This Vietnamese restaurant is a hidden gem as it offers a lot of unique dishes not commonly found in other Vietnamese restaurants. Portion sizes are big - even the pho bowls look at least double the size.
For a restaurant menu that has zero vegetables dish, they offer a ton of fresh veggies and herbs with all of their main dishes. We were also able to order a custom side of extra steamed veggies (broccoli, yu choy, Napa cabbage, carrot) despite it not being on the menu, plus refillable small plates of fresh raw leafy greens and herbs. Bonus points for that.
We originally wanted to get the Supreme Crab Sticky Rice because it seemed to be a signature dish here - and the photos looked good. But unfortunately they couldn't omit the shredded pork since it was already mixed in, so we got the Pineapple Seafood Fried Rice instead. It did not disappoint - it contained big pieces of shrimps, octopus, and squid, with a good amount of pineapple chunks... on an actual carved out pineapple which made it visually appealing.
The Hanoi-Style Grilled Turmeric Fish, which was a new exclusive item, came served on a hot plate with fire underneath that we could turn on or off. It came with a set of ingredients that we poured ourselves onto the hot plate to mix with the fish: scallions, raw white onion slices, dill, perilla leaves, chili, peanuts, vermicelli noodles, and shrimp paste. I liked that all the ingredients came separated like that, so we could control how much to put in and mix.
Hai Phong-style Fish Noodle Soup contained vermicelli noodles, fried tilapia fish, fish cakes, scallions, water spinach, and tomatoes. It had a tangy and herbaceous taste.
We also ordered the Stir-Fried Baby Clams with Rice Crackers appetizer. It had a bit of a kick, but it was still flavourful. I liked the perilla leaves (shisho leaves) giving a strong herbal and earthy aroma and taste, while peanut pieces added a nice crunch.
A bonus rarity in Toronto: Free private parking behind the restaurant for customers. There are also plenty of street parking in front of the restaurant, and a Green P parking lot nearby. read more