Pho Tam - Surrey, BC

So to every pho noodle place I go to, people are always saying "this and this place is better".  Well, everyone is entitled to their own opinions but one consistent retort I was always getting was this dive in Surrey called Pho Tam.  Well, Mr. Piglet and I decided to take the trek out to Surrey to see if this place was worthy of a mention.

First of all, Google Maps failed us - it kept getting us to turn around, around and around.  Keep turning left on 135th St, keep turning right on 135th St, keep turning left on 135th St!  Where is this place???  Turns out construction has given this street a new name of City Parkway!  Argh.  First of all, when you can actually find this place (located almost right below the skytrain line and look for some yellow awnings), don't even bother with parking in front of it - it's just as bad, if not worse, than some lots in Richmond.  Double-parking is rampant, small spaces with large trucks and SUVs everywhere.  Just park at the mall and take the 1 block stroll over.

The windows are grimey, the tables are questionable and the teapot arrives with stains on it but this place is busy on a weekday and outside of prime dining hours.  We're seated immediately and served tea even before I can sit down.  I've never seen such a mix of people at any noodle place - Filipinos, Vietnamese, Chinese, Indian, Caucasian, students, the elderly...  I'm super excited cuz the food must be good!  We order and wait impatiently for it to arrive...

Pho Tai Bo Vien - $7.50

Medium Rare Beef Slices, Beef Balls and Rice Noodle in Soup

It's a completely massive bowl for $7.50!  The meatballs are like any other place but the beef is excellent - sliced super thin, served raw in the bowl and left to be slowly cooked in the broth.  The beef doesn't bunch up and there's tons of it to go around.  The broth is a bit oily but tastes great - deep beef flavoring in a clear soup base.  Mr. Piglet and I are eating with gusto, slurping and all.  So good....

 

Com Ga Nuong, Cha Gio - $8.50

Grilled Lemongrass Chicken & Spring Roll on Steamed Rice

The spring roll is crunchy but also chewy at the same time, so chewy you can't split the pieces and takes quite a bit of chomping to consume.  Mr. and I decide we've definitely had better at other Vietnamese places but we finish it regardless as it's still tasty.  The lemongrass chicken on the other hand was EXCELLENT.  On the greasy side but actually not a lot of fat on the chicken and super tender.

Look, you can actually see bits of seasoning and lemongrass still on the chicken!  Packed full of flavor!  It is by far one of the best lemongrass chickens we've ever had.

Cafe Sua Da - $3.25

French Style Iced Coffee with Milk

Ah, the good ole drip French coffee...  A lot of places now don't give you the whole drip experience so we were delighted when this was plopped on our table.  Memories....

Overall, this place is dingy, you're sitting at a table with others and the parking is hell but we would be back and I'll probably take Mama Piglet here to get her opinion.  The beef pho was awesome, the lemongrass chicken was super tasty and that French drip coffee just tops that meal off right.  If you're ever in the area or just want a good hot bowl of pho for cheap, check Pho Tam out and let me know what you think.  Bon appetite!


Pros:

• Cheap
• Free parking
• Right next to Central City Mall and Skytrain Station
• Really good food

Cons:

• Dingy and dive-y
• Cramped
• Free parking is hell vortex