinese!). That supermarket burned down twice I believe, and now this restaurant is located in one unit of the rebuilt building. The building is still empty with the exception of this one restaurant. Let's hope it doesn't burn down, cause I really like this place!

From the outside, you would not get the impression that the restaurant would look the way it does on the inside. The decor is very well done. It's modern, and of all things, this restaurant also features a sports bar! When we arrived though, the place was relatively slow, so we didn't get to see whether or not there was a dinner rush.

So as we sat talking about the past and present, the waiter was very eager to take our order, likely due to the fact that there was not much business and he was a little bored! Dan ended up ordering the pho dac biet, while I got pho bo vien (?), the one with just beef balls, because there was no tripe option! Boo!


My pho with beef balls


Dan's pho dac biet

However, once our dishes arrived, I was more than pleased! It was one of the best pho soups I've come across lately, and I personally think it could rival the broth at Tau Bay. The soup was flavourful, and not overloaded with msg since I wasn't really thirsty after the meal. The noodles were cooked perfectly, not too hard and not too soggy, while the beef balls were chewy and seasoned well. Dan also agreed with me on the soup, so everyone go check out this restaurant!

The prices are very reasonable for what you get, as the bowls are much larger than those at pho hoa, and are priced around $7.50. They also have an assortment of vermicelli bowls, spicy soups, and rice offerings as well. The only thing that really bothers me is the area the restaurant is located in. It's right by the Hope Mission, so there are some questionable people in the neighborhood. Be careful when you go :)

Basil Leaf Kitchen & Sports Lounge
10023 107 Avenue NW
Edmonton AB

After our usual Friday pre-dinner drinks with co-workes at O'Byrnes, I had a ridiculous craving for pho despite the heat of the summer sun. The closest pho place we could think of was Phobulous - so we headed there since we haven't been in a long time.

When we arrived it seemed as if the restaurant was closed since the parking lot was nearly empty, and the neon light of the open sign didn't seem to be shining. I was hoping not to look like a fool by pulling on the door, and sure enough the door swung open! I guess the open sign didn't seem to be on due to the bright summer sun shining right back at it.

Once the door opened, I could smell the fragrant scent of the beef broth being boiled, and we were seated promptly by a new waitress. One thing I have noticed about this restaurant is the constant changing of staff running the restaurant. I swear I never see a familiar face each time I walk in there! Nonetheless, the waitress was very friendly and seated the two of us promptly while the other waitress brought us our water - all in the timespan of 30 seconds.

The thing I really love about this restaurant is their creativity in their play on words. Practically all of their pho offerings include the word pho, such as the 'mother pho', 'pho real' and 'pho shizzle'. Besides the change in staff, I also noticed the recent change in decor. The restaurant used to feature scenic portraits and more modern looking furniture, but now there are paintings and photographs taken by local artists hung up on the walls, available for purchase. It's great to see that this restaurant supports local talent!

Such a creative name :)

While perusing menu (I already knew what I wanted) I noticed a new forest-green coloured piece of paper stuck to the inside of the menu, advertising some weekend specials, which included a northern Vietnam spicy noodle soup. Despite being adventurous, Vince was unable to order the dish since they didn't consider Friday as a weekend day (but they consider Monday??? So weird. I'm guessing it is possibly since there may be leftover items from the weekend available!)

I ended up ordering the 'phonomenon', which is pho with rare beef & beef balls, while the waitress recommended a sate hu tieu bowl to Vince. Hu tieu is a little different from traditional pho, where a pork broth garnished with chives and crisp fried shallots is used instead of beef broth. Service was great, so we didn't have
to wait long before our orders arrived steaming hot!


Phonomenon - pho with rare beef & beef balls

My pho bowl was 'phonomenal' as usual, with the tender beef slices and chewy beef balls (I wish there was tripe!), and seemed to be a much bigger portion than normal. Maybe it's due to the fact that I am too used to seeing the dinky portions being offered at other Vietnamese restaurants in Edmonton! What I was most interested in, however, was Vince's hu tieu sate.


Hu Tieu Sate served in two separate bowls

As the waitress brought over his food, it was served in two separate bowls. The large bowl contained the noodles topped with fried sate chicken, chives, shallots and vegetables, and filled with very little soup. This was accompanied by a smaller bowl of the pork based broth on the side. She said that normally the dish is served as one, but she felt that having the two separate really brought out the flavour of the sate.


Let's get a little closer..

I found his dish to be very flavourful as well, and a nice change to the usual beef soup. The hu tieu broth is markedly different, capturing the true flavour of pork, and a little saltier than the usual pho soup. Either way, it was a delicious meal and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. The next time I go, maybe I'll be seeing some familiar faces again.. at least I hope so :)

Phobulous
8701 109 Street
Edmonton AB

One thing I love about the end of a work day? Having the time to eat away troubles that happen at work (aka the craziness kids put me through!) Despite the summer heat, Vince & I chose to stop by our favourite pho joint, Pho Tau Bay, to have a delicious bowl of beef noodles!

such a nice summer day :)

The only way to keep cool while eating the noodles was of course by ordering my favourite jackfruit shake :) I find that the jackfruit shake at Tau Bay is quite different from the others found around the city. The one here is mostly just jackfruit blended with ice, almost into a slush-like consistency. Other places such as Pho Hoa make a smoothie-based jackfruit shake, with less (and more chunky) jackfruit content and milk/cream in it. Either way, it's still jackfruit & I'll take it anyday! Yum yum.

best pho in Edmonton!

I had my usual, pho tai sach, loaded with the raw beef & tripe. It was delicious as usual, served in the nice clear broth. Can't wait til I hit it up again!!

Pho Tau Bay
10660 98 Street NW
Edmonton AB

Yesterday to boost my motivation to study for MCAT, I booked a lunch & study date with Andrew - Our choice for lunch? Maki Maki! Vince and I had visited this location for lunch once before, but we were definitely on the fence about this one..

"Maki maki means roll roll" as quoted from their menu, and right they were. They had approximately 60 different options for sushi rolls ranging from your everyday california roll to the ecstacy roll (which Vince did not enjoy on our first visit), and a locally named Oilers roll. We met up Vince to have lunch and give this mix of Vietnamese and Chinese food a second try.

For lunchtime, they had some specials, like bento boxes ranging from $8 - $11, filled with various sushi rolls and sashimi options. I myself opted for the lunch special pho, which was a HUGE bowl of pho dac diet (and yes, I picked out everything except the beef & tripe.. mmm)

For me, beef tataki is a must, so we obviously ordered that, and gave their dragon eyes a try as well. Andrew chose the tuna bowl, and a yam roll, while Vince like his usual self tried to be adventurous, but settled on the BC roll and the spicy scallop roll.

Pho Dac Biet
The pho itself was GINORMOUS. I felt like it was an extra (extra extra, perhaps?) large bowl of pho, loaded with the works that you usually find in the pho dac biet. The meat offered inside was mediocre, in some bites I felt the beef was a bit on the tough side, but otherwise it was good, especially for the lunch special price of $7.25. Of course, it's pretty difficult to find very good pho in this city, especially when Tau Bay downtown is one of my favourites :)

Beef Tataki
For the beef tataki, we ordered the small plate at $8.95 rather than the large for $18.95 because we had no idea what we were getting into. However, the beef tataki was a decent size, and could almost be argued to be my favourite dish from this meal! The beef was nice and tender, not hard to chew, and there was a more than generous amount of seaweed and onion to compliment the beef in the ponzu sauce.

Dragon Eyes
Dragon Eyes, another one of my favourite sushi dishes was a big disappointment for me here at Maki Maki. Perhaps it is because it has been so perfected by Mikado that it's untouchable? Does anyone know anywhere else that makes Dragon Eyes in this city? Let me know! Anyways, the salmon in the Dragon Eyes was way overcooked, and very dry. If it weren't for the big bowl of sauce served with the Dragon eyes to compensate for the dryness, I don't think we would've been able to finish this sushi dish.

I guess I'm interesting when it comes to sushi.. I love the raw beef tataki, and tobiko and masago (fish roe) I would eat anyday, anytime, anywhere. But when it comes to raw fish? Gross! No thanks! So I had to leave it up to Vince & Andrew to review the raw seafood sushi for me.

Tuna Bowl
The tuna bowl came with 5 big chunks of tuna sitting on top of rice. Thats it. Just 5 pieces of tuna and rice. For the price point of $10.95, you're better off ordering the tuna nigiri priced at $1.60 each so you're not forcing yourself to eat all that rice!

6 pc BC Roll
Like the Dragon Eyes, Vince's BC roll had overcooked salmon, making the sushi extremely dry. The boys didn't complain about the spicy scallop or yam rolls, so I'm guessing those were pretty tasty! All in all, it was a decent lunch, but not somewhere I would prefer to go for sushi or pho by themselves.. but it's always a fun place to go when you have people in your group craving either or!

Yam Roll

Spicy Scallop Roll

After hitting up the local Second Cup in Riverbend, Andrew and I studied for MCAT at the library.. or did we? Ask David.

Hi David - thanks for supervising us at the library over skype :)

Maki Maki Japanese & Vietnamese Restaurant
8109 101 Street NW
Edmonton, Alberta