Review: Pho Pasteur @ Chinatown, Boston MA

I was always missing in action when lunch and dinner time arrives (My lunch hours range from 11pm to 1pm. My dinner hours are rarely later than 6pm). Sometimes, I would just vanish into thin air, leaving some of my tour mates worrying about me. Today, one of them actually phoned me up to ask about my whereabouts. I felt a little naughty but really, I have to do commit to my role as a food blogger. I do not want to drag anyone down to have meals with me or have to put myself in a situation where it goes against my "dining plan" (I actually HAVE a master list of places I should go).

Anyway, this would be my first review on a restaurant in Boston, MA and judging from the name, I guess most of you could tell it was a Vietnamese eatery. The reason why I picked this establishment and not some place that serves Buffalo whatever was:

1. I am deprived from vegetables!! I need it so bad, I have to find a place to get my vegetable cravings fixed.
2. Not a huge fan of anything deep fried, fast food and the likes. I did not grow up eating them and as an advocate of the "cook-your-own-meals" movement, I actually prefer having slow food.
3. Pho Pasteur was rated one of the top restaurants on Urbanspoon, which I am affiliated to (The Victoria branch), was listed in the Zagat Survey and was actually rated 12/20 in the Zagat Survey. To be able to make it into the Zagat Survey, IMO, is a pretty big deal.
4. Pho Pasteur is cheap and serves MEGA portions.



Pho Pasteur
I see no Fish Sauce!
Cat Fish in Hot and Sour soup
Ginormous plate of greens - good enough to keep my veg cravings abay for days! (Maybe not)
Combo Vietnamese Coleslaw
I visited Pho Pasteur twice. Both was around early dinnertime. In my first visit, I had the Cat Fish in Hot and Sour soup, served with rice. It lived up to its name. When I had my first spoonful of soup, it felt like I was really drinking boiling water. I actually burnt my tongue for drinking a little too quickly. The bowl of soup was very deceiving to the eyes. The layer of oil blocked the rise of the steam, keeping the heat in the soup. The oil bit was not my favorite part because in my experience with Vietnamese cuisine, they were about clear broths and very subtle flavors. The soup was pretty two dimensional in terms of taste. It was just sweet and sour. There was enough greens and generous amounts of fresh cat fish but not enough Thai Basil. On the whole, it was edible but not mind blowing.

In my second visit, I had the Coleslaw. The Coleslaw reminded me of the ones I had in Mekong on Swanston and Mekong did not actually serve the best Vietnamese Coleslaw because, in spite of the fish sauce, herbs, nuts etc., it was not half as exciting as the interesting coleslaw one can easily find at Thanh Nga 9.

I hope that I could head back there to try the pho but I had other better things to eat. ;)

Little things:

-Cuisine: Vietnamese (It was not as authentic I wished it to be)

-Ambience: Noisy, typical Vietnamese restaurant setting

-Service: Prompt and efficient

-Portion: HUGE. Took me an hour and a half to finish up what I was eating. Usually, I had to starve myself for lunch to be able to finish what I eat.

-Budget: 8-10 USD per dish.

-More information:




Note to lovers of Steinway and Sons:

There is a Steinway reseller next to where I am currently residing! Mad awesome! I went in to check out the place and saw this incredibly beautiful piece of art.

Hopefully, one day, my sister can own this. I am sure she can. She's such a good pianist! Man, I should upload her chamber music recording and her pop composition to youtube to share with you guys!