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Viet Thai Bistro – Calgary, Alberta

I love looking for little places to eat, especially ethnic food cuisine that I can go to on random lazy days! I’ve found Viet Thai Bistro just off 52nd Ave SE, and I must say, I really like eating here and I look forward to the next time I return.

We’ve dined here twice already, so I’ll put the 2 dining experiences together. The restaurant is a small and intimate place that offers a few tables and mostly caters to the take-out crowd. The prices here are amazing, and I loved their appetizers! I’ve tried their Coconut Shrimp which comes in a plate of 4 shrimps for $3.00, and the shrimps were quite fresh and fried to perfection!

Another appetizer that we tried is their Chicken Wings which comes in a plate of 10 wings, and the wings are perfectly fried. The actual wings doesn’t have much flavour, but they put sweet chili sauce on top which is delicious! They don’t put so much on such that the wings are soggy, and they don’t skimp out by keeping the wings lacking in flavour – so it’s a great balance they do for the wings!

Then, during our first visit, we had more Thai style food, and we loved it! We tried Kaprow Beef which is the Spicy Basil Beef with rice. This was delicious and spicier than I first anticipated! But, as I continued eating, it made me want to order more!

The other dish we tired was the Pad Siew which is made with wide rice noodles, and fried with beef and vegetables. Again, the plate of pad siew was really generous, and the noodles were delicious! Nothing was over cooked and everything was seasoned perfectly!

The last time we went, we tried their Vietnamese cuisine, and we ordered one of their popular dishes, the Beef Pho. The bowl of noodles was quite large, however, I did find the soup noodles was rather bland.

One of my favourite foods in the entire world is Vietnamese Submarines, and I ordered the grilled Lemongrass chicken submarine which unfortunately wasn’t to my expectation. There wasn’t a lot of chicken at all, and the bun was kind of burnt, but cold. It wasn’t bad, however, I’ve had better ones in the area. I’m sure I’ll still order one if I had the craving for a Vietnamese submarine though – they’re very convenient and at this price, it’s almost worth it!

Overall, we loved this place, and the prices are extremely fair – and in fact on the cheaper side, especially with the portion sizes! The flavours are amazing, and I think I like the Thai cuisine more than the Vietnamese cuisine from Viet Thai Bistro! Regardless, I know I will be back, and probably become one of their regulars!

Viet Thai Bistro

Suite 511-15566 McIvor Blvd SE
Calgary, AB T2Z
(403) 453-2222

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Saigon Annam Vietnamese Cuisine

I love eating Vietnamese food, especially during cold winter evenings when I don’t want to cook. This usually happens during weekends, and my favourite Vietnamese restaurant doesn’t open on Sundays, so I was out on a hunt looking for a new Vietnamese cuisine that was opened! I found one, and I like it! It’s Saigon Annam Vietnamese Cuisine which is opened daily from 11:00 to 9:00PM. This business is located on 24th Street SE just off Deerfoot Trail and Douglasdale Blvd/24th Street exit. It’s at the same area as Sobeys plaza, but further west. It is a stand-alone building.

We started our meal with their Prawn Salad Rolls which came on a plate with 4 salad rolls, which was decent in size, for $6.50, I wouldn’t expect it to be small. The shrimp was quite fresh, which is always a delight! The worse thing is having soggy shrimp with a fishy smell/taste! But, thankfully this little restaurant doesn’t server stuff like that!

We wanted a good satay noodle, as the last time we had one, it was nothing but chili oil in the soup – which isn’t “satay” flavour. So, we ordered a bowl of Satay Beef Noodle Soup, and we love it! It was actually a bit spicy and it offered some great satay flavour! There was a lot of noodles and beef in the bowl, and for a price of $9.50, it ranks in on the high end of regular Vietnamese noodle prices. I really like the portion sizes that justifies the price tag!

As the temperatures get colder and colder, all I want is spice! So, I ordered a bowl of Bun Bo Hue which is something I order a lot, but with caution since a lot of times, it just turns into a bowl of SUPER spicy noodles with again, no taste. I am happy to say it was really good here, and the texture of their noodles was perfect! It was just a great bowl of Bun Bo Hue – and now I’m thinking about ordering another bowl for take-out tonight!

Overall, I really like this place. The service is great, fast and friendly. The cost is really decent for the amount of food you get (even though it’s Asian food), and it’s not too far from home! I’m sure I’ll be back, and I know I would love to thy their Vietnamese submarines, as I haven’t had a delicious one in a long time!

Saigon Annam Vietnamese Cuisine on Urbanspoon

Saigon Annam Vietnamese Cuisine

11566 24 St SE
Calgary, AB T2Z3J3
(403) 457-3885

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Le’s Pho – Heritage Meadows

Sundays are tricky for me – my favourite southeast Vietnamese restaurant is closed on that day, and sometimes, all I want is a nice bowl of Vietnamese noodle soup. So, we decided to venture off – but not too far to find some. We went to Heritage Meadows and found Le’s Pho Vietnamese Cuisine and Grill where I knew I had to try it.

Once we were inside, there was a sign that says “Please Wait to be Seated”, and it seems like it took forever to get seated, even though there wasn’t that many customers there at that odd time when I went (it as around 2 or 3pm). Once we sat down, probably another 5 minutes, a waiter came by to see what we wanted to drink. We just ordered some tea, since that’s what we like with our “Asian” meals. I quickly ordered the Spring Rolls and it came quite quickly. They looked pretty good, and it tasted good too! We’re off to a good start! Sure, it’s not the texture I was use to, but the flavours were all there, so I enjoyed them thoroughly! It’s hard to not like something deep fried, unless it’s soggy and not even a tad crispy!

I wanted something with a bit more flavour, so I tried their Satay chicken Pho which when it came out, it didn’t taste like satay at all! There was no other flavours besides a ton of spice… as though I ordered a super spicy chicken pho! There was no taste or texture of what you would expect from satay. Besides the spice though, the soup was very flavourless… a tad of fish sauce, and soy sauce didn’t help.

We also ordered a bowl of Pho Tai which is essentially rare beef with pho. This one is hard to goof usually, but the beef was fine, and the broth was really watered down. It tasted like nothing, so we were kind of disappointed with Le’s Pho!

The portion sizes are fairly large and the prices are within reason, but we didn’t like the watered down soups and just the overall lack in flavour of the pho. The noodles wasn’t too bad – just a tad on the soggy side, which I can’t blame them… sometimes I take too long trying to take a picture… but, I can say that taking long doesn’t make the flavours of the soup wash away. Overall, not my new favourite place for sure… but if I had to go back and give them a second shot (like I do with some places), I just might!

Le's Pho (Heritage Meadows) on Urbanspoon

Le’s Pho (Heritage Meadows)
8180 11 St SE
Calgary, AB T2H
(403) 259-3883

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Homemade Vietnamese Coffee

I love eating Vietnamese cuisine, and one of my favourite drinks that is special and unique would be Vietnamese Coffee, which I found out it wasn’t hard to make at all!

Ingredients
1 to 2 tbsp condensed milk
1 or 1.5 tsp ground coffee (courser grind works best)
boiling water

First, I put the condensed milk in the bottom of my cup. I love my coffee’s sweet when I drink coffee.

Then, I place the coffee grinds into the little contraction which is the French Filter (cà phê phin) – which is the coffee filter. It’s nice to use dark roast to get the strong flavour and the course so it doesn’t fall through the filter. Put the top on the filter and screw it tight. The tighter you screw the top on, the darker and stronger the coffee will be. This will take a longer time for your coffee to brew. Alternatively, you don’t have to tighten it to the max where the coffee won’t be as dark, and you’ll get your drink faster too! It’s up to you! The coffee they typically use is the brand Trung Nguyen

When the coffee has finished dripping through the filter, you’re ready to stir it up to dissolve the condensed milk and enjoy. If you like an iced version (ca phe da), fill a glass full of ice and enjoy!

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Homemade Vietnamese Pickled Carrots

Home Made Pickled Carrots

Okay, I know a lot of Vietnamese recipes calls for picked carrots and daikon, but I opted for just carrots as that’s what I like on my Vietnamese submarines (Vietnamese Sandwich with Chicken). I pickled my carrots to make these sandwiches, and I’m glad I did!

Ingredients:
Carrots (julienne)
distilled vinegar or rice wine vinegar
sugar
salt

First thing, you clean and peel the carrots, and the cut it into matchbox sticks. If you’re lucky, and you have a food processor or mandoline with a julienne attachment. Place the small pieces into a container with a lid, and I like to use a glass container.

Then, fill the container about 1/2 way full of vinegar, and top off the other half (not to the rim or it will spill) with warm water to help dilute the vinegar taste. Then, add salt and sugar to your tasting. If you like it spicier, add some cayenne pepper or even chili flakes. Let the carrots sit for at least an hour before using – and this will last in the fridge for a week.