The first thing I notice walking into Pho Tien Thanh on a Saturday evening is the crowd: every table is full. The second thing I observe is the hush. Pho Tien Thanh is packed with people, but human voices are just a murmur, a muffled refrain in a symphony dominated by sips, slurps and slops.
I sit down and look around. Pho Tien Thanh isn't much to look at: it's grungy and small. When I visit the bathrooms later, I find them cramped in a damp corner of basement, missing their locks. Never mind. As long as I'm upstairs, I won't need my eyes. I close them, and my nose tells the real story: rich broth of cracked bones, deep beef and aromatic star anise.
For my ears, communion: the peaceful sloshing of fellow diners a reminder that I am truly with my people. Give me an endless bucket of this broth, and I will give you a world of quiet contentment.
A bone for the less poetically inclined: service is fast, prices are cheap, food is excellent. In addition to redolent rare beef and brisket phos, the spring rolls are crisp and light, and chicken pho is light and tangy. Blue-eyed diners may raise server's eyebrows on ordering crackled pork skin spring rolls--are you sure you don't mean salad spring rolls?--but staff and patron alike will smile when the crumbs are removed. Mango shakes are a little stringy, but it's winter and a world away from mango trees. Jackfruit shakes are smoother, and their coconut cousin is rich and mild.
For the sycophants: Susur Lee, a believer in the quality of Vietnamese food in Toronto told me he loves the pho here. I interviewed him recently, and he and I had a moment when Pho Tien Thanh came up, both of us excited to discover our shared love for its broth. This is why I'm back, but not why I'll keep coming. Celebuchef endorsement is nice, and I'm thankful to the blogTO reader comments that brought me here the first time, but neither is the reason for my return. I'll come back here--repeatedly--because this place is an escape from sensibility to senses, a reminder that the best food can bring us to only the necessary senses, a present moment that is juicy with flavour and as pleasant for the ears as it is for the taste buds.
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My favourite Phở joint in all of T.O.
Hell, I'm Vietnamese, I should know.
Nothing to dislike about this place,
unless it's about you not having anymore
food in front of you to gobble up.
+ Great location
+ Great prices
+ Great foot
+ Broth for the phở is always piping hot !
Two thumbs way up!
The Golden Turtle just down the street is also incredible with a huge menu and lots of vegetarian options. And it's also recommended by Suser Lee!
Rare beef in a "grungy" restaurant?! How safe is that? I suspect someone's going to get a bad case of the runs.
BTW, I'm Chinese, so I should know how to get food poisoning.
Hell, I'm Chinese, I should know how to get food poisoning.
Pho is decidedly more delicious when served in a grungy restaurant. It's some sort of law. And if the broth is as hot as Brandon says, I wouldn't worry about it at all. In fact, I've never thought twice about eating the rare beef at even the sketchiest Pho joints, and I've never had any regrets.
The Pho at this place, in my opinion, has better quality ingredients than the Pho in Vietnam...
I've had lots of Pho in Vietnam, and never had a problem with the runs...
Try dipping pieces of Chinese doughnut in your pho next time (that's if the restaurant sells Chinese doughnut).
funny.
Pho Tien Thanh and the golden turtle have been there for quite some time. and only NOW, you people say these places offer great pho ?
we (meaning our studio people) have been regularly visiting these restaurants long before this BLOG has given them any credit, including the chef....
thanx blogto but this is OLD NEWS...
tell me something NEW for a change...
Well done Bill. I wasn't aware that you could duplicate DNA. Perhaps you could forward your new-found technology to the dozen staff that work for blogTO so that they too, can multiply themselves, taste test the few hundred pho places in Toronto and report back to the blog in a timely manner so that you can continually have "new" content.
I've contacted the Nobel society. They should be touching base with you shortly.
Sippy: I think you forgot the "n" in your name between the "S" and the "i" but if there was some way for me to "like" your post like you can on facebook, I totally would have clicked that.
Pretty bold statement to make, although I would have to agree to a certain degree. I would imagine that its due to the beef bones used - the cows in Vietnam are hella skinny vs. the fat ones in Canada!
Wow, you're a douche Bill!
Call me old (at 39 yrs) but grungy restaurants just don't have the same appeal to me that they did when I was a student...no matter how 'tasty' the food is. A clean restaurant is an important factor when I decide to dine. I guess I'm weird that way.
Yikes! Let me clarify, 'cause I don't want to give Pho Tien Thanh a bad name. The decor, the furniture, the basement: these things all showed signs of wear. The tables, cutlery and dishes, however, were clean. Also, the front counter provides a view into the kitchen, so would-be diners can check for themselves whether it's up to their standards.
Perhaps "decrepit" would've been more apt a description than "grungy", and I apologize for any misconceptions caused by my choice of adjectives.
Thanks for the clarification Devon.
This is by far the most authentic northern style pho that you can find in the city. I've recently come back from Hanoi (Vietnam) and tasted the best phos in my life. Pho Tien Thanh is not too far behind and it is without a doubt the best pho in the city of toronto.