Jennifer P.
Yelp
Judging by reviews on Yelp and other platforms, it looks like the New Pho Bo Ga LA is the #1 most popular pho restaurant in Ottawa. Admittedly, I had been avoiding this place because there are so many pho restaurants with such similar names (some iteration of "pho, bo and ga." In fact there are two restaurants called Pho Bo Ga 2. One is at 843 Somerset West and the other is at 857 Somerset West. One is referred to as "the purple one" (843) and the other is referred to as "the red one" (857) since they have different coloured signs). I was very frustrated with the lack of originality in the naming of the restaurants that I just boycotted them all. However, as someone who loves food and loves trying new restaurants, I soon realized that such thinking was foolish, and I am now embracing all the "pho," "bo" and "ga" out there! (Which really just means "rice noodles," "beef" and "chicken" by the way). There's King, there's 1, and two 2's, (at some point there was a 3, but I think it closed down), and La, and Truc, and Mi, and new, and old, and I'm gonna eat my way through all of them!! LOL.
So what do I think of the ever-so-popular New Pho Bo Ga LA? It was pretty good.
Now I didn't have pho, but I had Hu Tieu My Tho (tapioca noodle soup from the Vietnamese town of My Tho). I got a small and it was $10. Small was a good size for lunch for me. It came with a good amount of chewy tapioca noodles, 2 big shrimp, a few pieces of surimi (artificial) crab, a few slices of lean pork, and about a tablespoon of ground pork and deep fried onions. The broth was flavourful and not too salty nor too fatty. I loved that the meats were lean, and the shrimp were big and properly de-veined. I was a bit disappointed that my soup didn't come with any fish cakes (but it didn't say that it would on the menu, so that's ok, but other places have fish cakes in this dish, and I love fish cakes). My soup came with some garnishes on the side (bean sprouts, mint leaves, a chili pepper, a wedge of lime, and another mystery green), but I did not use any.
The restaurant is nicely decorated with Vietnamese art. Each table has a caddy of utensils and condiments. You get a pot of complimentary tea when you arrive. They give you the menu with a pen and piece of paper. You write your order on the paper and the server comes and gets it when you're ready. After you're done your meal, you pay at the cash register.
Service was good. I was greeted right away when I entered and lead to a table. However, at places like these, it is typical that once you get your food, the server does not come to your table again. They don't check up on you. If you need something, you have to flag them down. I didn't need anything else though. Staff were polite and nice. My server even called me "Miss." LOL.
This place is in Chinatown, so it's pretty much street parking only.
Overall, good food and reasonable prices. I would go back.