red pagoda: good pork, not so good beef brisket

more entertainment book coupon usage! it was buy one get one free entree at red pagoda, a vietnamese restaurant on commercial street. 

i really wanted something warm that day so we went with pho and we also wanted to try a combo dish and i'm sure glad we did. 

pagoda special beef noodle - beef slices, beef brisket, beef balls, tendon and tripe ($7.95) - filled with different cuts of beef this was not bad. the soup was quite flavourful although a tad oily. the only complaint is the brisket was extremely chewy. it was fatty but not tender kind of defeating the purpose of brisket. also, regular price the amount of noodle is not the best deal considering other pho places. 

3/5

lemongrass pork, spring roll and prawn on sugarcane combination plate with rice - ($11.50): this was delicious. every component was good including the fresh veggies and especially the pork. it was tender and perfectly lemonly-grass seasoned. i would come back for a huge bowl of this any day. the spring roll on the other had was not memorable and i'm not a huge fan of sugarcane shrimp. (this was also the moment i realized i love vietnamese style rice..short grain i believe) 

4.5/5

worth a try if you're in the area, happy eating!