Posts Tagged ‘newmarket’

Our friends at Once Upon a Child In Newmarket have a fun coupon for March.  Take a peak and print it off to receive your discount.

Restaurant Review : Pho Saigon, Newmarket

by Lorilee Jarosinski

Eating in a restaurant with a toddler isn’t easy.  Mine likes to run around, ask embarrassing questions at the top of her lungs and climb onto chairs at other people’s tables. As a result, we don’t frequently eat out in restaurants anymore. However, once in a while, it’s nice to not have to cook  the food and clean up the dishes, and it’s nice to just eat a great big bowl of soup. On those nights, we head to Pho Saigon in Newmarket.
The restaurant is not even remotely fancy, but that’s OK because my family’s not of the fancy persuasion. The decor is not stunning and the tablecloths non-existent. However, we are always greeted with a smile and that makes the room seem a bit nicer. Near the back of the restaurant there is a huge fishtank with lots of colourful fish to occupy your little one. The first time I walked in to the restaurant , two brothers were staring into the tank while their parents ate. My kid ran over to join them and I knew this was a place I’d like.

The menu consists of mostly soups (pho), with different ingredients like raw or cooked beef, noodles, and tripe for the daring. I enjoy the raw beef, it cooks in the hot clear broth while you stir with your chopsticks. Also with your pho comes a big plate of bean sprouts, sliced limes, fresh basil leaves and tiny, deadly chili peppers. You can garnish your soup however way you want.. This part is fun for my kid too, eating crunchy bean sprouts, dipping them into her soup, squeezing the lime, ripping the basil leaves off their stems. And what kid doesn’t love slurping up noodles? There are various appetizers too. Our favourite are the shredded pork fresh spring rolls. They have a nice kick of fresh mint and come with a delicious peanut dipping sauce.

Pho is definitely for the frugal-minded. A regular sized bowl is about $6. We can get two soups, four spring rolls. and hot tea for under $20. A little more if we’re feeling like sharing a mango shake. The toddler doesn’t eat that much and the bowls are the size of serving bowls, so she just shares with us, but even when she’s old enough to have her own bowl,  it’s still an inexpensive dinner with a home cooked touch.

And for the days when even the fish tank and slurping won’t make your kid stay still and quiet, Pho Saigon has plenty of take out containers.

Pho Saigon
16925 Yonge Street
Newmarket, ON L3Y 5Y1
(905) 830-3488 

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Lorilee Jarosinski lives in York Region and is called “Mommy” by a frequently sticky-handed two year old daughter.