***~~ (3/5)

Noodle Island. Honestly, that’s a pretty strange name. I found this place about half a year ago, but decided to eat at Sunny Dragon a few stores down. I got take out this time because I needed to get back for UFC. So we ordered a couple of vermicelli dishes to go. I should go back to try out the pho.

I ordered the Bun Ga, Thit, Nem Nuong, Cha Gio (Grilled Chicken, Pork Chop, Meat Patties, and Spring Roll with Rice Vermicelli) ($10.95). It came with quite a bit of food. I think it’s worth it for $11, because I had a lot of variety. Aside from the items listed above it also came with the standard cucumbers, carrots, daikon, and lettuce. It also came with a little container of Vietnamese fish sauce which you pour over your vegetables, spring roll, and noodles. I wish they gave more though! The vegetables seemed pretty fresh. They use the thinner rice vermicelli, which is typical here. My favorite of the meats was the meat patty because it had the most flavour to it. The chicken and pork, although cooked well were a bit bland. The spring roll was decent too.

My friend ordered the Bun Ga Xuyen Nuong, which means 3 grilled chicken skewers with rice vermicelli ($8.50), and she also ordered a Vietnamese Iced Coffee with condensed milk. The ice coffee came out surprisngly fast, as it normally takes 5-10 minutes for the coffee to drip. But since we ordered it to go, I guess they did it for us. It wasn’t very good here. The 3 chicken skewers was a lot of food for $8.50 and she liked it.

Overall the prices are decent, and you get a lot of food. Since we ordered take out, I’m not sure if the quality or quantity would be different. They also speak Cantonese if you aren’t sure what some things are in Vietnamese. Although the food we ordered was pretty good, I would come back to test out their Pho. Surprisingly it is not cash only. My favorites are still Pho Tau Bay and Song Huong.

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Noodle Island
#302 – 15988 Fraser Hwy
Surrey, BC

(604) 591-6528

****~ (4/5)

I went to Song Huong last week on the recommendation of Sherman. Boy was he right! Although I’ve lived in Surrey my whole life, I’ve never noticed this strip of complexes on 108th Ave. It’s just down the street from Pho Tau Bay. The parking was a bit difficult at 6PM on a weekday. If there’s no parking and you drive in, you have to back out onto 108 Ave as it’s a direct street off of Highway 1. Not easy.

After looking at the menu, there were a few items that I wanted to try, but I was actually in a bit of a rush. I ordered the Grilled Pork and Rice with egg. My friend ordered a pho with just steak and beef balls. It actually took quite a while for the food to come out. It was getting us nervous because we had to be in and out of there pretty quickly. Strangely, my rice dish came out before my friends Pho. Weird. But, it was worth the wait.

My pork came with a sunny side up egg, rice, some cabbage and carrot salad, and some fish sauce. The pork was grilled perfectly. It was tender, and it was still lined with the perfect amount of fat to add more flavour. I loved it. The only part I didn’t like about the pork was that the bone was still in, so you had to do a bit of cutting to get around it. The egg was also good, and the yolk was runny. The cabbage and carrot salad also was a good side dish with the fish sauce.

Now, my friend said that this is his new favorite pho! His favorite used to be Pho Tam, but he said the broth at Song Huong is the best. I’ll have to take his word on it for now until I get to try it.

The prices were pretty standard, and the rice dishes were a little bit cheaper than other places. In the end, the bill was just under $14 for our food. The service was a bit slow on this day, and I’m not sure why. So, I’m not too sure if this is my favorite place yet, as I didn’t try the pho. I’ll have to try next time to decide, but I know I will definitely be coming back to try what Sherman and Kim had.

Song Huong
14667 108 Ave
Surrey, BC

(604) 581-4710

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***½~ (3.5/5)

Pho Vinh is beside my friend’s new favorite Japanese restaurant in Surrey called Maguro. So I’ve seen it a bunch of times recently, but haven’t gone in. I decided to give it a try. Sadly, the place was empty at 6 PM when we went it. They had people by the cash register prepping ingredients like garlic, but I actually see this at other Vietnamese restaurants too. This place seemed a lot less dingy and dirty than other Vietnamese restaurants that I go to.

We sat down, and looked at the menu. They had your normal Vietnamese fare, a bunch of pho’s, vermicelli dishes, riche dishes, spring rolls, salad rolls, skewers, and coffees. We both decided on getting what we always order, a Large Pho with Brisket and rate Steak – #11 this time. One thing that caught my eye on this menu is that different pho’s cost different amounts. They also charged you more for take out. That’s a bit strange.

We got our food a few minutes later and it came with the standard bean sprouts, jalepenos, lime, and herbs, and they also gave you the special sauce, without asking! That made me happy.

I had my first sip of the broth, and sad to say it but it was not as good as Pho Tau Bay’s. One I tried that, I knew it was the best broth that I’ve ever tried. This didn’t hit me like that. It was good, but not the best. One thing that I liked about this place was that it gave a lot of noodles and meat. It was a perfect match. By the end of my bowl I didn’t have extra of any. The noodles seemed to be a little hard, but that was just because it was all tangled up tightly. It was cooked properly, but it was difficult to get at my first bite of noodles. The brisket was cooked well, and the steak was very raw by the time it got to me, but of course cooked when dunked under the pho broth for a little bit.

In the end, I don’t think I’d stray away from Pho Tau Bay. It was good, but not the best. I may come back to Pho Vinh if I wanted to try another dish. The rice dish that I had at Pho Tau Bay wasn’t that good. This place is also was cleaner. They also take debit and cash, but not credit cards.

Pho Vinh
10090 152nd Street
Surrey, BC

(604) 957-2669

***½~ (3.5/5)

…but not anymore. Pho Tau Bay is definitely tops.

I used to frequent Kim Hoang, and it was my favorite place to get Pho in Surrey. If I wanted Pho, this is where me and my friends would go. It’s close, it has FREE parking (something that Pho Tam has very little of), the Pho was good, and they gave you a special sauce. That is until recently.

I’ve tried quite a few dishes here because I wanted to explore the menu more. I always used to order the #8 Large, which has rare steak and brisket of course, but have now also tried their beef curry, as well as their vermicelli and rice dishes, and a pork roll. I’ve also ordered their somewhat “spicy” noodle soup which is also good.

Recently, they have stopped giving out their special sauce. You now have to ask for it, which I found out because some lady asked for the sauce. I’m not sure if it’s free or extra charge.

The pho is still good. The broth is really good, but they don’t give you as much meat as the other Vietnamese restaurants. They are very consistent. They don’t offer as many herbs as well, but it won’t matter if you don’t use the herbs. The #27 soup is also very good. It’s a red soup base, with spaghetti like noodles, and comes with a ham hock and some other meat. This is really good, and I’d suggest trying it if you want to try something different. I don’t like eating the ham hock though..

The vermicelli is decent if you aren’t looking for soup. I’ve had the meat over cooked sometimes though.

I’d still say this is my second favorite place to get Pho in Surrey, though I haven’t been back since I had my first taste of Pho Tau Bay in December.

Note: This place is also cash only!

Kim Hoang
#30 10330 – 152nd St
Surrey, BC

(604) 951-8382

***** (5/5)

I went to Pho Tau Bay after I read dee’s review for them. I wanted to see if there is really better pho out there better than Pho Tam, and dee was right, Pho Tau Bay is the new king of pho in Surrey!

I went there a couple weeks ago for the first time, and I have been back there 2 more times since then. I had their Pho with Rare Steak and Tendon, House Special Pho, and Dry Seafood with Egg Noodles.

There was a lot of meat in the pho. I was surprised to find there were still pieces of meat by the time I was almost done with all my noodles. Too much meat? I wasn’t complaining. The noodles were cooked Al-Dente. They didn’t over cook the noodles until they are really soft. I like it. The soup was really yummy. It wasn’t too salty at all. I didn’t leave the restaurant feeling drinking water all night like I do with most pho restaurants.

If you enjoy varieties of meat in your pho, you should get the House Special Pho, it has a mixture of cooked, rare steak, flank, tripe, and tendon. It is sort of a sampler pho. I really enjoyed the Rare Steak and Tendon one, it’s got a lot of steak, and a lot of tendon, the most I’ve seen anywhere else.

The Dry Seafood with Egg noodle was something I’ve never tried before. It is dry noodles with sauce and a mix of seafood, and fish balls on top. It also comes with a bowl of pho soup. The sauce was a little sweet tasting, but it was too salty for me. It’ll be good to eat in the summer.

I really liked this place, and I was already craving it after my first time there. That’s why I went back a couple more after.

Thumbs up!

Note: Cash Only! Parking is easy to find and free.

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Pho Tau Bay
10782 148th Street
Surrey, BC V3R3X6
Tel: (604) 585-1833

**½~~ (2.5/5)
Pho Tam used to be the standard for great tasting Pho in Surrey. Me and my friends agreed that it was the best one around. But it was just the shitty parking around the Surrey Central skytrain station that kept me from going for a long time. The complex is full of restaurants, and probably only about 10-12 parking spots, which are all usually taken. There’s a pay parking lot across the alley, but it sucks having to pay for parking, especially in Surrey. If you do park there though, make sure to pay for your ticket. I know a few friends who have gotten tickets for just having a quick meal. The area is a little bit sketchy too because it’s by the Surrey Central Skytrain Station.

Anyways, so I finally went back there a few weeks ago after over 2 years. I was sadly disappointed, but that may be because I was spoiled by the goodness of Pho Tau Bay. I ordered what I normally would at any other Pho restaurant, a large bowl of pho with beef brisket and rare slices of steak. Today, the broth wasn’t very flavourful. It was actually quite bland, and not even as good as Kim Hoang. I’m pretty sure it was an off day though, because I remembered this place used to be the best. They do give lots of meat though, which I guess is a plus.

For some reason, the tea also didn’t have as much flavour as it normally should, it was very watered down. My friend got the spicy Pho with spaghetti-like noodles. She liked her food a lot, a lot more than Kim Hoang’s. She also got the Vietnamese Drip Coffee which was also really good.

For me, I am willing to give them another chance, and I will try again because I remember the Pho used to be so much better. Has Pho Tau Bay taken over for sure as the best Pho restaurant in Surrey? I’ll let you know when I go back to each restaurant one more time to see who is more consistent.

Another thing I remembered is that it’s cash only and for some reason there is a $4.50 minimum charge per person.

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Pho Tam
10302 135 Street, #10
Surrey, BC V3T4Y8
Phone: (604) 589-4223

****~ (4/5)
Pho Tau Bay is one of the many vietnamese restaurants in Surrey. I’ve read reviews saying that if you like Kim Hoang, you’ll love this place. I eat at Kim Hoang quite a bit because it’s close, pretty good, lots of parking, and has a good sauce. I’d eat at Pho Tam near Surrey Central Skytrain station more, but there’s hardly any free parking. You’ll get a ticket if you park by Safeway.

I just ate at Pho Tau Bay last weekend, and I was pretty impressed. The soup is actually better than Kim Hoang’s and they give you a lot of meat. I ordered a #5 Large, which is pretty much the same as what I would typically order for pho – brisket and rare thinly sliced steak. Like normal, they gave us the typical beansprouts, and basil I think, but they gave us another herb as well, which I used. Not sure what it was, but it was good. I didn’t even add much hoisin or the spicy sauce into my stock and I loved it. I think everyone at our table of 4 ordered the same thing. When I said they give you lots of meat, I mean it. By the time I was done my noodles, there was still a lot of meat left floating in my soup.

I also ordered a Pork Salad Roll, yes just pork, because I’m most allergic to shrimp. The waitress warned me that I might not like the roll, and I should get the regular salad roll. I guess I should’ve taken this as a warning, because I actually didn’t really like it, as it was very dry and had very little flavor. It comes with the Vietnamese Fish sauce, but it didn’t help much. For $6 I got two of these rolls, which is basically the same price as any other Vietnamese restaurant, but very expensive compared to making it yourself. And I think mine taste better.

Although the location is more sketchy than Kim Hoang’s, I would definitely come back here when I’m craving Pho. I’m not going to order any more of those salad rolls though. On Saturday’s they are open til 12am. They only take cash – no credit card or interac.

4-Stars, cheap and open late! Two Large Soups and my Salad Rolls was about $21.

Pho Tau Bay
10782 148th Street
Surrey, BC V3R3X6
Tel: (604) 585-1833