ANGUS PHO HOUSE

Back to checking out restaurants in North York, the Fiance and I stopped by Angus Pho House for lunch one Sunday afternoon. The restaurant opened in January 2014 and offers a menu with Vietnamese and Malaysian dishes including pho, curries, vermicelli bowls and rice dishes. Delivery is available through JustEat.ca and there’s a great lunch menu.

Atmosphere: We were the first diners that day and had our choice of seating. Square black tables and monochromatic leather chairs were well spaced through the dining area. The walls were decorated with lovely hand painted scenes of each season. The use of black and white gives the restaurant a very clean feel.

Service: There was only one server at the time and she was pretty adorable. Both The Fiance and I were a little taken aback at first because she was dressed in a blue maid costume and had cat ears. The service however was way above par. Our server was soft spoken but very friendly and enthusiastic. Once we placed our order, dishes arrived quickly but my milk tea was delayed. She came by to inform us that she was still in training and was learning how to make the milk tea. To apologize for the delay, she brought us a glass of soy milk on the house and gave us a 10% discount, it was a great gesture and completely unnecessary. We just tipped back what she took off the bill. I felt Angus Pho House is working hard to establish themselves in the neighbourhood and I appreciate the dedication to their customers.

Food: Angus Pho House offers a Lunch Special menu with 6 entree choices for $7.95 each. Each entree comes with a drink (choice of soy milk and hot or cold milk tea) and a side dish. Taking advantage of the specials, I ordered a House Special Beef Rice Noodle Soup, which came with a free order of Curry Fish Balls and The Fiance had the BBQ Pork and Spring Roll Vermicelli bowl with a side order of chicken soup.

My special pho had all the usual toppings of beef balls, tripe, tendon and sliced beef. The portions of each topping was generous. I liked the flavour of the broth, it wasn’t too salty and had a rich taste. The noodles were also a good consistency. Overall, it was a satisfying bowl of pho. The side order of curry fish balls were also on point with a good consistency for the curry sauce. Between our two dishes, it was The Fiance’s bowl that wowed. Pretty much every aspect of the vermicelli was great. The BBQ pork was juicy, fatty and delicious. I loved the crispy spring roll, the use of thicker vermicelli noodles and the heavy handed topping of crushed peanuts. The bowl of chicken soup tasted very similar to pho broth and didn’t really add much to the meal.

I will definitely be back to Angus Pho House in the future and they are a welcome addition to the Yonge/Finch area.