My Favourite Pho

I’ve been eat­ing that deli­cious Viet­namese soup called pho (pro­nounced feu) for at least 10 years, mostly at one of my favourite Viet­namese restau­rants in the heart of down­town Chi­na­town: Sai Gon Palace, 454 Spad­ina Ave. just south of College.

Recently, I had a Calvin Trillin moment at this pop­u­lar, spa­cious no-frills eatery with the semi-open kitchen. A crea­ture of habit, I am a reg­u­lar here with a reg­u­lar menu choice.

On this day, how­ever, Trillin’s sage advice about check­ing out what oth­ers, espe­cially Asian din­ers, are eat­ing in an Asian restau­rant came to mind. As I was about to order my usual #1 — a big bowl of broth filled with thick rice noo­dles, beansprouts, rare and well-done beef sliv­ers, beef ten­don, tripe and beef balls — I noticed a man at the next table enjoy­ing a thick soup I’d never seen before. “What is he hav­ing?” I whis­pered to the wait­ress who was about to order me the tried-and-true #1 with­out my ask­ing for it. “#21,” she replied suc­cinctly. “I’ll take that,” was my adven­tur­ous comeback.

The dish arrived. It was heaven in a bowl: the usual light, aro­matic broth and noo­dles but, in this case, inun­dated with rib-hugging shreds of rich beef brisket laced with tangy, slightly chunky tomato sauce and crowned with two huge hunks of bright orange boiled car­rot. It was accom­pa­nied by the usual Thai basil leaves and lime wedge which I sprin­kled and squeezed on top respectively.

Dear read­ers, you heard it here first: #21 at Sai Gon Palace is a fusion of Viet­names and Jew­ish flavours that gives new mean­ing to the word sub­lime! At $6 a pop, it’s also a bargain-priced meal-in-a-bowl.