I wouldn’t exactly say that I am a Vietnamese Pho connoisseur, but having grown up near the Kingsway region in Vancouver, I’ve been exposed to my fair share of Vietnamese noodles. The Dot Com Pho crew had a preference for Pho Lan in Richmond at first, but we soon spread our wings to other pho restaurants like the place with the happiest pho on Earth. By and large, I assumed that it wasn’t really possible to make especially bad pho. At worst, you’d be stuck with mediocre pho. Oh boy was I wrong.
Even though I find myself in Edmonton for some strange reason, I still must get my weekly fix of pho noodles. I’ve tried three restaurants here thus far and the one that has impressed me the least has to be the ironically named King Noodle House. It just opened a short while ago on 97 Street in Chinatown and there is a banner hung overhead that reads “The Best Beef Noodle Soup in the City.” Also known as Pho Hoang, would King Noodle House live up to these claims?
King Noodle House is actually a lot smaller than it looks from the outside. There were maybe about 15 tables or so. The interior decor, put lightly, is unlike anything that I’ve seen in a pho establishment thus far. There is a strange model ship in the middle of the restaurant, looking kind of like the Santa Maria. The overhead ceiling fans boast multicolor lights. The seats are almost lounge-like in appearance. There’s even a small aquarium built into the cash register counter. If I didn’t know any better, I would’ve sworn that I walked into an English fish and chips joint.
Pricing is pretty much in line with Vancouver pho restaurants, getting you a large bowl of noodles for $6.25. There’s also the extra large for $8.75. I just hope that you enjoy “well-done flake and trip.” That’s flank and tripe, in case you’re wondering.
They say that they have the best beef noodle soup in town. The interior is kitschy, but reasonably clean. I can hear the servers and kitchen staff speaking Vietnamese. The pricing is actually fair. The place looked pretty busy. By all accounts, it seemed like all the ducks were lining up in a row for King Noodle House…. until the actual bowl of noodles arrived.
Not only is the large not that large, it doesn’t contain all that much food. The meat was minimal at best (not very good quality either) and they didn’t even splurge on giving me extra noodles like how a large should be. Furthermore, the soup base tasted a bit off, as if the chef loaded the soup up with fish sauce rather than using the proper technique. The soup had spots of oil on the surface too, further confirming the presence of fish sauce. The (not chewy enough) noodles were okay, I guess, but it’s the soup base that makes or breaks a good bowl of pho.
If you happen to find yourself in Alberta’s capital city, I do not suggest you try King Noodle House. You’ll have a much better off ordering a bowl of noodles from Nha Trang Vietnamese Restaurant on 111 Avenue instead.
I pity you man. Living with subpar Pho will drive you nuts!
The dim sum situation isn’t any better. There’s no such thing as cheap dim sum. Went to one place last weekend and it was minimum $3.25 a plate, but there was nothing sold at that price. The actual “small” dim sum started at $4.00. Where’s my $2 dim sum?!
I know there’s a couple decent Dim Sum places in the city. Pick up a copy of Vue Weekly or See Magazine. They tend to list the best restaurants of whatever type in the city. That and they’re free. You like free last time I checked.
Free is always appreciated. From what I’ve read online, there is no such thing as good dim sum in Edmonton. People just seek out something that is “good enough”, but very little is actually reasonable priced… at least compared to Vancouver.
Wow, sorry to hear about the bad noodles…why didn’t you go to Vegas with everyone else?
No reason in particular. I’ll be in Vegas in January for CES though.
I get it, there is a reason you didn’t go, but you don’t care comfortable sharing it with the rest of the world 🙂
I didn’t feel compelled to pay for airfare, hotel, and a pass for BlogWorld. Did you go?
I would have liked to, but wasn’t able to get away this year and the whole cost thing kinda played a factor as well. I’m hoping to get there at some point though.