Wonderpho- Free PHO for Father's Day.

free pho!...  Wonderpho is a restaurant in North York that specializes in vietnamese food.  I found out from my friend, Jason, who also runs the restaurant, that they are offering a FREE pho for Dads on Father's Day (Sunday, June 16 2013)!!!  It's a nice casual place to go for lunch, as the restaurant has a more modern decor than the typical Pho restaurants in Toronto- the only place in T.O. that I have eaten Pho at an Outdoor Patio!  I went yesterday and had the Rare Beef + Beef Brisket Noodle Soup (Regular Size- $7.99 + tax/tip) along with some appetizers (half price from 3-5 pm!).  The pho is pretty good- with the soup being pretty light, if you are used to heavily flavoured soup bases.  Also had the Pork and Tiger Shrimp Spring Rolls (~$2-$3/ plate with the happy hour special), which are stuffed! I want to go back for more of these super crispy + tasty spring rolls!  Also must try their complimentary Taro Chips, thinly sliced and baked pieces of Taro!

Info for FREE Pho on Father's Day:

- Print or Show Coupon to recieve Free Regular size Pho for Dads on June 16, 2013 (Valid for tables of 2 or more with another full paying adult order)

- Add $2 to upsize to a Large size Pho

Fickle Viet Chinese Cuisine.

pho in the downtown core!... Fickle is a Viet/Chinese restaurant downtown Toronto that has been open for about a year.  I was quite ecstatic when I heard about a pho place opening up around Yonge and College, where fast food joints are a dime a dozen. If you walk or drive by, their crazy interior lighting/ decor will really draw your attention.  The restaurant looks kind of like a club with colour changing walls and ceiling.  The entire place slowly changes colours while you are eating, which is kinda trippy (reminded me a bit of the mood lighting they use in planes during a long flight to HK).

When I first tried this restaurant, they definitely had their share of problems, especially slow/ inadequate service (waited 45 mins for food, clearly understaffed, no water refills, missing orders), but I recently went again and things have definitely improved.  Fickle has an extensive menu of chinese, viet and asian fusion type items, but I was here strictly to eat some Beef Noodle Soup aka Pho close to where I live.  The Pho comes in 2 sizes, Regular ($7.99 + tax/tip) and Large ($8.99 + tax/tip).  It is served with slices of lean beef and 2 out of the following items: Brisket, Soft Tendon, Beef Balls, Tripe. There isn't much variety in the pho- especially with the absence of chicken, seafood and curry pho choices! Aside from the inflated prices (the Regular and Large sizes are more like Small and Medium bowls at other places), the Pho is decent and comes with the usual tray of beansprouts/ lime.  For $9.99 + tax/tip, you can have the Fickle Special pho, which comes with a mix of all the meats listed above (kinda like #101 at Pho 88).  I also tried their viet Spring Rolls, which they call Fickle Spring Rolls ($4.99 + tax/tip).  These were good deep fried viet spring rolls that came with 2 rolls cut up. 

In terms of pho, there are definitely better places across the city (and cheaper), but the convenient location just north of College TTC station will keep my coming back when I don't want to travel far to get my fix of Pho.  They have lots of items I haven't tried and any feedback would be great if you have been to this place. The service at Fickle recently was pretty good and it seems that things are running much smoother than half a year ago.  Alcohol is served here, so you can get wasted and jam out to the colour changing walls! haha.

Fickle Viet Chinese Cuisine

507 Yonge St

Toronto, ON 

M4Y 1Y3

(647) 351-3529

Manpuku Modern Japanese Eatery.

japanese fast food... One of my friends, Shirley, who is part Japanese suggested that we try this place called Manpuku. Manpuku Modern Japanese Eatery is a small sit down restaurant that serves Japanese dishes other than sushi (ex. noodles, rice dishes and small Japanese snacks). The place is run by actual Japanese people, which is hard to find in Toronto (especially with all the Chinese and Korean run sushi places).

I was also there with 2 other friends, Mark and Shiaang, and each of us ordered a bowl of Niku Udon ($5.99). The Niku Udon was just a basic bowl of udon topped with beef and green onions. In terms of taste, this bowl of noodles was delicious, as the broth tasted just right and the bowl of noodles was filled with beef. For each bowl of noodles, they also give you the Japanese Mixed Chili Pepper Powder, which both adds and brings out the flavour of each noodle dish. We also ordered a serving of Takoyaki Octopus Balls ($4.99). Each plate came with 6 takoyakis, which are balls of batter fried with diced octopus inside each ball. It is also covered in a mayonnaise like sauce and bonito fish flakes, which move around when it comes out hot. If you've never seen these bonito flakes move around on hot food, it actually looks pretty cool as the dish looks like it is alive! (see video)
Manpuku is different than your typical Japanese restaurant in Toronto as they offer customers a chance to try quality authentic Japanese dishes other than sushi. It is located in the Village by the Grange food court across from OCAD. This is a good place to drop by for a quick meal as they even advertise their food as "Modern Japanese Fast Food."

Manpuku Modern Japanese Eatery
105 McCaul St. Unit 29-31
Toronto, Ontario M5T 2X4
(416) 979-6763

OPENING HOURS: MON-WED 10am-8pm | THU-FRI 10am-11pm | SAT 11am -11pm | SUN by appointment

Viet Hoi Noodles House.

pho... I was playing in the Taste of Asia basketball tournament a while back and it started raining like crazy, so my whole team decided to forget the tournament and go grab food instead lol. We were right by Pacific Mall (aka P-Mall, Pac-Mall) and someone suggested that we go eat at Viet Hoi Noodles House on the second floor. As you've seen in my previous posts (Trainhead, Pho 88, Pho Dau Bo, etc.), I love vietnamese noodles, so I was more than happy to go try this place.

The Pho at this place is pretty decent, but not as good as Pho Dau Bo. Everyone at our table ended up getting #39, Large Size Rare Beef Noodle Soup because they had a $3.99 promotion for this. I was tired from basketball, and still hung over from drinking the night before, so I totally did not notice this $3.99 deal and ended up getting the XL Lean Beef and Beef Brisket Noodle Soup ($6.85 +tax/tip). The pho here was decent but I don't think I would come back here unless they keep running the $3.99 deal, which is awesome for a Large bowl of pho! I'm not sure if they still have this deal, but if anyone knows, please let me know, as this has to be the cheapest bowl of pho you can get in Toronto.
Viet Hoi Noodles House is located on the second floor of Pacific Mall near where the Heritage Town area is.

Unit F30 Pacific Mall
4300 Steeles Ave E
Markham, Ontario
905-940-6828

Pho Dau Bo.

pho... I haven't been to Pho Dau Bo in the longest time, so I recently went there to grab dinner. This place definitely seems more authentic than places I usually go to like Pho 88 or Trainhead. Right on their window, they claim to have the "Most Famous Vietnamese Beef Noodle Soup." This claim is backed up by the fact that the pho that they serve here is awesome and possibly the best Pho in Toronto.
I went with 3 other friends and I ordered #342, Special Assorted Beef Rice Noodle Soup. This came with rare beef, well done flank, soft tendon, beef trip and beef balls. Their prices for the beef noodle soup (aka pho) is pretty standard ranging from $4.75 for a small size to $7.00 for an XL bowl. The pho was awesome in terms of the perfect tasting soup, noodles and all the beef parts included in it. In addition to noodles, we also ordered two different types of tasty spring rolls to accompany our meal - the typical deep fried vietnamese spring rolls and also cold rice paper wrapped shrimp rolls (I don't remember the price of these ~about $4-5). I also like the fact that they serve ice cold tea during the summer, which is perfect when eating a really delicious yet steaming hot bowl of pho.
Pho Dau Bo is located in the west end of North York on Finch, just north of Weston Road. I think they serve the best Pho in Toronto and I'd love any feedback on even better places!

Pho Dau Bo
2437 Finch Avenue West
North York, ON M9M 2E7‎
(416) 749-9943‎

South China Noodles Delight.

noodles... I went with my parents to South China Noodles Delight, which mainly serves Southern China style Noodle in Soup dishes (aka Guilin Rice Noodles). The restaurant is pretty small and even their wooden chairs seem to be smaller (maybe I'm just fat after all this eating lol). They have lots of different types of combinations for the noodle soups including shredded chicken, shrimp and fish balls, ox tail, beef brisket and and more uncommon things such as deer and ox offals.

I went with the Beef/ Ox Offals with Vermicelli in Soup (Large- $5.99 + Tax/Tip; small- $4.99 + Tax/Tip). Some people don't like beef offals (aka Ngau Chap in cantonese) because they are usually turned off by the fact that beef offas are basically a mix of the "weird" parts of the beef including lungs, kindey, liver, tripe, etc.. I love this stuff and I also get this every time I go to dim sum. The bowl of noodles was huge and was loaded with lots of beef parts and pickled Chinese vegetables. I was definitely satisfied after this tasty and flavourful bowl of noodles.
My parents went with the Ox Tender and Brisket with Vermicelli in Soup (Large- $5.99 + Tax/Tip; small- $4.99 + Tax/Tip). There was tons of beef brisket in the bowl as you can see in the top picture. The soup base for all the noodle soups were the same (a unique flavour that seemed both salty and sour, probably because of the pickled vegetables that are also thrown in).

To accompany our noodles, we also had one order of Pan Fried Sweet Corn Cake ($2.99). This tasted pretty good and you'll like it for sure if you like the taste of corn. It isn't really sweet though, just lots of corn flavour. The pancake also comes in lotus root and water chestnut flavours.
South China Noodles is a pretty unique restaurant as I haven't been to many other places in Toronto that serve these types of noodles. The portions are big and the prices are pretty cheap for a quick lunch or dinner. They are located in Scarborough just north of Finch on the west side of Midland.

South China Noodles Delight Inc.

3380 Midland Ave.
Toronto, ON M1V 5B5

(416) 293-1880‎

Pho Delight Vietnamese Cuisine.

pho... Since Pho Delight Vietnamese Cuisine is close to wear I live, I go here quite often if I want to grab some quick pho (Vietnamese Beef Noodle Soup) and not travel all the way to the Pho 88 at Bamburgh Circle (there is pho 88 at Empress, just not the same). Pho Delight Vietnamese Cuisine has a smaller menu than most places and only serves 2 sizes, large or small, but their pho is quite good. I usually like to order the beef brisket pho, which is not the same as the chinese style beef brisket, instead they give you thinly sliced pieces of brisket..mmm. I ordered the beef brisket one, while my friend got the rare beef and tripe pho. If you don't like the combinations of different types of meat they have on the menu for the pho, you can just ask them for whichever ones you want and from my experience, they will be happy to switch it up for you. In addition to the pho, we also got some spring rolls, which are gooood here and come with a side of vermicelli which tastes mad good with the fish sauce that comes on the side.
Quick Notes: The portions aren't as big as other pho places, especially with only 2 sizes to choose from, but its close by (North York) and pretty good. Pho Delight Vietnamese Cuisine is located on the west side of Yonge, North of Sheppard (5252 Yonge Street). The large pho is ~$7, the small one is ~$6 and the spring rolls were ~$4, from what I remember. I also came another time and my friend ordered a Malay/Thai curry dish that they also had and said it was alright.

• There is a small parking lot behind the restaurant, shared with the bar next to it, so park there for free if you plan on going

Pho 88.

pho... I mean fuhhh, as my viet friends always correct me. I went for a pretty late dinner tonight (~9pm) at the Pho 88 at warden/steeles in the Bamburgh Circle Plaza. For those of you who don't know, pho is a popular vietnamese beef noodle soup dish that is perfect for lunch, dinner, after partying and whenever you just want ALOT of food for about $6-$10, depending on size. I go here pretty often and as usual, got my normal order of the XL beef noodle special with the rare beef, tripe and all that good stuff. This is definitely my go-to spot when I'm in need of some fuhhh. My buddy got the XL noodles with just the rare beef, which looked pretty good too. In addition to the largest, tastiest XL beef noodle soups, they also make some damnnn good viet spring rolls filled with meat, which go great with the fuhhh. Pho quality at this place is better than the downtown ones (ie. Pho Hung, Train Head) and as usual you'll get your food within 5 mins of ordering. Leave a comment with any other good pho/fuhhh places you would recommend.

Quick Note: I only go to this Pho 88 location (Warden/Steeles @ Bamburgh Circle Plaza), the other ones (downtown, and by empress in North York) are not the same, so don't be confused. This location is quite busy most of the time, but turnover time is fast. BTW, the meal we had: 2 XL bowls of PHO and 1 order of spring rolls came to $18.95 (after tax, before tip).