Reviews Pho Tay Ho

Oddly enough, I've never had Vietnamese food in Montreal. I've been meaning to give Pho Tay Ho a try so I met up with E on an early Wednesday evening and we were able to snag a seat on the terrasse right out front. 

Service is spotty as once we ordered and got our food, they never came back to check on us. I like that they have a sheet for you to mark your order. Keep it because you'll need it to pay after. Note: you can pay with debit.

- Bo tai chanh (#3) ($10.00) - interestingly, this rare beef salad comes with shrimp chips. Not the best that I've had; I would have liked a little more acidity and brightness to it. 
- Pho ga, long ga, tai (#15) ($10.00 large) - mix of gizzard, liver, heart of chicken and rare beef. Rarely order chicken pho but the broth was very clean tasting and lemongrass was at the forefront. 
- Pho tom voi rau (#20) ($10.00 large) - shrimp and vegetables. Broth was a little more sweeter but the shrimp was tasty (you only get four though). 

Cheap, tasty and filling; can't really ask for anything else.

Pho has always been my fave to eat. I have been to a lot of different Pho restaurants. This one definitely ranks high on my list. Their soup is thick and rich, and they give you a lot of meat. I recommend to ask them to switch the thick regular noodle to the Moon if you order the soup ones. I love the combination.

Delicieux et vraiment abordable, le porc bbq la
Soupe tonkinoise au boeuf saignant et les rouleaux de printemps sont nos choix gagnants à cette adresse. La belle salade d'herbes qui accompagne les plats est d'une exquise fraicheure.

This place is sofa king good.

First of all, a must have is their beef tartare. The beef is perfectly marinade, tangy and wonderfully balanced with pickled onions and carrots, with loaded with toasted peanuts and hints of cumin and fish sauce. The  shrimp chips add the final touches as a vessel for the perfect bite.

All the grilled meats are delicious with very very large portions.

Great pho!!. One of the better pho places in Montreal in my opinion. It seemed authentic and surprisingly, the service was pretty fast despite the resto being completely full. Also, there were a lot of Vietnamese people there, so this was another reinforcement for good quality food.

Great pho, generous on meat. Really enjoyed the pho here. Had the #20 Pho Bo Vien (Bo Vien = Meatballs) and they were very generous with the amount of meat they put in comparison to the pho I'm used to in Ottawa. Broth is just right, and noodles are a little chewy - a little something different but nothing entirely bothersome. They are big on big portions - there is no such thing as a size small. (Sizes are M, L, and XL) Medium is the smallest, but it's a manageable portion. Food comes ready within ~10 minutes.

4/5 for Pho Tay Ho. Pho Tay Ho has caused me to question everything that I thought I knew about Vietnamese cuisine. Located in an area called La Petite-Patrie, this place got onto my radar by being voted #1 Best Vietnamese 2013 in Montreal by Cult MTL. They serve pho (known as tonkinoise soup here) but my impression is that this restaurant isn't known for it's pho specifically, and more for it's Vietnamese food in a more general sense.

We arrived on a Saturday evening, a party of four. There was a line-up out the door to get in. They do take reservations, but only for parties of over six people. Thankfully the wait only lasted for about 15 minutes, and frankly the long queue only made me more excited about the evident popularity/food quality. Once inside, every table was clearly occupied and the space isn't even that small. We were pointed to a table at the very back of the room, in an area that was obviously added on as an extension to the original dining space. In the light of day, it would be a bright, solarium-like room and I loved the use of stunning (artificial) flowering branches sprouting out of the walls and growing towards the ceiling.

The system is that they give you a piece of paper with all of the menu items listed on it and a pen. You check off what you want, and then the server comes to take away your order. We were immediately delivered a pot of hot tea, which is always a welcome touch.
The menu is a little bit overwhelming because there is a lot of choice and a lot of things that sound quite similar to each other. I decided on a glass of coconut water to drink, but when informed that they were all out, I took that as a sign to be a little bit more adventurous and picked #81. Xi Muoi (Iced salty plum - $3.50). This beverage is exactly as it sounds. While it was sweet and refreshing, it was also undeniably salty. This seems strange for something that you would drink and it was weird. I didn't hate it, but by the end of the glass the saltiness got to be a little bit too much for me. For those who know me, you can imagine how salty this much have been given that it is me making this statement. I'm always game for trying new and interesting things, however.

Choosing our entrees was the tricky part. I like a nice bowl of bun (vermicelli) and in the end I went with the #38. Bun Cha Nuong Tay Ho (BBQ pork served with vermicelli & salad Tay Ho style - $13.00) based on the fact that the BBQ pork sounded amazing and it seemed to come with a better(?) salad. What arrived was huge! And not what I had expected! I thought that I would be served a large bowl filled with my meal and what I received was more like a deconstructed version. The bowl contained the BBQ pork, simmering in a bath of the clear, vinegary, carrot-filled sauce that you are usually given to pour over your vermicelli yourself (to taste). The noodles themselves were on the side, as was a HEAPING pile of bean sprouts and an array of herbs such as basil and mint. Once I was over my amazement, I began to systematically drag strands of noodles into my bowl, all the while tossing in random sprouts and torn bits of herbs, and creating bites which contained as many of the components as possible. I hoped that I was doing this right.
This meal was certainly an activity and I was working for it - but I soon realized that I had never tasted anything like this before. Each piece of the meal came together to create something impossibly flavourful, yet delicate. The BBQ pork was savoury and smokey with a light char, you can tell that this must be what they're known for. The vinegary liquid succeeded at bathing everything in it's acidic and delicious juices. The noodles were a little bit sticky and the greenery far too over-abundant. But all of these puzzle pieces made a whole lot of delicious sense when I started to see the completed picture.

We had also ordered the #2. 2 Cuon Cha Gio (2 Imperial rolls) but unfortunately they never arrived. I think that when I return I will order the #35. Bun Thit Nuong, Cha Gio (2 Imperial rolls, grilled pork served with vermicelli & salad) because that one seems to be more of what I had been originally looking for - one bowl with less do-it-yourself involved. Plus it just comes with the Imperial rolls automatically.
I have to say that I was impressed and amazed. What was the "Vietnamese food" that I had been eating before? It was not this.

Yeah, it's that good.. Their large bowl of pho, it's very good and laaaarge. Most of the times, itheir large is an extra large by today's standard. But on some days, it's XXL.
Another large dish, their plate of rice and 3 types of meat, it comes in a big rectangular plate. Hlaf plate is salad, half plate is rice with meat on top. The salad is almost a meal by itself for a girl. I'm known to have a fairly big appetite, but this is beyond my limit everytime I dare to challenge myself. So I fail.

For comparison's sake, I'm still hungry after a similar named plate in Chinatown. I can eat 1 1/2 in Chinatown.

The best you will do. Gorgeous beef pho.

the chicken one is also amazing!

Interesting salad.

fast service

recommend

Nick. Love the Pho Ga and the rare beef salad.... also try the Bun Cha....

Probably one of thé best vietnamese restaurant in Montreal

A friend and I hit up this spot we both like to go to when cold is in the air and boots on our feet: Pho Tay Ho. We first split a rare beef salad. A very large plate full of raw, thinly sliced beef flank, mixed with aromatic herbs and topped with fried prawn chips with a side of tangy fish sauce.

Incredible. Generous portions, amazing chicken. Staff are wonderful. The only thing I would say is the noodles were a bit over cooked and the prices are a bit more expensive than other places. Not complaining though! Really great, would come back

Authentic offerings especially the Bun Noodle Salad which you make in a separate bowl. However the pork had too much fat despite its nice seasoning and nice.cjarcoal char.