Que Ling Restaurant

After leaving the gym, I was reminded that I had to go buy groceries for dinner tomorrow night. I didn't have much of a breakfast so food was the first priority.  I walking by my usual Xe Lua (Train) Pho Restaurant on Gerrard Street and went to another place that I always wanted to go because it was such an obscure spot.  This spot on 248 Boulton Ave has always been a good spot for short stops for parking. Everytime the car is parked I see that place but I never go it.  This time it will be different.

This is really small family restaurant that may seat twenty at most but it had a steady stream of customers.  Even for a time for one I had to wait for a bit. It was pretty busy that it was decided it would become a communal table with another person.  I didn't mind at all since it just felt like any other eating counter in a diner. That person even tried to converse with me in Vietnamese.  We're all friends at the dinner table, right?

While waiting for food I figure I might as well take some pictures to take my mind off of things and to kill some time.

Finally the food (I can't believe I was about to type phood) arrives and I can't wait to dive into this on this cool day.  This was standard fare of house specialty pho noodles and spring rolls.  Somewhere on the internet I heard it was referred to it as Asian Chicken Noodle soup. It feels just as comforting having a nice big steaming bowl of food in front of oneself.

 

The first thing I always do is tasting the soup before adding anything else to it. My preference would be if they had the entire carcass for stock stewing all day in the pot. That soup stock is the foundation for the dish.  Spooning it up into my mouth I can taste the body of the stock.  If you are an avid wine drinker then can appreciate it.  The meat in the dish was whole and hearty.  I hate places where they treat the protein like it was prosciutto parma and shave it until it is almost see-through thin and falling apart. 

Spring rolls had finally arrived and were a bit cooler when it came to my table. Not only that but something else missing in the picture.  Hey! Where's my peanuts and pickled veg? Where is the crunch? It did have a lighter and sweeter taste since it had more vegetables than meat.  Those that are not meatatarian should enjoy it more.

At least now I can safely say that this place still has not dethroned Xe Lua.  Other challengers like Golden Elephant are all over the city waiting for me give them a chance to prove that they have what it takes to the best.