When it comes to pho, I always prefer eating it in a restaurant rather than ordering takeout. The noodles don鈥檛 clump, the Thai basil leaves stay crisp, and the slices of raw beef don鈥檛 become rubbery and grey from stewing in a hot, sealed container.
At the just-opened Thornhill location of , mother-and-son team Thanh Duong and Tony Hoang鈥檚 Vietnamese restaurant, they take things one step further with the pho suon bo (beef rib pho). Hoang brings a kettle to the table and pours steaming beef broth over the large bowlful of vermicelli, raw beef slices and grilled beef ribs. In addition to being prime fodder for a camera phone (like it or not, a dish that translates well to social media helps a business stand out), this allows the beef to cook just shy of medium rare and remain lusciously, melt-in-your-mouth tender. If the problem of overcooked beef can be solved with a bit of tableside flair, why not?
The new Vietnoms has opened at Bathurst Street and Steeles Avenue.
Nick Kozak / FOR THE TORONTO STARDuong and Hoang relish being able to serve more diners at this second location of their restaurant, in a large plaza anchored by a FreshCo and a Dollarama at the northwest corner of Bathurst Street and Steeles Avenue West. Their other spot, which opened six years ago in a small plaza at Sheppard Avenue East and Bayview Avenue, is tiny, with just eight seats. Its menu mostly encompasses the takeout staples of pho, banh mi, vermicelli platters and rice dishes. The place gained a following, but the space limited which dishes Duong could make. At the new location, there鈥檚 what they call an 鈥溾 of specials that are best enjoyed at tables.
鈥淲e outgrew that space,鈥 says Hoang. 鈥(Mom) wanted to push the envelope with more street food. The (new) dine-in menu is where we can be more adventurous with foods that you have to eat right away. When you see raw beef on Uber Eats, you might not want to order it if you don鈥檛 have that interaction (at the restaurant), where we can explain the dish.鈥
Crab and pork tapioca noodle soup.
Nick Kozak / FOR THE TORONTO STARSeating no more than 20, the Thornhill spot鈥檚 small dining room is awash in natural light with pops of forest green and red 鈥 a nod to the popular of Vietnamese rice paper, according to Hoang鈥檚 wife, Colleen Lee, of the design firm . There鈥檚 the dine-in-only bo tai chanh: thin slices of raw beef marinated in lime juice, fish sauce, chili oil, garlic and herbs, served with a purple cabbage slaw and finished with fried garlic and shallots. The beef is slightly torched, adding a smoky aroma to temper the salty-sour-sweet flavours of the ultra-tender beef.
Though messy, the banh canh cua is also worth getting. A large bowl (which would be considered XL at a typical pho restaurant) of bouncy tapioca noodles floating in a rich chicken-crab broth is topped with pork sausage slices and shell-on Dungeness crab that I happily tore apart with my fingers since they鈥檙e meatier than the more commonly found blue crabs. The owners recommend adding a spoon of the house-made chili oil, which has a slight lemongrass tang.
For the charred beef rib pho, broth is poured at the table.
Nick Kozak / FOR THE TORONTO STAROne of Duong鈥檚 favourites is the bun dau mam tom cha muc, a platter of vermicelli, fried tofu cubes, thinly sliced pork belly and house-made patties of pulverized squid and shrimp. Put a bit of each into a bowl and add a healthy spoonful of mam tom, a sweet and salty, highly aromatic shrimp paste that fans of the pungent, fermented condiments of southeast Asian cuisine will love.
Duong claps her hands in front of her face when I say it鈥檚 my favourite of her off-menu dishes, as the platter is a street-food specialty of Hanoi, where she was raised as the youngest of 10 children. She left home for Saigon at 18, selling coffee, working as a seamstress, catering, anything to send money to support her family. Wanting a better life for her kids, she immigrated to 色色啦 in 1992.
The new Vietnoms has opened at Bathurst Street and Steeles Avenue.
Nick Kozak / FOR THE TORONTO STAR鈥淚 worked as a seamstress and worked really hard, and worked three jobs. And going to ESL, (I learned) English as a single mom,鈥 she says. 鈥淓very day I slept for maybe five hours at the most.鈥
She eventually ran a nail salon, but sold it to fund her restaurant dreams. 鈥淚 was always thinking of opening my own restaurant,鈥 she says. 鈥淚 always want to add more things onto the menu. I love cooking.鈥
The dining room can fit around 20 customers.
Nick Kozak / FOR THE TORONTO STAR鈥淪he makes the best food, but it鈥檚 hard when people don鈥檛 know about it,鈥 says Hoang. 鈥淲ith the dine-in environment, I can explain the menu and introduce the dishes. She has a lot (of dishes) on the backlog, like Vietnamese savoury crepes with turmeric, pork belly, shrimp and lots of herbs, and clams stir-fried with lemongrass that you eat with shrimp crackers. If it was up to her, we鈥檇 have 100 items. But we鈥檙e still new, so we鈥檒l see how things go.鈥
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