NEW Pho Bo Ga La

Address: 761-763 Somerset St. West.  Ottawa, ON. K1R 6R1
Phone: (613) 233-2222
Website: https://newphobogala.ca/

What happen when you do a spontaneous one day trip to Ottawa, the capitol of Canada?  The drive from Toronto is 5 hours, so when you arrive past noon, you realistically have a few hours to speed visit everything before your return trip back home.  As a given, you visit the touristy places, like everything around the Parliament Hill perimeter.  With a lack of plan and research, you also end up eating at the most random restaurant ever that is along the way back home.

With Chinatown Ottawa being around the corner, you just make that rash deicion of parking your car and eating at the first restaurant on the strip with fast service.  Obviously, we chose the one that was busier and has more seats occupied.  The more traffic, the fresher the food and better reviewed or liked.  It was hard to not notice NEW Pho Ba Ga La!  So, I assume there was a “not-so-new” Pho Bo Ga La or this was a relocated version of the original Pho Bo Ga La.  What was with the NEW?

The decor was very practical, just wooden tables paired with black chairs lined on both sides of the restaurant.  The furniture is quite worn out and sticky, like some major scrubbing is required.  Pho Bo Ga La was never meant to be a high end gathering or chilling place.  Evidently, they positioned themselves to be a budgetized fast food restaurant.

Well Done Beef, Slightly Fat Beef and Beel Ball Rice Noodles in Soup – Phở Chín Nạm Bò Viên (small, $9.00) is made as the name described.  Pho, a simple stapled street food option in Vietnam, has gained a tonne of popularity internationally.  Not only is it easy to cook, but also, with a lot of variations to differentiate it from one another.  For a small size, they offered a generous amount of ingredients, making the bowl of pho filling, very tasty and satisfying.  The broth was aromatic and sweet.  Bonus to not being salty and thirsty after the meal.  The beef was thinly sliced and had a thick layer of fat stuck to the surface, hence, it was very soft, but too well-done tough.  Meanwhile, the meatballs were quite tough, and chewy.  I felt like I was eating a rubber ball.  The noodles was al dente but a few strands that was undercooked.

The meal was quite decent and was more than I expected, though, I did not know if I had any expectations.  It was either overcooked or undercooked, but overall, it was decent enough for a fast meal.

Ratings

Food 3.25/5
Service 2.5/5
Ambiance 2.5/5

The Fish Market (Ottawa)

Address: 54 York St. Ottawa, Ontario, K1N 5T1 (Byward Market)

Phone: (613) 241-3474

Website: http://www.fishmarket.ca/

Byward Market is quite a neat place with flee markets, boutiques and restaurants everywhere.  It reminds me a bit of Quincy Market in Boston.  They both have a similar idea and airy atmosphere; both chilly and cold in the winter.

The Fish Market is on the main floor of the building.  The second floor is a sister restaurant that serves all you can eat seafood meals and the basement is a brother restaurant that serves more seafood.  On the day we went (Sunday), only the Fish Market was opened during noon hours.

The moment you step inside, the decor will feel like you have traveled back in time or you went to your cottage.  It was all made with wood at every corner – wooden beams, doors, benches, tables, stairs and floors – with sailor or ocean related ornaments – nets, variety of fish species, crustacean species, and fishermen boats, buoys –  hung on the beams. It carried out the seafood and maritime theme quite appropriately.   It was warm, friendly and comfortable in appearance, but quite dated too.

Complimentary bread and dip from the restaurant.  The bread was steaming hot, crunchy crust and soft interior.  But what impressed me the most was the oil / sauce.  The oil was infused with garlic, tarragon, marjoram, chili pepper, peppercorn, dried basil and salt.  It was sweet, salty and spicy, great combination.  We asked for bread refills nonstop.

Smoked Salmon Sushi Roll ($11.99) was filled with stone crab meat, cucumber, mango and red onion, wrapped in smoked salmon.  Mediocre and salty.  Texture was soft and weird.

Spicy Crab Cakes ($13.99) was fried fresh crab meat blended with herbs,  served with lemon & garlic aioli.

Creamy Clam Chowder ( cup 5.99 or bowl 9.99) was a restaurant exclusive recipe loaded with clams, potato and vegetables.  The size ordered was a bowl. There was lack of clam flavour and the texture was very starchy, too much potatoes.  No doubt it was filling but it was quite a disappointment for me.

Steamed Canadian Mussels ($12.99) was done In your choice of 3 sauces: vegetable, white wine & garlic  OR a spicy Cajun style creole tomato sauce OR creamy mushroom & leak sauce.  This particular one was the white wine & garlic sauce.  The dish was well worth the price, as the portion size was huge and every shell had a meat attached to it.  Mussels were fresh and chewy, burst of flavours in your mouth as you bite into it.  Voted the best out of the selection ordered.

Fried Calamari ($11.99) was seasoned and deep fried with a sour cream dill sauce.  Big portion of lightly battered calamari, fried to nice crispy texture on the outside and chewy rubbery calamari on the inside.  The dish was standard, felt like any other pub style calamari rings, but less oil.

Grilled Steak with Mashed Potatoes was standard, once again.  It is a stapled item for all restaurants.  No compliments or dislikes to the steak.

Florida Swordfish Steak ($27.99) was BBQ and finished with a strawberry peppercorn salsa.  This fish was the highlight of the meal because I find swordfish quite fresh and interesting.  It had a rough meat texture (think of sandpaper), but flaky.  It reminds me a bit like shark meat, where the rough texture is from natural selection.  The strawberry salsa adds a hint of sweetness to the fish.  Mixed with a bit of lemon juice, it softens up the meat and adds depth to the overall taste.  It was a choice with variable flavours but not confusing where you would be thinking “huuuuh”.

Overall, Fish Market was not too memorable that I will always visit if I am in Ottawa. In a way, disappointing.

Ratings

Food 2.75/5

Ambiance 3/5

Service 3/5