Thai Son Restaurant 泰山越南牛肉粉 : 1st Avenue location

Some girls PMS and as for me, go crazy when there is not enough fruit. How crazy? Every time I go to T&T Supermarket, I need to walk out with at least a dozen of mangos as well as dragon fruit to supply my next five days (meh, not so picky about having a certain amount of other fruits). Sounds easy? It is most of the time, however, two out of five, there is not that much dragon fruit available and my day is ruined. Honestly.

So after finishing up with T&T, I begged my friend to have dinner at Thai Son and she was hesitant because knowing me, can never get full when having Vietnamese food. Especially for dinner. But because of the whole trying to eat less thing, it was a perfect choice.

Thai Son is one of my go to restaurants ever since high school and has been around for decades! The owners even opened up a few other locations in Marpole, Richmond as well as on Broadway, and a couple of other places! Although I do want to say in advance, this is the only location I will ever go to. Why? Because I do not want to be disappointed at the other locations and out of hundreds of visits here, only ten has disappointed. The bun bo hue is above average and the rice platters are pretty good, especially the shredded pork! Seriously, I like it here. I even have like six Vietnamese restaurants that I have been procrastinating on blogging because they were randoms and not even that good. By the way, the food tastes ten times better here when the owner is working.

PHO DAC BIET, LARGE  ($7.95).

HOUSE SPECIAL COMBINATION BEEF IN RICE NOODLE SOUP.

Although the broth is heavy on MSG, it does taste flavourful. As for the meat, there is a good amount of rare beef, well-done flank, tripe, beef balls and tendon. All the meats taste quite tender and the noodles are perfectly cooked.

BUN BO HUE, LARGE ($8.75).

SPICY BEEF AND PORK HOCK WITH VERMICELLI IN SOUP.

The broth tastes flavourful with hints of lemon grass as well as fermented shrimp paste and best of all, tastes spicy! The bun bo hue has slices of ham which I prefer rather than cubes, tender slices of beef brisket, pork balls and a pork hock. There is actually quite a lot of meat compared to many Vietnamese restaurants. As for the cylindrical vermicelli, the noodles taste perfectly cooked and soft with a nice chewiness. Thai Son definitely serves better bun bo hue than pho. Why else would I support this restaurant?!

TOTAL: $19.90 + TIP $3.10 = $23.00.

I desperately wanted to order a rice platter but of course, am learning to eat until I am satisfied rather than too full to walk out the door. So, I came back the next day for the rice platters.

GRILLED PORK CHOP, CHICKEN AND SHREDDED PORK WITH AN EGG ON STEAMED BROKE RICE ($8.95).

Thai son is one of the few restaurants (I know of) that offers both broken rice as well as regular. Starting with the shredded pork which is one of my favourites, consists of thinly shredded pork as well as pork skin. As for the pork chop and chicken, unfortunately both tastes overcooked as well as dry, despite having a tasteful marinade. And last, the fried egg which unfortunately is not as runny as I would have liked because of the shredded pork placed on top… that most people would not care about expect me. 

GRILLED PORK CHOP, SHREDDED PORK AND STEAMED MEAT EGG PIE ON BROKEN RICE ($8.95). 

The pork chop tastes a bit better than mine. The meat is not as overcooked and tastes less chewy. As for the steamed egg meatloaf, there is a bit of woodear mushroom as well as vermicelli and tastes slightly stiff.

JALAPENO, LEMON WEDGES, BASIL AND STEAMED BEAN SPROUTS.

TOTAL: $21.15 + TIP $3.85 = $25.00.

Overall the rice platters have been better since the main issue was the overcooked meats. Do I believe if the owner was at the restaurant, the meats would not be overcooked? Yes (I knew I should have ordered the rice platters on the first day!). Either way, the highlight is definitely the bun bo hue and will always be.

POSITIVES
- Friendly owner (not necessarily the staff)
- Bun bo hue is pretty good
- Sliced meats in the noodles taste tender
- Gotta love the shredded pork

NEGATIVES
- Overcooked meats on rice platter
- Food tastes noticeably better when the owner is present
- Typical Asian restaurant, no service

LITTLE THINGS
- One of my go to for bun bo hue!

Food: 2.5/5 (bun bo hue 3.5/5)
Service: N/A