Pho Express

The folks that run the place are sooooo friendly! If you come here enough, they’ll commit to memory exactly what you want and how you want it, which is pretty nice!
Got the 3 spice pork with spring roll on rice. Didn’t care much for the roll as it was a bit mushy and the filling was a bit bland but the grilled pork was terrific! It had a great balance of sweet and savory and the crispy bits were just delectable! If I had to order something in the future though, I might skip the roll and just go for all grilled meats.

Long line ups at lunch. Don’t expect too much, but it’s a decent lunch spot if you work nearby.

Phở Express is located inside the International Food Court on Hornby. I ordered the combo plate, which was a bowl of Phở and a spring roll. ($ 7.50 before tax)
After looking at the list, I decided on the item that every Phở restaurant would have, — the #1. Except this one is called P1 Phở, which had flank beef, beef balls and wasn’t very good. The broth was bland and felt like it either wasn’t cooked long enough, or didn’t have enough ingredients. The spring roll that was in my combo had a nice crispy skin, but the meat inside was mushy. It tasted as it there were flour or filler mixed in to create a bigger roll. The bean sprouts that came with my order was a little brown on the ends meaning it was old or sitting out too long.
The picture looked great, but I was not impressed and most likely not coming back.

Not a bad bánh mì for $ 4
I’ve grabbed my luch here several time, and it’s always been consistant.
Fresh cilantro, pickled daikon, carrots, cucumber and jalapeños. The chicken has been pretty good quality, reheated in a microwave, but still pretty tasty.
I haven’t got around to trying anything else on their menu. I’m tempted, but like the idea of eating under five bucks.
sometimes you can get free wi-​fi, plus plus!

I ordered the P1 Phở — it was beef balls, flank and noodles, bean sprouts and all the other stuff that normally comes with phở. It was quite tasty and for $ 7.50 it was good value. I think I would just get the flank beef and skip the balls next time.
They could be a little more generous with the bean sprouts and limes though. For quick lunch it’s fast and filling.

Well, I just had a terrible lunch.
Sometimes I have no idea what to eat and I ‘spin the wheel’ so to speak; more often than not, it’ll land on something I’ve had before, or something at least average enough to satisfy.
I ended up at Phở Express in the International Food Court — a spot I had been to only once before (it’s relatively new). I had only ever had their vietnamese sub, so I decided to try something new and (soon to be discovered) terrible.
Coconut chicken curry on vermicelli. Mmm, right?
Wrong.
The chicken was of a quality that would be used to make soup stock. Most of the meat had been boiled off the bones, and there was a disproportionate amount of skin. It was almost like the chicken was wearing the skin of other chickens like some kind of twisted chicken serial killer.
Did I go too far there? At least you didn’t have to eat the sick bastard.
The vermicelli was overcooked and mushy, and once the curry was introduced, it turned into a gag-​worthy tapioca punctuated by bone shards, confusing carrots, and funtatoes.
The carrots were of varying consistency, with some almost seeming raw, and others being stew-​tender. Confusing.
The funtatoes, I can only assume, were actually potatoes. They didn’t taste anything like the potatoes I’m accustomed to… or anything else, for that matter. They didn’t even really absorb the curry flavour. They had no point and should be ashamed of themselves.
The curry itself was ok, but that’s because it was prepackaged Glico curry.
I hope this is my only one-​star review. I’m still hungry and now I am sad.