Pho Thien Phat – Vietnamese Cuisine
Vietnamese food is delicious. I especially like the bun/vermicelli rice noodle dishes and Vietnamese spring rolls. Pho Thien Phat is a little gem that has been opened only a couple of years according to the owner. It is run by a Vietnamese couple and they pride themselves on the quality of their food and its’ freshness. It’s not a fancy or a large restaurant but, you can tell they put their heart into making and serving the food here. It wasn’t a busy weekday evening in the restaurant and I don’t believe they have much staff other than just the two of them (one being the cook whom we did not see). The service was good and the food was served quickly.
We decided to try a few appetizers as we were hungry that night. We tried their Vietnamese Spring Rolls which were deep fried and their Fresh Shrimp and Pork Salad Rolls. Both rolls were fresh and flavourful and came with the traditional fish sauce and a peanut sauce for dipping. We also tried the Deep Fried Spicy Calamari appetizer because they were out of their Deep Fried Crunchy Calamari Tentacles. If you have every had deep fried salty and spicy calamari at a Chinese restaurant it has pretty much the same seasoning as that dish as the calamari is slightly battered, fried and salty with a bit of red chilli pepper to make it spicy.
I tried the Grilled Chicken and Shrimp Sugar Cane Vermicelli as my main dish and my friend tried the Grilled Pork and Spring Roll Vermicelli. Their servings are generous and the vermicelli is actually thinner than the vermicelli noodle I have had at many other Vietnamese restaurants. The chicken and pork were both very good. I like to add some Hoisin and Sriracha sauce to my grilled chicken bun dish just to add a bit more sweet and spicy flavour to my liking. Needless to say my friend and I’s stomachs were full and happy at the end of dinner. We couldn’t finish everything but we did enjoy the appetizers and the vermicelli dishes.
I liked that this restaurant was owned by a Vietnamese couple to add to the authenticity of the food that was cooked here. The food was fresh, made to order with good sized portions at a reasonable price. I would definitely go back again to try other dishes on their menu the next time I’m in the area at this North York plaza.
Rating:
Restaurant: Pho Thien Phat
Location: 747 Don Mills Road, North York, ON M3C 1T2
