Toronto has a diverse cultural population and we love it. For example, did you know that Toronto has the largest Italian population next to Rome? We have Little Italy, Little India, Greektown, Korea Town, Chinatown, well you get my drift. When you enter these small areas (sometimes only one street, or two or three blocks) you are transformed from being in big city Toronto to being in Italy or even India! We are indeed very fortunate to be able to live safely, peacefully and embrace our diverse cultures. We LOVE this, particularly the FOOD!
Very close to where I work, there are a couple of Vietnamese restaurants; we sometimes go to a place called Asia 21. It’s not pretty, but the food is fresh and good and family run; the only bad side is that they only take cash, and they are not licensed (somehow this type of food does not pair well with wine anyway, but I still love it!) I am addicted to Phô, a clear beef broth with very thinly sliced rare beef, rice noodles and herbs; it’s ‘Happy food’ or Vietnamese comfort food. I totally get it, I can eat this for every meal, every day! Sadly, there is so MUCH salt in the restaurant versions that I swell up like a dirigible on Superbowl Sunday — not a pretty site! We’ve started making our own so we can control the salt. I must say, I like it even better. The temperatures in Toronto couldn’t be less like soup weather…but I have to say, I have missed my Phô! It’s humid and unseasonably warm, NOT complaining! JT made an excellent Phô last night, and I had it for lunch today (did I mention that I can eat this EVERY DAY?). We’ve adapted Canadian Living’s Beef Phô (click for original recipe) A delicately fragrant beef broth, with ginger, cinnamon, cloves, star anise. It’s really a flavour explosion in your mouth. We season it with fresh mint, cilantro and thai basil. I also add hoisin sauce (sweet) and Sriracha Sauce (hot, they call it Asian Catsup). My mouth is watering as I type this on my iPad (sitting at the island in the kitchen while JT cooks up another specialty, Israeli Couscous and Grilled Shrimp). YUM! I am a very fortunate woman.
Oooh, pho! There’s a small place I know in Paris too – far from pretty. Small, plastic tables, but the people running it are old and sweet and recognise us now and the pho they have is wonderful. I keep meaning to get some beef bones to make my own!
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Isn’t that always the case, Charles? Really bad décor but good food? The place I go to also knows me, number 102 small and I don’t have to tell them. And the price is very reasonable six dollars and change for a restaurant lunch! That is good value!
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Yeah – a lot of the Chinese restaurants in Paris (France in general actually) are very similar – almost identical menus, identical food, identical garish name sign in the front and they’re all called things like “LOTUS GARDEN” or “ROYAL SHANGHAI” or something. Periodically you find a place which is really unique, even if it looks the same as the rest. I think a large bowl of pho at this place is €6,50. It’s a shame I don’t work nearby – I’d go there every day for lunch, especially since my company pays for 50% of my lunches 😀
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That’s incredible Charles, 50%? what do you do to have such fortune?
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Ah, it’s a French thing. In companies they often give you the choice of giving you a discount in their cantine (if they building has one) or giving you “Tickets Restaurant” instead. The company pays about 55% of these restaurant tickets and you pay the rest directly from your salary. You get a book of about 21 per month (one for each working day, so fewer if you take vacation). Pretty much *every* restaurant in France takes them, with the exception of really high-class places of course. You’re supposed to use only one per person, per meal, by law I think the restaurants aren’t supposed to take more, and you’re not allowed to buy alcohol with them, but pretty much every restaurant you go to doesn’t seem to care. You order what you want, pay entirely with lunch tickets and off you go. No cash needs change hands 😀 It’s great because my wife and I like to take our own lunch to work, and save our tickets and have an effectively “free” trip to a restaurant once a week or something (including wine!)
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Nice. Don’t tell me you get six weeks vacation too!
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How great! I did not know so many Italians lived in Toronto! My sister in law has recently moved there, so I am sure I’ll get to visit one day! 🙂
That pho looks sooooo comforting and delicious!!!
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That’s great that you have family in Toronto. I do hope you will come to visit one day, Manu, you and your family will love it.
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I LOVE this! Pho is on my lifetime list of things to make! What a beautiful dish! …and how wonderful to live in such a diverse city! GREAT eats!
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Thanks Ann. Come Autumn, Pho is one of our staples. Yes, we are very fortunate to live in Toronto.
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Just found your blog over at Kristy’s site. I look forward to seeing your upcoming posts/recipes. Love what I’m seeing so far! xx
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Thanks Caroline, welcome and nice to ‘meet’ you. I’ll check out your blog too!
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Oh I love going to Little Italys. I know this isn’t about that, but it must be fun to have that many different cultures represented. The soup looks stellar.
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Thanks Greg. Little Italy in Toronto is amazing. We have a couple of festivals too, where they totally shut down the street! The kitchen shops in these areas are cool too!
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Totally jealous of your weather. It’s been gloomy and chilly here. Fortunately the sun is peaking out this a.m. 🙂 Finally! I enjoyed the diversity of Toronto as well. It reminded me a lot of Chicago in many ways. I’ve never eaten Vietnamese food before…when we get to that part of the world on our adventure, I’ll make sure to give this a try. It sounds delicious!
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Thanks Kristy. I agree wholeheartedly, Chicago is VERY similar to Toronto. I even find the demeanor of the people similar (although, one could argue that Chicago is friendlier!). We LOVE Chicago. I hope you do try this soup, it is quite delicious!
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Kevin and I used to love going for traditional beef pho all the time! Our favourite place was on College near Dufferin, called Pho Phuong. Now we’re vegetarian and one of the things we miss is going beef pho and deep fried spring rolls.
But, we recently discovered a great place at Broadview and Gerrard, called Hanoi 3 Seasons (www.hanoi3seasons.com), that serves amazing vegetarian pho! Really fantastic flavours and some surprising ingredients (like tomato!?!) and worth the trip to this quiet, but busy little restaurant.
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Hi Michela, I didn’t realize you guys went vegetarian – that’s great. I’m sure there could be a really good fake pho, made with vegetable stock, and perhaps some tofu instead of the beef. I think the spices is what makes it pho, star anise, ginger, cloves etc. I think I may try this next time, even though we are not vegetarian, I think it’s good to moderate our meat consumption! thanks for the tip, I’ve see Pho Phuong, if it’s the place I think it is, it looks like a more contemporary Vietnamese place (most of them look like a bad movie from the 70’s).
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Have been craving for some pho…that looks heavenly comforting!
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Hi Angie, Pho makes me happy. I just love it.
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I, too, love Phô but have never thought to make it myself. I once lived very near to one of the city’s premier Vietnamese restaurants and thoroughly enjoyed it — and then they moved a few miles north and ruined everything! 🙂 You’ve inspired me to make some Phô for myself. Thank you.
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That’s great John. We usually do Vietnamese lettuce wraps the very next day as their are some similar fresh ingredients (cilantro, mint, thai basil) so they don’t go to waste!
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I just made a pho (love pho!) a couple of weeks ago but haven’t posted my recipe yet. Will be good to compare and contrast. Bon apetite!
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Thanks BFN, I look forward to seeing your recipe.
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I am currently obsessed with Sriracha – I want to put it on everything! That soup looks like it is just full of wonderful flavors.
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Thank you Ashley, welcome to my blog. I also love this sauce, it really makes me happy!
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My friend is from Toronto-I hope I get to visit there one day! 🙂 What a heavenly looking soup!
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I hope you do too, Lorraine. Toronto is an amazing city!
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I have a sister-in-law who’s from Vancouver and she’s always telling me how wonderful Toronto is. I hope to be there soon.
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Welcome, Charlie Louie, nice to ‘meet’ you. You should totally come to Toronto. I think it’s a great city too!
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