January 10th, 2010 13 Responses

Whatchu Know Bout Pho?

A coupla years ago, a friend of mine from Toronto tried to tell me that vietnamese food was going to be the new japanese food. He said New York was eating beef noodle soup up like nobody’s business and that, eventually, we’d catch on. I laughed. I let him know that I had been chowing on noodles my whole life and so had everyone else in Vancouver. So is pho more popular than sushi? Well, it’s cheap, it’s mostly healthy, it’s abundant, it’s served fast and it’s pretty damn tasty. I don’t think I can name 5 good sushi joints in the city that I can come back to but I can sure drop the best pho spots in the city…and they’re all in East Van!

In no particular order:

1. Le Petit Saigon – 2783 Hastings St. – Clean decor, big portions and a killah chili paste they bring out just to mess with you.

2. Bao Chau – 2717 Hastings St. – The smell alone lets you know you’re in the right place. Very friendly staff but cash only.

3. Thai Hang – 2122 Hastings St. – Big bowls, low cost, high quality. My favorite spot in the city. Free dessert if you like beans.

4. Pho Quyen – 3916 Fraser St. – Just some good ol’ pho, like Pho Hoa was in the 90′s.

5. Pho Hoa – Various locations. – My friends call this the vietnamese McDonald’s. It’s pho by the book but offered 24 hrs a day.

And hands down, the best pho to grab outside of your mom’s house (sorry I moved out ma) is Tau Bay for my Surrey connects (10782-148th St) and Langley peoples (5790-203 St).

Filed in food & drinks — beef, eastvan, food, hastings, hot, noodle, onions, pho, rare, soup, steak, vietnam, vietnamese

Sumiko on January 11, 2010 at 9:57 am

Thai Son
373 East Broadway
When I used to go in there back in the day (and up until a few years back) everyone in the place would go dead silent when my dad and I walked through the door being the only “white” people in the place. They used to smoke cigarettes and gamble and fight in there but damn that Pho Tai Bo Vien is so damn good especially when followed with a Cafe Su Da.
syd woodward on January 11, 2010 at 8:03 pm

Pho Fo Sho
Tray-Ho on January 28, 2010 at 1:15 am

Pho Thai Hoa
1625 Kingsway
Best on Kingsway, too bad its not open late, just the daytime.
you get tons of stuff with your pho and cheap prices
eastvanj on January 30, 2010 at 7:33 am

Nice post – you can’t walk into Bao Chau without running into someone you went to school with – it’s a East Van institution. Honestly, the 2700 block of E Hastings is home to two of the greatest pho joints in all of Vancouver.
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Canuckism on February 3, 2011 at 11:25 pm

Pho Hoa on Kingsway and Nanaimo is the probably the best I’ve had…
liam moseley on March 20, 2011 at 8:31 am

Broadway and Nanaimo is dope as well as Pho Song? at Hastings and Garden! Du ma, en dep lum girls!
bizoid on March 20, 2011 at 9:30 am Author

song huong? yeah, massive bun bo hue fer sher!
jenk on May 21, 2011 at 7:41 pm

word. petit saigon has been my fave place to go forever. pho quyen is dope too
BreadWinner on May 28, 2011 at 7:46 pm

Thai Hang is whats up, couple times a month at least!
bizoid on June 1, 2011 at 4:10 am Author

thx for commenting y’all! pho phor lyphe!
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Simon on April 17, 2012 at 7:05 pm

Petit Saigon and pho hoa are both delish. But hands down best pho around, as you said: pho tau bay in surrey is where it’s at. Used to live right by there. They make a mean soup.