📍 2572 Birchmount Road, Scarborough, Ontario
This is a really tiny Vietnamese spot at Birchmount/Huntingwood and we come here relatively often. The owners know my parents/family, and they speak Cantonese too!
Be wary if you want to visit them on a Tuesday – because they’re closed!
If you’ve been following me, you know that I looove spicy food. This probably derives from my background and upbringing from my parents.. so no doubt, the entire meal today will be spicy gaaalooorreee! *yum*
We ordered Bún bò Huế, Chicken Phở and Mutton Curry, mmmm.
Sooo, the Chicken Phở actually doesn’t come spicy. But the Bún bò Huế here does come spicy originally – depending on your spicy level, you might be able to handle it on it’s own, or not.
The owners know that we loveee spicy, so we ask them to add more spice to our noodles! 😀
Unfortunately, you can’t substitute the beef in the Bún bò Huế for chicken – as I have tried asking before. But the Phở here is being offered in both chicken and beef. Most Phở places are beef only though – as that is the standard everywhere.
I know that these pictures look similar because they’re both spicy and in soup. Some people may also ask, what’s the difference between Phở and Bún bò Huế. I’m not Vietnamese, but I’ll try to explain the best of my knowledge 🙂 !
Phở vs Bún bò Huế:
- The noodles!
- As you can see, Bún bò Huế noodles are usually served in this round rice noodle whereas Phở is served in either these flat rice noodles or vermicelli noodles (I believe that’s what it’s called) – these are the authentic noodles they use in Vietnam too apparently
- The broth for Bún bò Huế and Phở tastes different
- Bún bò Huế usually comes with a bit of spice, whereas Phở does not
- Phở has a choice of either Chicken or Beef (standard), whereas Bún bò Huế only comes with Beef
The Bún bò Huế here has chunks of beef slices, beef balls and pieces of Vietnamese pork sausage. Some other restaurants offer tripe, pig blood (yuck), beef tendon and rare beef.
The Chicken Phở here has juicy pieces of chicken and tofu. Some other restaurants may also offer tripe, beef balls, beef tendon and rare beef.
Although the ingredients may not sound plenty, a bowl of Phở or Bún bò Huế always fills me up. Personally, I love their Chicken Phở here because it’s light-tasting and tofu is a good mixture to add on to it. I also like how the spicy level also gives a bit of kick to my taste buds which makes it extra yummy. On a regular day between Phở or Bún bò Huế, I will 80% always choose Bún bò Huế because it already comes with spice. I do wish that it’s available in Chicken… I’m more of a “Chicken” girl than “Beef” girl I suppose, haha.
My family always order big bowls of noodle and we share among ourselves. The owners are always sweet to provide us extra mini bowls to have our meal in.
Enough noodles…
Onto the Mutton curry!
My dad was feeling something else instead of noodles today so he ordered the mutton curry and it came with rice on the side.
The Mutton Curry was decently spicy, and it came with chunks of potatoes, mutton slices, garnished with parsley, chopped chili flakes, crushed peanuts and onions.
The potatoes were soft (but not mushy) and piping hot with every bite!
I love coming here because it feels homey due to it’s small space, although some days it may get packed and not worthwhile waiting for people to finish their noodles 🙁 . Workers here are friendly and easily accommodating towards our spicy needs. Plus, the Chicken Phở here is so bomb!!
Definitely recommend this place and I would also suggest not going during peak dinner times (6-7pm) because it gets crowded quick!
Till next time, ♥
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