By Jennifer Colbourne (The Cascade) – Email
Print Edition: July 4, 2012
#104 5521 203 St, Langley
604.532.7767
Hours: Mon to Sat: 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Sun: 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Prices: $6-$10
Innocuously tucked across the street from Army and Navy, you would never suspect that Langley Vietnamese Cuisine is Langley’s best kept secret. Yes, we’re talking about the best pho in the Lower Mainland, hands down.
For those unfamiliar with pho, it’s not as strange as it may sound. In fact, it’s really just noodle soup. But what noodle soup! Tender cuts of beef, soft and thin rice noodles, bean sprouts and basil, all in a hearty beef broth: it’s delicious.
And Langley Vietnamese Cuisine does it a cut above everyone else. It’s not an upscale place; in fact, the décor at best could be called “charmingly tacky,” which includes a hanging garden of shiny plastic fruit, numerous Buddhas, lucky cats with paws a-waving and a misty fountain. More importantly, the place is bright and clean; the restaurant may not be fancy, but it’s well-kept and sanitary, which is all that really matters.
As soon as you are shown to your table, a pot of complimentary green tea is brought out immediately. Everything arrives quickly at this place, even though it’s always busy – the telltale sign of a good restaurant. Most of the regulars don’t even bother perusing the menu; my husband and I now also tend to order the same meals. Why mess with a good thing?
However, there is certainly no lack of options. There are well over a dozen choices for pho alone, ranging from rare steak to beef balls to just plain noodles. The most expensive large pho is only $7.50; most are in the $5-$7 range. For the record, a large pho is only recommended for a very large appetite. Neither my husband nor I can eat more than the regular size, especially if we get an appetizer.
And you really should get an appetizer. They offer a wide variety of specialty Asian food, all of which are delicious. Our personal favourite is the deep fried wonton (only $5.75). Honestly, it’s worth going to Langley Vietnamese Cuisine just for that; they’re perfectly crispy, but not greasy, brought out fresh and hot and ready to melt in your mouth.
In addition to pho, they offer a range of tempura, rice and noodle dishes, most of which are well under $10. A few vegetarian-friendly dishes are also included. Notably, they also have a most unique drink menu, with drinks featuring egg yolk, duran, lychee, rambutan and red and green bean. If you’re adventurous and like trying new food, this is definitely the place for you.
Still, it’s a pho place and personally I recommend going with their specialty. I always order the rare steak and well-done brisket combination, both cuts being so good I’ve given up trying to decide between them. Thin and succulent, the meat is both tender and flavourful. As is typical in pho restaurants, a plate of bean sprouts, basil, lime and hot peppers is brought out with the soup, which you add yourself (with the exception on my part of the peppers). This way, nothing is overcooked (bean sprouts requiring a whole 20 seconds of cooking) and the flavour is fresh and poignant.
Best of all, you will wait at most 10 minutes for your meal to arrive. Like I said, even though it’s busy, they’re very quick. There’s always a bustle of high energy activity both in and out of the kitchen.
The servers are very business-like and anything but talkative. By White Spot standards, they’d be considered rude, but I don’t find the brusqueness impolite – it just seems to be the way they do things. And of course the servers always find a few friendly words for their regulars. But be warned – if you want the attention of a server after your meal, you may have to wave one down. Still, not the end of the world. In fact, it’s nice to have a meal for once where you can relax and spend as much time as you like without feeling pushed out to free up tables.
One last note and a tip from a regular: when you’re at the restaurant, you’ll notice a large fridge cooler full of cups filled with what appears to be a green pudding. As far as I can tell, these aren’t actually on the menu, nor do they seem to have a name – but the customers love them. They’re delicious! For the longest time, I had no idea what they were made of, except that they were creamy and oh-so-good, though not quite like any pudding I’d ever had before. Well, it turns out that they’re actually just made of soy milk and tofu. The green? No – not pistachio, or green bean, or some exotic ingredient. Turns out the secret of the mysterious green pudding is… food colouring! But regardless, I insist you try one for yourself. Don’t let the words “green,” “soy” or “tofu” turn you off of this excellent pudding.
When I was leaving after my last meal there, I heard two guys joking as they paid their bill that it was the “same price as Starbucks.” And it is completely true: for the price of a tea and sandwich at a café, here you can get an entire sit-down meal. For two bowls of pho and a plate of deep fried wontons (never mind the free green tea), our bill after taxes and tip still came to under $25. I can’t think of any comparable restaurant of such good value, never mind the amazing food. It’s friendly to both the student budget and the taste buds. If you, like I, don’t live in Langley, trust me when I say it’s worth the drive.
