The biggest annual sports event in the world is arguably the NFL’s Super Bowl.
So it’s fitting that the largest bowl of pho is named after it.
A year has passed since the opening of Pho Super Bowl on Clarke on the Burnaby-Coquitlam border and I’m seriously impressed with how good the food is and how gigantic the portions are.
My standards for Vietnamese food are pretty high.
My ex-partner was Vietnamese and cooked traditional food at a high level – and had even higher standards for restaurants.
These ginormous bowls for the large size are perfect when you are looking to take your hunger to another level. The seafood rice noodle bowl was absolutely loaded with fresh items that will definitely have me coming back.
“Vietnamese Cuisine is fresh, healthy and light, characterized by Pho, an aromatic rice noodle soup, which is the national dish of Vietnam,” reads a post on the Pho Super Bowl website. “At Pho Super Bowl, our goal is to offer you an unforgettable hearty meal where it is enjoyable by one and even better with others. With each bowl of meal, our guess will be experiencing a flavourful blend of herbs and spices that we have spent years in finding the perfect recipe.”
It was definitely unforgettable. I’m still full.
Another new Vietnamese restaurant is Pho Den at 6401 Kingsway on the Metrotown/Edmonds border.
“Located in Burnaby, Pho Den is the home of classic Vietnamese cuisine bringing vermicelli bowls, spring rolls, salad rolls, banh mi and more.”
This is just one of a plethora of new restaurants opening in Burnaby in the coming weeks.
The Peri Peri Shack’s flame-grilled chicken has three levels of heat, from hot, very hot to Peri Nero – the restaurant’s hottest flavour. They are bringing this spicy chicken – along with mild, citrus and herb, plus mango – to the corner of Hastings Street and Sperling Avenue to fill the space recently vacated by Cozmos Cafe, which closed after deciding to not renew its lease.
One of the world’s largest fried chicken restaurant companies is also making a big push into Burnaby with two locations. The company is called bb.q, but it doesn’t do barbecue chicken - it does Korean-style fried chicken in sweet, savoury and spicy varieties that include a number of different dipping sauces. The company has more than 3,500 locations in 57 countries. The first restaurant is coming to the old Chez Meme bistro spot in Burnaby Heights on Hastings Street, just west of Gilmore. The second will be coming to the Metrotown area on Beresford, which is located a block to the south of Metropolis at Metrotown.
There are so many new fried chicken restaurants opening up in Burnaby that it’s hard to keep up. The latest – and possibly the greatest – is new arrival K Chicken at 2701 Norland Ave. on the edge of an industrial park. It was previously known as the Norland Grill, a popular lunch spot for people who live and work in the area. K Chicken’s menu is loaded with different options, from marinated to regular to spicy fried chicken.
Follow Chris Campbell on Twitter @shinebox44.
