Villa Vietnamese

I’ve always been a big fan of Taco Luis and I was feeling for a fix for vietnamese today so I went here to give it a try. I got the $ 6.80 for the lemon grass pork chop noodle with salad for take out. Price is pretty good right? I started eating, the pork chop was 70% burnt and dry with a heavy taste of MSG and no lemon grass flavour what so ever and I could tell the spring roll was fried in old oil it was dark and greasy and not fully cooked, it was mushy inside. The noodles were bathed in the green onion oil and the only thing that i thought was edible was the piece of tomato and lettuce.
No next time. I rather pay an extra 3 dollars to go somewhere else.

Yesterday I was out in Lansdowne Mall looking for something buy on my lunch break from university. I stumbled across this vendor and had doubts about this place because it didn’t seem like it’s authentic Vietnamese. Sorry if this sounds offensive but I am kind of anally retentive about this when it comes to ethnic restaurants.
I ordered a bowl of beef phở for $ 6.80 (after taxes) and I was suspiciously amazed at how fast that bowl was made, from the kitchen to my tray. Was it pre-​made? Did they just microwave it? Who knows, I could be completely wrong here.
But boy, it actually looked and tasted quite decent. The noodles’ width seemed to be a little bigger than usual, kind of like those thin, flat udon noodles, but it didn’t really bother me. Bean sprouts bombed the bowl and looked like I was eating a bowl of phở in the south part of Vietnam. (disclaimer: I don’t have a PhD in phở cookery but I’ve spent a decent amount of time in both north and south of the country and can say the south uses bean sprouts more often). Fresh herbs that act as garnish gave it a fresh look. Oh yeah, I’m not forgetting about the beef pieces. I’m pretty sure it’s brisket (again, no Phở PhD here) but the only thing matters is that it’s finger-​licking good.
Overall, $ 6.80 for a good-​tasting phở is a steal. Can’t think of another food chain that has similar pricing.
Only gamebreaking caveat here is that they don’t have sriracha for me to use. I love to increase firepower of my phở bowl to the point I feel like communing with the firey depths of Diyu (Chinese equivalent of hell). I am very disappointed in the lack of sriracha.

Always love finding family owned and run businesses. Villa Vietnamese is from the same people who own Taco Luis!
Similarities run in the family… regarding the good deals and combos that they offer. Phở or Rice combo with a soup or drink is $ 5.99. Banh Mi with a drink is $ 4.99, a daily special. The prices are great but the food is pretty good too!
The Banh Mi is made to order, with the pre-​made crusty French bread being heated in the oven and then topped with a decent amount of Vietnamese ham and salami and mayo. I always like a heavy portion of pickled carrots, radish and cilantro, all topped off with fish sauce and their sweet brown sauce, which adds something special to it. Like at Taco Luis, you can always add more or less of a certain item for your sub.
The Lemongrass Chicken is full of lemongrass and grilled flavour. I appreciate them taking off the fatty skin of the chicken as well. Two large portions of tender chicken are placed on top of a mountain of rice, the rice was a bit soggy but nothing a little fish sauce couldn’t fix to help me devour this generous meal. The lettuce, tomato and cucumber salad was fresh and the soup that came with the meal is probably the same as the Phở broth.
The Phở was okay. I’d rather go for the Lemongrass Chicken or Banh Mi. However, there was a good amount of meat, noodles and the broth was decent.
In the end, if you find yourself at Lansdowne Foodcourt wanting some quick Vietnamese food, you can’t go wrong with Villa Vietnamese.

Grand opening special: Only $ 5 for a variety of menu items including phở, banh mi, and rice dishes.
Portions are generous for the price and even without the grand opening special, the prices are still reasonable for around $ 6.50 for a bowl of phở.
Owners are the same as Taco Luis so you know its gonna be good and you’ll get a side of comedy as well while you wait in line ;)