Phô —Montreal!

As I walk out of Super Marché Andes, dried chiles in hand, my eye lights upon a wonderful sight across r. Bélanger: a sort of tropico-colonial mid-50s looking place, replete with hanging plants and mysterious shadows--Phô Chieu Tim. It's irresistible. Besides, it's 11h30 on a Saturday morning, and a guy could use some breakfast phô. I walk in. It looks, feels exactly right. Smells right, too. Middle-aged guy, slim and narrow behind the counter, older woman in the front window corner, reading a newspaper. She's the boss, no question. Guy 'bonjours' me, I return it and add "phô dac biet?" His eyes look like they're going to narrow, he doesn't move. Maybe he doesn't understand my accent? So I say it again, more correctly this time (I hope) "phô dac biet?" This time, his eyes *do* narrow--he understood me, but he still doesn't move. From the corner comes a short word, almost a bark, she doesn't even look up when she speaks. He looks at me, nods curtly, and turns toward the kitchen. I choose a table in front, and begin to read about the latest scandal in _L'express_.

He shows up 3 mins later with a glass of water and the shrubbery: no cilantro, tho'; in Montreal it comes in the soup, not with the shrubbery.

Couple minutes later a late-teen kid shows up, baseball cap on sideways, a knowing sly smile on his face as he puts the bowl in front of me.

Oh boy: I can see the tripe, the knobbly meat balls, the bits of fat tendon and the thin slices of beef--it's ALL THERE, for once! And the broth is superb, just the right touch of cinnamon, rich beefy flavor. Damn, this is great!

Indeed, this is quite possibly the best phô I've ever had, certainly way better than anything in KC. Prior to this, of the bowls I've had in 6 countries (yeah, count 'em: six!) and about two dozen states, the best, consistently, has been Phô Grand, on Grand (natch!) in St. Louis. But this is maybe just a bit better: it wins on the meatballs, which are obviously hand-rolled from A Secret House Recipe.

Dang! Add this to the absolutely terrific Bang Mi I had on Wednesday, and I'm beginning to think that Montreal might just be the best Vietnamese eating I've ever had. Take that, Seattle and Vancouver!!

g

Phô Chieu Tim
433 Bélanger E.
Montreal
514-277-5093

L'Express? The wonderfully timeless bistro on Rue Saint-Denis?

Nah, the only scandal there would be a bad dish of poulet grillé à la sauce moutarde.