Thai's Saigon Bistro - Pho in North Burnaby

There used to be a scary-ish place on Hastings called Gilmore Restaurant. Scary because they were advertising a steak for $8.95. I'm sure it was good value, but I could never bring myself to actually go try it. Well, alas, it's gone and replaced with Thai's Saigon Bistro. I was a little confused by the Thai reference with Vietnamese food, but gave it a shot anyways. 

Craving Vietnamese more than Thai, we were relieved to see that they didn't have any Thai dishes. Instead, they feature items such as Bun Bo Hue, Lemongrass Chicken, Banh Xeo, Pho and more. Yes, they do have Chicken Wings too! I'm not a huge Spring Roll fan, but I was in the mood for one (preferred over a salad roll on a coolish evening. The presentation is a bit messy and seemed more of an afterthought. The pickled veggies were good, but the greens were completely unnecessary. The Spring Roll itself was great. Good crunch, not greasy and filled with minced pork, vermicelli and some shredded carrots for crunch. I would order these again. This is the Pho Tai Sach, a Rice Noodle Soup with Rare Beef and Tripe. It's my go-to unless I'm in the mood for Bun Bo Hue. The broth was nice and clear, not at all fatty. I liked the slight pink in the beef (though I should have remembered to ask for it on the side). It could have been a bit hotter (temperature-wise), but in terms of flavour, I had no complaints.  The noodles were a good al dente with a bit of chew left in them. There were lots of beef as well and the tripe was nice and tender. This is their version of a Dry Mix Noodle (Mi Dac Biet) for those of you who don't like a hot bowl of soup. There is a blend of sliced and minced pork, as well as some prawns, fake crab meat and some fried fish balls. Lots of toppings and the fried garlic garnish is a great touch.  So I mentioned they had Chicken Wings earlier, right? Well, I couldn't' resist ordering them. Good thing you can order a half order, which is what you see above. The wings were all wings! My favourite. They were a bit greasy, but not overly so, it didn't pool on the plate or anything. The skin was crispy and look, more fried garlic bits! And yes, that is a lemon juice dipping sauce off to the side, hmm, who else does that? For days when I don't want to hike down to Chinatown or spend hours waiting for a table, I'd definitely come here.

Take note:

• Great service and fresh clean decor.
• Friendly attentive service
• Closed on Tuesdays