Pho Mi Asia

Nothing like than a cheap dinner on a Friday night. What I love about asian food is that it's always cheap. Julian and I headed to North York to meet up with friends to eat some tasty pho. Pho Mi Asia is a local favourite. My mom and I usually visit the restaurant for lunch before heading over to Yorkdale Mall.

Pho Mi Asia is located in a strip mall at Keele and Wilson. The interior of the restaurant is what you typically expect from a Vietnamese restaurant, a no frills eating area with some tacky decorations here and there. Do you notice the faux flowers on the walls? I think it adds that asian charm ;). The turnover is fast, no wait times (yay!). Everyone but one ordered #201, the House Noodles Special ($5 for a small). Awesome choice since it has everything: rare beef, tripe, beef balls, and tendon. Here's a tip: never order a XL bowl, it's the same portion as a large bowl, but with more soup. They're sneaky!

I ordered a little treat for myself, 3 Pudding Ice (Che Ba Mau, $3). It's pretty much a dessert in a drink. Also known as "rainbow drink", it has layers of red azuki beans, yellow curd, and green jello with creamy coconut milk and ice. Though it was good, I've had better. The shaved ice became rock hard ice, which took up a lot of room in this tiny plastic cup! :(

I don't go out for pho often since my mama makes, in my opinion, the best home-made pho ever (not-so-subtle-bragging). Scarborough also lacks good pho joints, so if you have any suggestions, please let me know of some! I have to agree with Tuan and Jenn, the quality of the restaurant has gone downhill recently. I don't know what it was, but I found the beef to be sort of gamey.

Pho Mi Asia still cheap in comparison to a lot of pho restaurants in Toronto. My friend mentioned there is a pho restaurant on College and Ossington that is the BEST in Toronto. Hmmm...

Pho Mi Asia
1008 Wilson St.
Toronto, ON
416-630-7567

The Return of Salad King

Salad King is probably one of the first restaurants that started Toronto's thai trend. The name Salad King is deceiving. They don't specialize in salads, in fact they only have two salads on the menu. haha. This place has been a hot spot for starving Ryerson students for almost ten years! I was first introduced to it in my first year of university and have loved it ever since. It was quite fitting to celebrate its return with my Ryerson friends, Joanna, Emily and Julia on Thursday night. 

King had an unfortunate series of events the past year. The original building (a heritage site formerly known as the Empress Hotel) that housed the restaurant was deemed unsafe by city officials after the exterior brick wall came tumbling down. To make matters worse, someone committed arson in January. 

The new location is not too far away from the old one, it's right on top of Footlocker on Yonge St. No need for any advertising because loyal and salivating Salad King followers have been anticipating its return for a year! Joanna visited the restaurant during its opening week in March, and she said the line went all the way down the stairs!

We weren't allowed to be seated until all of the party arrived. The wait wasn't bad since the turnover is pretty fast, it was around 10-15 minutes. Similar to its previous location, it shares a colourful and minimalist design. Of course you can't forget the cafeteria-style communal tables where you literally rub elbows with strangers dining next to you. It is also four times bigger than the old one! Don't expect a nice quiet meal here, what makes Salad King so popular is its crazy loud and bustling atmosphere!

We were seated in a comfy booth, which was nice change from the backless chairs ^_^. As my friend Julia mentioned, there is always a "go to meal" at Salad King. I can never get enough of the Panang Curry or Thai Islamic Noodles. What also makes Salad King so popular is their Heat Scale! You are able to choose the level of spiciness of your dish from a scale of Mild to 20 chillies. The highest I went was 5, and I found the heat overpower my food, 3 chillies is my happy medium. 

{ joanna, emily and julia }

{ in love with the ceiling decal and lights }

The server warned us the kitchen was using spicier chillies than usual, it was double the spiciness were his words exactly. I ordered the Thai Islamic Noodles with Chicken and Shrimp ($10.50) which is the Chef's recommendation, but it's not yet on the menu. Since I was sick and had a sore throat, I downscaled my spice level to medium. My friends ordered the Spring Rolls ($4), Orange Beef ($8.50), Thai Noodle Soup ($6.75) and Thai Basil Noodles with Shrimp ($9.75). While eating our meals, we didn't find the spice level to be "double" the heat, it was a tad spicier than usual, but nothing crazy. I think we're just able to handle the heat ;) 

{ spring rolls }

{ thai basil noodles }

{ thai noodles soup }

{ orange beef }

{ thai islamic noodles }

Salad King didn't disappoint, the quality and quantity was up to par. Everyone was satisfied with their meals and I finally had my Thai Islamic Noodles fix! The red curry was creamy and coconutty, but the chicken was a little too dry for my liking. I love how they don't skimp out on ingredients, there was a whole lot of chicken and shrimp on my plate! I couldn't finish all of mine, so I doggy-bagged it for lunch the next day. Despite the owners raising each dish by 25 cents to recover its costs, it's still VERY reasonable compared to many less than stellar Thai restaurants in the city. You will definitely get the best bang for your buck here!

Salad King
340 Yonge St., 2nd Floor
Toronto, ON
416-593-0333
Website