Having learned from experience not to attempt to have lunch at Thanh Thanh Oriental Noodle House (10718 101 Street) during their peak midday hour, I met Dickson there at 1pm on a weekday. We hit the tail end of the rush, and were seated fairly quickly as the crowd started to disperse.
Making good on an earlier promise to try our their pho menu, I headed straight for that page and picked out the Soup Lover’s Delight with medium-rare beef ($7.45), while Dickson opted for the Northern Vietnamese Soup ($7.95) with thin slices of chicken, well done and medium rare beef.
As it was still fairly busy, I was surprised that our dishes arrived as fast as they did. We were both sad to see that the large-bowl standard of Pagolac and Hoang Long hadn’t rubbed off on Thanh Thanh’s serving size though. I found the broth oily with no depth of flavour, while Dickson commented that the pho in general wasn’t that hot. As well, the meat was sliced too thick for my liking, and really, by the time the bowl had been brought to the table, could have been considered well done.
As their other dishes aren’t bad, Thanh Thanh isn’t a complete write-off – just go elsewhere for pho.
Soup Lover’s Delight with Medium-Rare Beef
Northern Vietnamese Soup
Only Here for the Food 