Besides being the target for a some great puns, (“We should eat there, it looks wonderpho!”), WonderPho is a small, eye-catching restaurant near Don Mills and York Mills that Paul and I pass quite often since we live in the neighbourhood. We kept saying that we should give it a try, but never made the time to go even though one of my coworkers, raves about the restaurant and goes there almost weekly with her family. One of her favourite things about WonderPho is that the customization they allow on their pho – you pick the broth, the noodle and the toppings.

On Saturday, we finally had our chance as we joined a small group of food lovers at a media menu tasting event at WonderPho.

The restaurant itself is small, but well spaced and comfortable. And the food? The food was absolutely amazing. Everything was incredibly fresh, full of flavour and well-made. But enough words – let’s look at the photos!

For the menu tasting, we tried nine dishes (I started getting full around the seventh dish…)

Taro chips with avocado guacamole
The “while you’re waiting” appetizer is a nice departure from the usual slices of bread. The taro chips are really light and crispy, but they take on a chewier texture once you dip it into the guacamole (which is excellent, by the way). A great start to any meal at WonderPho.

Shrimp Summer Rolls
“Tiger shrimp wrapped in rice paper rolls”. Paul’s favourite dish of the night. Everything in the roll was light, cool and incredibly fresh.

Pork Spring Rolls
“Pork wrapped in crispy rice paper rolls”.

A “flight” of WonderPho broths
In this unique tasting, we were giving small bowls of each of the famous WonderPho broths I’ve heard so much about. I loved being able to try each of these. The 6 flavours available are:

• Pho Bo: Saigon-style beef soup (my favourite)
• Pho Ga: 100% chicken stock
• Pho Sa Te: Beef Satay broth
• Pho Ca Ri: Yellow curry chicken broth
• Pho Hai San: Shrimp-based sweet and sour tom yum soup (Paul’s favourite)
• Pho Chay: Winter melon, shiitake mushrooms and cabbage based broth

Viet Fried Chicken (VFC)
“Coconut milk battered fried chicken”. This was a really great dish – Paul and I both agreed that this was our second favourite dish from the tasting menu. The chicken was tender, lightly battered and full of flavour. It went well really with the spicy mayo. *This dish was added to the lunch menu on May 5 and may be added to the full-time menu depending on how well it does (seriously, go try this!)

Calamari
“Coconut milk battered calamari with spicy mayo”. My favourite dish of the night. I know, it’s just calamari, but the coconut milk batter added a nice taste to it and this didn’t have a hint-of grease. The squid was also very tender and the spicy mayo dipping sauce was perfect. I could eat this every day!

Nem Nuong
“Lemongrass pork, peanut, hoisin, coriander in a lettuce wrap”. A bright, colourful pork meatball nestled in sauce on a bright piece of lettuce. It tastes as good as it looks!

Surf & Turf
“Fried shrimp with chicken pate”. Paul and I both agreed that this was our least favourite dish. The shrimp itself was nicely battered and light (all their fried foods are surprisingly un-greasy) but there was barely any taste to it. I guess the shrimp would have taken on a lot of flavour when dipped in the pate, but the pate tasted too strongly of liver for both of us so went pretty much unused. *This dish currently isn’t on the menu and there are no plans to launch it right now.

Banh Hoi Lettuce Wraps
“Do-it-yourself wraps!”. This dish, which was a fun take on the more traditional lettuce wraps, came on a fully-loaded plate! With large pieces of chicken, beef and pork balls, there was also lettuce and mint basil, noodles, bean sprouts and julienned vegetables! It was great fun putting together the wraps and the meat was well-seasoned.

Sticky Rice Stuffed Chicken
Very well executed dish. The skin of the chicken was nice and crispy, the meat was tender and the sticky rice was perfect. I’m not usually a huge fan of chicken, but I would definitely order this dish. *This dish currently isn’t on the menu and there are no plans to launch.

Macarons by Boy Toy Company

Beer by Amber Brewery

We also got to sample several beers from the soon-to-be-launched (fingers crossed!) Amber Brewery, located in Markham. Of the three they had on offer, 905 Lager, IPL (India Pale Lager) and Summer Saison (with citrus and coriander), our favourite was the 905. It was incredibly crisp and fresh – perfect to go with any meal. Paul (who loves discovering new beers) was really impressed with it and is looking forward to picking up some bottles when it finally launches!

A special Thank You to WonderPho and Popup Markets for inviting us to the menu tasting. We had a blast, discovered some great food and will definitely be coming back to WonderPho as regular customers from now on!

Disclosure: The food at this event was complimentary, however, this in no way affected our opinions; all opinions expressed are sincere and are our own. Please read our disclosure policy for more information.