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Pho Ao Sen – Oakland, California

We went for some Vietnamese while our visit to California and met up our family Pho Ao Sen and it’s located right on 12th Street. This restaurant is so busy and they have parking both beside the restaurant and across the street.

We started with the standard, some salad roll, which they call Goi Cuon- Spring Rolls, which looks really impressive! The taste was quite amazing as well, even their dipping sauce was pretty unique and very delicious! These huge salad rolls were stuffed with both shrimp and pork, and the standard stuff like vermicelli, mint, bean sprouts and lettuce.

We also got another standard appetizer, the Cha Gio- Egg Rolls which was the crispy/fried version of the Vietnamese Spring Roll. They call it an egg roll here, which is quite different from a Chinese Egg Roll, but a lot of people use these terms interchangeable. These Egg Rolls was a mixture of ground pork, shrimp, vegetables, cellophane noodles, and wrapped then fried to perfection. It was actually really tasty without the dipping sauce!

I was still fighting the tail end of my cold on this day, so I ordered a nice hot bowl of Pho Gai which is their Chicken pho. The bowl of noodles was huge and there was a huge amount of chicken. The broth was tasty!

Then, my husband ordered the Beef Stew soup, what they call Pho Hoac Mi Bo Kho which was really fragrant and flavourful. The soup was really quite thick though, it was unique and very different from the ones we have here! This bowl of soup and tons of everything which made it extraordinary delicious!

Overall, this place was pretty amazing! No wonder it’s a favourite of so many people! I’m sure we will be back some day!

Pho Ao Sen on Urbanspoon

Pho Ao Sen

1139 E. 12th Street
Oakland, CA
(510) 835-5588

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Pho Anh Huyen Noodle House – Calgary, AB

We were off to another road trip when we figured we’d stop into Pho Anh Huyen for something to eat before we took off. The location isn’t hard to find, but it definitely has limited parking spots. Once you enter the door, it has a scent of “washrooms” which seems to have disappeared quickly.

We started off with Pork and Shrimp Salad Rolls and it’s not as good as my favourite place, but it was decent. The sauce they gave was primarily diluted peanut butter so I added some hot sauce into it to make it tastier for myself as I like the kick to it.

Then, I ordered a bowl of Beef Stew Noodle Soup as I had no idea what I wanted, and this was one of my husbands favourite… so if I didn’t like it, I can always trade with him! It turns out that this was really good, both the beef stew and the soup broth had tons of flavour and the noodles were really well cooked! It didn’t stick together yet it wasn’t soggy and breaking apart!

My husband ordered himself a bowl of Rare Beef with Brisket Noodle Soup and it was quite a different soup. As clear as the broth looked, it also had a really good flavour it the soup. The portions were large and they were really generous with the amount of meat given (in both bowls actually!)

Overall, the prices were average as other Vietnamese noodle houses. The food was decent although not the best we have had. Generous portions of both soup and meat which makes it a good deal!

Pho Anh Huyen Noodle House on Urbanspoon

Pho Anh Huyen Noodle House

1403 Centre St NW
Calgary, AB
(403) 276-3636

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Saigon Maxim Vietnamese Cuisine – Calgary, AB

I was actually boycotting the Vietnamese restaurant that we’ve been going to for awhile… we stumbled into Saigon Maxim as an alternative, and we’re glad we did! The food was amazing! With tons of parking, good food, and other amenities – it’s an ideal place to eat!

We started with some Chicken Wings as I’m normally in search for wings on Wednesday. The wings were fried really well here, even though there wasn’t a lot but it was good quality! The wings were a little small as well, but the skin was really crispy!

I ordered rice vermicelli with lemon grass beef, chicken & prawn. It was a large bowl of vermicelli with tons of meat. I’m always nervous about ordering shrimp or prawns or seafood in general at a restaurant I’m not familiar with. The prawns were decent here and the chicken and beef was really good.

Rare beef Noodle Soup and it was exceptional! It really was as flavourful and delicious as it looks! The beef was tender and actually juicy, and there was a lot of them too!

Overall, we loved our experience here. It was close to home and it tastes really good. We’ve been back numerous times already since we’ve experienced it! I recommend this location for Vietnamese food!

Saigon Maxim Vietnamese Cuisine on Urbanspoon

Saigon Maxim Vietnamese Cuisine

8338 18 Street Southeast
Calgary, AB
(587) 353-0033

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Saigon Pearl – Calgary, Alberta

I’ve been going to the Asian supermarket near here a lot lately and this one day I wasn’t feeling the best and just wanted something light and refreshing — I wanted rice vermicelli! So, we stopped in at Saigon Pearl and we’ve been here in the past but we were glad it’s still the same people, same quality of Vietnamese food.

I ordered their Grilled beef and Spring Roll Rice Vermicelli which is something I like to order once in awhile, especially during the summer! The bowl was large, and it didn’t have too much lettuce in the bottom. The beef was delicious and of course their spring rolls were delightful!

My husband did enjoy one of his go to orders at a Vietnamese restaurant Beef Stew Noodle Soup and it was absolutely wonderful here! Tons of tender beef chunks in a delicious broth with rice noodles. It’s a great warming soup – which was the opposite of my dish!

We use to go here a lot more and I think we might be coming back more often as well! The food, service and price was decent and that’s what we love. It is a family restaurant and a place that seems to have tons of kids here. So, it’s not a quiet restaurant – and that makes sense!

Saigon Pearl on Urbanspoon

Saigon Pearl

9650 Harvest Hills Blvd N
Calgary, AB
(403) 532-3999

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Bow River Vietnamese Restaurant – Calgary, Alberta

We’ve heard really good things about a Vietnamese Restaurant named Bow River Vietnamese Restaurant which is located at the intersection of Elbow Drive and Heritage Drive. At first, we thought it as the larger strip mall complex at this intersection, but it is actually located on the main floor of the building across the street. Parking is quite limited, but we were lucky enough to have grabbed a parking spot.

The interior of the restaurant looks more like a Chinese restaurant, but it was fine. It looks like an authentic restaurant, as it feels like you’re eating at home with their dining room chair selection.

We started with their Shrimp Salad Rolls which was surprisingly better than it looks! We’ve been to so many places where they premake their salad rolls, and I’m quite confident these are made to order.

I normally order my usual – no matter where I go for a first time Vietnamese restaurant. If it’s good, then I will go back and try something different! So, back to my Rare Beef with Beef Ball Pho and this was really good. Although not a lot of beef balls, it had a ton of beef. The broth had tons of flavour and it was even better enhanced with other sauces.

My other half had ordered his usual as well, the Rare Beef Pho and he really enjoyed it. They were basically the same thing, but we like to think it’s different! The size of the orders were quite large and we were quite stuffed after this wonderful lunch!

Overall, we were pleased with this restaurant. The service was a little slow, as they weren’t busy in the house. They did have a lot of take out orders, so they must’ve been running behind from it.

Bow River Vietnamese Restaurant on Urbanspoon

Bow River Vietnamese Restaurant

8408 Elbow Drive
Calgary, AB
(403) 259-6099