Ottawa boasts almost as many pho noodle houses in the city as shawarma houses. A walk down most any busy city street has at least an example of each. With so many choices, there is competition amongst noodle houses so residents are fortunate to be able to develop a taste for good pho.

As of January 1, 2010, here is our Top 5 list of Ottawa pho noodle houses:

1. Thu Do (no nonsense great pho) - 765 Somerset Street W.
2. Pho Bo Ga King (relative newcomer in Chinatown with lots of selection) - 778 Somerset Street W.
3. Pho Bo Ga (original) - 12 Lebreton Street N.
4. Pholicious - 300 Booth Street
5. Ox Head (best pho outside Chinatown) - 1-790 Kanata Avenue

Here are characteristics Jenn and I feel are hallmarks for good pho:

When sitting down...
After ordering, the plate of accompaniments brought to the table is fresh and bountiful. Typical accompaniments include limes, bird's eye chiles, mung bean sprouts, and Thai basil. At times, there is mint. The limes should be quartered and full of juice. It brightens the broth. The chiles are typically red. They should be unblemished and have firm skins, not at all wrinkled. They provide fresh heat. Bean sprouts should be translucent or opaquely white, neither brown nor shriveled. They provide texture, a fresh crunch. Herbs should not be bruised (no brown spots) and be fragrant. They add earthy and herbal notes.

Jenn and I have noticed that the freshest plates of accompaniments are freshly washed. The herbs and chiles drain in a nest created by the sprouts, producing a very shallow pool of water underneath.

Serving-wise, there should be one wedge of lime, 2 handfuls of bean sprouts and 1-2 chiles per bowl of pho. Regarding Thai Basil, there should be an entire sprig with numerous leaves attached. Incidentally, Thai Basil turns black when cooked, so it should be added to a bowl of pho last.

When being served...
Bowls of pho (beef, chicken, or seafood) should be quickly served, large vats of pho broth already made and kept barely simmering in the kitchen. Noodles need only be flash boiled to assemble a bowl with pre-sliced beef (at various levels of doneness), tripe, beef brisket, beef balls, beef tendons, sliced chicken, shrimp, squid, or quails' eggs.

Bowls of pho should be piping hot. Tradition has it that the piping hot pho broth is ladled onto rare beef to freshly cook it.

Regarding the beef, chicken, or seafood, there should be enough of each, depending on what kind of pho you order, that it will not run out as the diner eats. The goal is to allow the him or her to layer textures and flavours on a spoon. As such, the principal ingredient should be plentiful.

Regarding the pho broth, it should taste of long simmering with meat and bone. Good pho broth should smack of gelatin and thicken when cooled. If completely chilled, it will solidify. It can come flavoured with onion, garlic, whole cloves, whole black pepper corns, and sticks of cinnamon. From time to time, depending on the cook, ginger may be added as well. It should also be lightly flavoured with fish sauce to provide salt and umami. Most importantly, it should be de-fatted. There is nothing worse than slurping noodles, whilst watching pools of grease coalesce in the bowl.

Bottles of sriracha, hoisin sauce, and chile oil/paste are normally available on every table. The sriracha and chili oil/paste add heat. The hoisin, dark sweetness and some salt. Observe your sriracha. Older sriracha will thicken, blocking the bottle's nozzle. It is after all a puree of chiles, flavoured with vinegar. Regarding chile oil/paste, the darker the oil or paste, the longer it has been left steeping. While neither really spoils, older oil/paste will be spicier.

When taking your first slurp...
Yes, pho noodles should be slurped. While taboo in European cultures, in many Asian ones quietly eating ones noodles is a sign of silent protest. The person is resigning himself or herself to eating a bad bowl and shows no gusto in his or her partaking of it.

Noodle-wise, Jenn and I prefer narrower pho rice noodles to thicker ones. Good pho, should be made with fresh noodles, as opposed to dried or instant. The latter has a denser texture, tastes more starchy, and is not very translucent. Regarding fresh noodles, we prefer ours slightly softer than al dente. However, noodles should never break or fall apart from being handled with either chopsticks or a fork. These are signs of overdone noodles.

Here are two examples of lesser pho in Ottawa.

Saigon Pho
Besides serving its pho in square bowls, Saigon Pho has the distinction of listing shrimp spring rolls as "Bikini Shrimp" ($8.99) in the appetizer section of its menu. Also in the appetizer section are "Fried Frog's Legs w/Garlic, Onion, and Butter" ($12.50).

What went wrong?

First, there is the interesting street-facing signage.

Signage
Does the caricature mean the pho is endorsed by pointy hatted Asian peasants with poor teeth, strange facial hair, and enormous hands?

Then, there were the bowls of pho that were more bowl than pho...

Rather Small Portion
At $7.99, this is what is served when you order a medium-size.

At least, the accompaniments offered reflect the pho served.

Few Accompaniments

But, the bean sprouts have definitely seen better days...

Sprouts showing signs of spoilage

Finally, there are the pools of fat that colour when adding sriracha.

Oily Broth

The pho broth tasted of instant soup mix. It had no body and was very thin.

Pho Vietnam
The first thing we noticed when we sat at a table are the challenges this restaurant must overcome regarding available electrical outlets.

Electrical Challenges

What went wrong?

On its menu Pho Vietnam offers an impressive number of appetizers. We ordered "Crispy Shrimp" spring rolls ($4.50) and what the menu listed as pork and shrimp dumplings (fried wontons, also $4.50).

Pork and Shrimp Fried Wontons and Shrimp Spring Rolls
Soggen with grease, they tasted as if they were store bought from frozen. Freshly made wontons and spring rolls crisp and colour differently when fried and have different textures. One sign is the bubbling on the wontons. Another, the spongy shrimp inside the spring roll.

The pho selections were very limited. Here is what I ended up ordering, a medium-sized beef and beef ball pho ($7.95). My "regular" at better pho houses includes beef tendon and tripe. Neither option was available.

Sliced Beef and Beef Ball Pho

The restaurant was very stingy on accompaniments.

Stingy Accompaniments
The accompaniment plate above, was meant for 4 diners. Our table of four, each ordered pho.

In each bowl served, the noodles were overcooked, readily falling apart.

Finally, like the pho broth at Saigon Pho, Pho Vietnam's was thin, tasted of instant soup mix, and had no body. In fact, as the soup cooled, it separated, precipitating out a cloudy residue.

Here is Pho Vietnam's business card.

Business Card

Please note that Ottawa serves good pho. These restaurants are definitely exceptions to the rule as most know patrons can easily go somewhere else for a better bowl.

Particulars:
Saigon Pho
232 Bank Street
(613)232-0888

Pho Vietnam
1187 St. Laurent Blvd.
(613)744-5618