Pho 88 (Double Eight)

Jackfruit Juice, Lychee Slush and Red Bean Slush

Nearing the end of my wisdom teeth recovery (which is actually 3 weeks ago), my parents took me to Pho 88 (or Double Eight as the sign says) at the Bamburgh Circle plaza. Located beside the infamous YOGI Noodle (self-proclaimed “best chinese food in town”), Pho 88 also boasts about its food, claiming that it has the “most famous beef noodle soup in town”. Now, I’ve tried a lot of Vietnamese places downtown, so my standard was set high for this place since downtown is probably the best place for Viet food in my opinion.

To start off, I ordered my usual Jackfruit Juice ($3.50 + tax) while my parents ordered the Lychee Slush and Red Bean Slush (both $3.00 + tax if i remember correctly). Nothing special about these drinks as they taste exactly the same as any other pho place in Toronto. The Jackfruit was plain and does not have enough flavour. Then again, I can hardly remember when was the last time I had a Jackfruit Juice that was actually good, so I wasn’t THAT disappointed.

The Pho I ordered was the Special Pho 88 Combination ($7.00 + tax), which I can’t remember if it’s actually called that. What I know for sure is that it’s number 101 on the menu and only comes in XL. The Pho comes with: Pho (of course), Raw Beef, Beef Tendon and Tripe. I also got the Spring Rolls ($3.50 + tax).

Special Pho 88 Combination (Anyone know what it’s called exactly?)

Being extra hungry that day from the congee that I’ve been eating at home, I felt that I could finish this XL with ease. Was I wrong about that! The quantity of the Pho was way larger than I expected, as downtown XL Pho simply meant a bit more pho and beef, with A LOT more soup to create the effect of more. Pho 88’s pho, on the other hand, had more of everything. A LOT more, to be exact (I’m repeating A LOT again and again to emphasis the quantity by the way). Anyways, I struggled to finish, and I was quite satisfied with this place. Not only was the quantity fulfilling, the QUALITY made it stood out above your average pho place. I don’t know how to put it, but there just seems to be more flavour in the Pho than other places. The beef was tender to my liking as well as the tendon and tripe. They weren’t old or rough like MANY other Viet places, so I was surprised and happy about it. The spring rolls were pretty good too. Not too crunchy and not too chewy. Maybe I’m just biased because it was easy on my mouth (wisdom teeth reminder). They did not hold back on the ingredients as well, with every spring roll stuffed, packed, condensed, and all the other words you could use to describe it.

So, would I go back to this place? Hell yea! (As a matter of fact, I just went there again today). Do I recommend it to others? For sure! If you want a hungry man/woman’s dinner at a fairly decent price, Pho 88 would be the place that you should go to… If you’re feeling pho of course.

Pho 88 – Most Famous Beef Noodle Soup in Town”

Rating: 8/10

Pho 88 (Double Eight)
325 Bamburgh Circle
Scarborough, ON

Memphis Smoke House

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pulled pork sandwich

Near the City Centre in North York in the middle of all the korean, japanese, and chain restaurants is Memphis Smoke House, a southern BBQ type restaurant specializing in food like ribs, pulled pork, BBQ chicken, and such. With not many of these types of restaurants in Toronto, it seemed it was worth giving a try. First impressions were that the service was a bit disorganized but the lunch menu showed some promise with most dishes starting at $5.99.

I got a pulled pork sandwich with fries ($5.99 + tax). Fries could also be substitued for salad or onion rings (!!! wish I knew that before I got my food). Everything looked good but tasted....disappointing. The pulled pork was pretty dry and bland tasting. This could have been remedied with some extra BBQ sauce in the sandwich not only for taste but also for the dryness. End result was just a dry pork sandwich with a hint of BBQ sauce....pretty bad. The fries were ok and a nice thick cut but at the end of the day they're still just fries and not enough to save the sandwich.

So unless someone is someone is really desperate for any form of southern BBQ food, I can't say I would otherwise recommend this place....though looking for southern BBQ in Toronto is kind of like being stranded on a desert island with a really fat chick. It's there if you're really looking for it but it sure isn't very good.

Memphis Smoke House
4916 Yonge St.
North York, ON

Tasty Delights

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beef fried noodles

My god I've been lazy lately, this is probably from like a week ago but anyway....I was at the First Markham food court ready to get my usual pork katsu only to find they were closed for the long weekend but I guess even food court ladies need breaks too. Looking around at our other options we settled on Tasty Delights and decided to split a few noodle and rice dishes.

There were 3 of us so we each picked one. I wanted to get the fish and corn on rice but was told they didn't have any fish (no fish??) and randomly picked some sort of beef and egg on rice instead. Other than that we also got a beef fried noodle and tomato and beef on rice and it was almost like we were having a poor man's version of the dinner we had the day before at Congee Wong. Everything we ordered were each $5.00 + tax and came with a free drink (soy milk!).

Food was pretty much what you would expect from a food court stall....not very good. Sure it was cheap, and big...and corn starchy...but even for $5 I'm not going back. All of the dishes suffered from a noticeable lack of meat but I guess should have lowered my expectations for a $5 dish from the food court. One positive though was that it wasn't extremely greasy like most things from a chinese food court and surprisingly didn't find myself running to the bathroom at 4am the next morning like I thought I would...though I don't think a restaurant deserves any points for that.

...or maybe I was just mad they didn't have any fish.

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tomato and beef on rice / beef and egg on rice....yes it tastes as bad as it looks

Tasty Delights (in the First Markham Food court)

3255 Highway 7 East

Markham, ON

Hello Wonton Noodle

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shrimp wonton noodle soup

A little north of the City Centre in North York is Hello Wonton Noodle, a place that specializes in....you guessed it, wonton noodle soup. When I heard it was owned by the same people as Jim Chai Kee in Richmond Hill I knew it would be pretty decent and cheap. A little bit nicer looking than its Richmond Hill brother, Hello Wonton Noodle is still pretty no frills where you pay at the front and have to make your own tea. The nice thing about this place compared to the other one is that the warm/hot water tap for tea is built right into the table so no more getting up!

I just got the basic, the shrimp wonton noodle soup which was $4.50 + tax. The noodles and the broth were pretty standard and the portion wasn't that big but it's all about the wontons anyway. Hidden under the noodles were 4 massive wontons packed full of shrimp which were great quality and most importantly (other than cheap haha) they were tasty.

Overall I'd say this is a nice place for a quick lunch and solid option if you're looking for something that's cheap and not in wrap form.

Hello Wonton Noodle
5313 Yonge St.
North York, ON

Congee Wong (天皇)

(Left to Right): Minced Beef Congee, Salmon Congee, Singapore Turnip, Egg & Beef Noodle

Recently I took out all my wisdom teeth and have been restricted to soft foods (ie. Noodles, Congee, etc), which is why the next couple of blogs will be mainly those kinds of stuff. Anyways, we went to Congee Wong at First Markham Place so that I can actually eat out with them (Thanks Guys! Appreciate it). There was 5 of us and we were all very hungry, so we were prepared to order a lot of food. Surprisingly, the portions were actually quite large for a dish and we ended up ordering only 5 dishes (2 were congee btw and not even in the large bowl section).

To start off, the minced beef congee (3.95 + tax) was pretty good. The amount of beef was way more than I expected, which is always a plus. I never got to try the salmon congee (4.95 + tax) though, but my friends gave positive reviews for that as well. Now, the singapore style turnip (it actually said that on the bill… 5.25 + tax btw) was below average in my opinion. I’ve always been a fan of Congee Wong’s “turnips” but the quality has been decreasing over the years. It used to be more red with more sauce, but now it is more brownish and not as saucy. BUT! The taste is still decent. Not amazing like the blog, but decent. We also got the beef fried noodle (7.25 + tax… picture below) and the egg & beef noodle (also 7.25 + tax) and these were the main event of dinner. When we were ordering, my friend specifically wanted the beef fried noodle, and I just threw in the egg & beef as a filler. The beef fried noodle was your average noodle that is the same in EVERY restaurant, but the egg & beef one was something else. When it was served, everyone wanted a piece of it. It was saucy and eggy, and I am a big fan of sauce. The taste wasn’t plain or bland like something watered down, and that is already considered good in my books. There was a decent amount of beef in it as well. Best of all, it was the biggest dish on the table, meaning that you definitely get your money’s worth with this one. In the end, everyone had to fight for the egg & beef and it was rationed to the last piece of noodle left on the plate.

Beef Fried Noodle

So, would I go there again? Absolutely. For the price, portion and quality that you get, Congee Wong is definitely the place to go for dinner with large groups of people.

Rating: 8/10.

Congee Wong
3255 Highway 7 East
Markham, ON

Bar Burrito

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kirkland brand bottled water...I mean large ground beef burrito

Having tried most of the burrito places in downtown Toronto, I was a little hesitant to try Bar Burrito given that most of them just aren't that great (yes including Burrito Boyz!). So how does Bar Burrito rank? Well it was ok, I've had worse and it was actually better than I was expecting but still not as good as Big Fat Burrito which I think is the best in Toronto.

I ordered a large steak burrito though upon closer inspection it appeared they gave me a ground beef burrito instead. But since I was already at my desk....and it was hot outside, I just ate it. Both the steak and the ground beef (and chicken) were the same price anyway (regular for $6.35 + tax or large for $7.60 + tax) Inside the burrito were all the usual fixings, lettuce, cheese, tomatoes, rice, corn?, and beans. Portion wise it was a bit bigger than a water bottle (see comparison pic), which is pretty much in line with the other burrito places. Taste was ok, like I said I've had worse and better, though maybe I should have tried the chicken burrito instead as it seemed like the popular choice while waiting in line.

So would I go back? Only if I was in the area...and feeling for burritos...

Bar Burrito
4918 Yonge St.
North York, ON

Dandanah Shawarma

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chicken shawarma sandwich

On my way to Sushi Bong I've walked past this place a few times and thought I'd come back another day to try it. Finally got around to trying it the other day and it was pretty disappointing. It also was empty around lunch time which couldn't have been a good sign. Compared to the other shawarma options in the area I've tried, I'd rank this place last. Lebanese Gourmet is cheap and close to where I work at the City Centre and Shawarma Max is the best tasting while Dandanah Shawarma has...well it has nothing.

I had the chicken shawarma sandwich which was $4.99 + tax making it the most expensive option of the 3 places. Size was around the same as the others too so it couldn't win in quantity either. Chicken was dry and there was also a big burnt piece in mine. Overall just not very tasty and combined with being the most expensive, I don't see myself going back...unless I feel like eating bad shawarma?

Dandanah Shawarma
5383 Yonge St.
North York, ON