(upbeat music)
- Hey everybody, I'm Gunnarolla, and I'm here today with--
- An from Montreal Food Snob.
- And today we're taking you on a culinary journey
from old to new, traditional to modern.
We're trying Vietnamese food two different ways.
- Whoa.
So, we're gonna start at Pho Linh,
an institution in Toronto.
You know it's good when you walk in
and it's mostly Vietnamese people
sitting there eating and slurping it.
- [Gunnarolla] Then we head over to Vit Beo, which means?
- Chubby duck, because, boy, we're about to get chubby.
- We're gonna try a modern take on some Vietnamese staples.
Let's go!
- If you're having good Vietnamese food,
when you walk into the place, you should be able
to smell it right away, the overwhelming smell
of spices, unmistakable fish sauce smell.
They're not holding back.
Quite simply, Vietnamese food is about adapting
local ingredients to different cultures.
- My name's Jason, and I'm right now
the owner of the Pho Linh restaurant.
From Vietnam, we already have the restaurants basically,
and then when all the family move here,
then we started to do the business again.
We just changed the name to Linh,
named after my aunt, and we start from there.
- [Gunnarolla] Okay, we got quite a food spread here.
- [An] We have pho, bun bo, pork chops,
and grilled chicken with vermicelli.
- Is this normal for two people, or--
- Totally.
- Really? - Yeah.
- We also got the XL bowls here.
They're very big, bigger than your head, I think.
So, where should we start?
- The pho.
We should try the broth first.
- Okay.
- It looks divine.
It's clear, just a little rim of fat.
(serene music)
- [Both] Oh.
- So much depth.
I wouldn't add anything to this broth.
- [Gunnarolla] No, it's perfect.
- [An] All right, so let's try the noodles.
- [Gunnarolla] Perfect texture.
- So flavorful, so fresh, so clean.
What you want in Vietnamese food
is lots of contrasting texture.
So you bite, you chew, you drink, you slurp,
you chew again, and then you're full.
- [Gunnarolla] Some of my favorite activities.
Okay, next dish, what is this?
- Bun bo hue.
Ooh, this one is close to my heart because my mom
is from Hue, which is the central part of Vietnam.
This soup is slightly spicier,
as you can tell from the color.
- (coughs) Ooh, it's got a kick.
It's got a kick.
- [An] Do you feel the lemongrass?
- [Gunnarolla] I do.
- [An] It's very spicy, but it has this freshness.
- The noodles are very different, too.
Next dish, pork chop, broken rice.
Tell me about this.
- [An] Oh!
It's just slightly caramelized on the grill.
So you have this charcoal love.
And usually it comes with a little bit of a garlic
marinated with fish sauce and all that
yadda-yadda-yadda.
You're gonna find this amazing.
Oh, and you got a piece of fat.
Whoa!
What do you think?
- [Gunnarolla] It's amazing.
Okay, last dish.
- Very traditional street food.
Grilled chicken with vermicelli.
So you have to drizzle it in fish sauce first.
- [Gunnarolla] Okay, love it.
We got the contrasting textures between
the noodles and the beansprouts.
I think it's time for the baby bird to become the mother.
- Oh, thank you.
- The concept of Vit Beo is sorta
like a modern take on Vietnamese food.
People that are in Vietnam now
are doing very different things,
and I think that's really cool,
and we don't see that here at all,
and I wanted to take Vietnamese food
in Toronto outside of that time capsule.
Outside of 1974 and bring it back to the modern age,
what people are doing now in Vietnam.
- [Gunnarolla] Okay, this smells incredible.
- It smells fatty, crispy, salty.
- What is that?
- [An] It is tom rang muoi.
My mom says the best part is the head,
so it makes you smarter,
so you gotta eat the shell and the head.
(serene music continues)
Mm, so much flavors, so much fat, so much crunch.
- [Gunnarolla] Okay, next dish
- [Both] Pok pok wings.
- Alright, cheers.
- Cheers.
Isn't it delicious? - So good!
What I love, too, about this food it's like snack-size,
you can order a bunch of different things.
'Cause I get so sick of just having one entree.
Alright, I am so excited about this.
Everybody knows Gunnarolla loves a flat rice noodle
and that's what we've got.
What is this dish?
- Pho bo kho, beef stew.
- So I notice this is not brothy, like what happened there?
- [An] The noodle soaked up all the stew.
- [Gunnarolla] Ah.
- [An] So all the goodness.
- [Gunnarolla] So all those flavors.
- Here you go, Gunnarolla.
- So some of the noodle, okay.
- This is friendship.
Do you like it?
- That beef, just like breaks apart in your mouth.
The noodle, so full of flavor.
Oh my god, you have to have some.
- [An] Ooh, it's spicy.
- [Gunnarolla] Mm, a little, got a little kick.
- This is literally like a beef bourguignon,
Vietnamese style, with noodles.
This thing is called banh xeo.
So Vietnamese pancakes, but it's like 2018,
♪ because it's not messy ♪
- Oh perfect, love this crispy outside.
Is this tofu?
- [An] Yeah, you got fried tofu.
- Ah, and I feel like the fish sauce is essential.
You can't have this without.
- Oh, you can't.
We are nothing without fish sauce.
- [Gunnarolla] Alright, we spent a good amount of time here.
We came in, the sun was setting, it's almost gone.
This is like the perfect date spot.
- Yes.
- Are we dating now?
- No.
- Oh.
So between a more authentic spot and a more modern spot,
do you have a preference or does
it just kinda depend on the day?
- I can't say this on camera.
My family will come after me.
(Gunnarolla laughing)
- And since I have no stakes in this,
I will have to say they both have their place.
Go authentic in the morning, go modern at night.
- [An] Oh, and remember to exercise in the meadow.
- Yes. - I love it, you don't choose.
- Yeah, that was awful though.
Wait, oh my god, okay. (both laughing)