Who has the best pho?

Pho is a simple but classic inexpensive soup and rice noodle dish, with a choice of different toppings. I decided to try the exact same tendon and rare beef pho at three different Scarborough restaurants.

Pho Dai Nam - 462 Birchmount at Danforth Road. 416-694-8808
Pho Vietnam - 1280 Kennedy north of Lawrence. 416-755-0909
Pho Saigon - 1921 Eglinton Ave E. at Warden. 416-759-5999.

For appetizers, at Pho Dai Nam I had their shrimp wrapped in bean curd paper. Normally I don't like deep fried appetizers such as this one, but it was light enough and so full of flavour. It is pretty filling for a one person appetizer however, so consider yourself forewarned. At Pho Vietnam, I enjoyed their lettuce wrapped beef dish. They provide the ingredients, and the customer does the work of wrapping them in lettuce. It's fun, tasty, and not on the menu of the other two restaurants. At Pho Saigon, I had the more conventional fresh rolls, but these were delicious and quite a bit larger than one finds at many pho restaurants.

All three had flavourful salty broths to match their non-sticky rice noodles. However, all three also had somewhat chewy and fully cooked "rare" beef. I'm used to pinkness that was conspicuously missing in their rare beef slices. For the tendon, Pho Dai Nam and Pho Vietnam tended to the chewy side, with only Pho Saigon providing the soft melt-in-your-mouth tendon I've come to expect.

Pho Vietnam's decor is ultra modern and bright. Pho Saigon has a plain but fairly clean tiled family restaurant feel. Pho Dai Nam's decor is more dated and looks like an old repurposed bar, and unfortunately is located in one of the grungiest malls in the area.

Overall, the pho at all three restaurants was in many ways very similar with no real standout, although Pho Saigon had the best most tender pieces of tendon. What really differentiates the three restaurants is their decor and the other items on the menu.