Location: Thai Son Vietnamese 
2215-4653 Garden City Rd, Richmond
Tel: (604) 278-6436
Similar to Lao Shang Dong Homemade Noodle House, Thai Son restaurant is another eatery that is always packed with eaters. Following our habits, we dropped by the busy restaurant after we saw it being busy every time we passed by. As we were guided to our table, we noticed almost everyone was enjoying either a bowl of pho noodles or a rice dish. Again, experience tells us that the noodles and the rice are probably the specialties of the house and indeed, they are. There are many selections of pho noodles on the menu. Each selection has the same beef broth and noodles, but a different combination of beef items. There beef balls, cooked and uncooked beef slices, beef tendons, tripe and beef flank to choose from. My husband always choose the combination that has all beef items:
We always get one large bowl of noodles to share. My husband prefers eating the noodles mixed with a generous scope of chili, which is conveniently available in a container on every table. I prefer to drink the soup as is and taste every drop of pure goodness.
Being a lover of fried food, I always ordered the spring rolls:
Besides pho, the rice dishes at Tai Son are also very tasty. The rice dishes are served with two pieces of either grilled chicken or beef, which are deliciously flavoured with lemon grass. But to me, the most interesting item served in the rice dish is the small pile of shredded pork. This little pile of meat is packed with amazing flavour. Of course, a big scoop of msg probably helped creating all that wonderful flavour too. But hey, what’s the fun in life if you can’t be bad to yourself once in awhile?
On the last page of the menu there is a list of hot and cold drinks. Many drinks are made of fruit juices and sodas, but my only choice is the iced cold coffee served with a thick spoonful of sweet condense milk.
Having been to other Vietnamese restaurants in Asia, we know that there are Vietnamese restaurants out there which make a better bowl of pho than Thai Son. However, Thai Son remains one of our favourite Vietnamese restaurants. Perhaps it is the familiarity or the convenience of the location, but when we get off work late and are too hungry to cook dinner, we always find ourselves there slurping down a hot and tasty bowl of pho.
