It has been dreary and raining since the week-end with only sporadic sunshine. Unfortunately, I think it's the same overseas for my mom on her trip. On Wednesday, I thought that a hot dinner might dispel some cold. During my childhood, there was only Fat Albert pizzeria in the plaza at Ogilvie and Montreal. Now the strip mall housed a few eateries. I ate at Creole Sensations regularly for a short period. But I finally had to admit that the $10 lunch special was a good price but the food was middling: rice was dry, fried plantain was tough, and the veggie stew was gloopy.
I stepped inside Pho-V to find two older women eating. Over the course of my stay, several diners, online deliverers, and take-out orders came. In the corner, two children sat doing homework. One brought me my water and even practiced taking orders from other tables. This was my second encounter this week with the cliché of good restaurants having children "employees".
After perusing the menu, I chose a medium bowl of Bun Bo Hue ($16). The version here was essentially a spicier pho complete with beef brisket, even if the flat noodle was replaced with a chewier round one. Missing was the rarer ingredients such as pork knuckles and congealed blood cubes. However, they could have included cha lua, which was easily available from other dishes.
In any case, it was a tasty soup with both broth and beef being better than the usual pho place. There was actually a generous helping of the latter: enough to last to the very last slurp. Pho-V wasn't quite at the same level as Ca Phe Rang in Toronto. But for an Ottawa business outside the city core, it offered a decent meal (if you are old like me, you have to forget that these mains used to cost $5.99).
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