Still amazing House phu kien noodle soup! Top it with mince garlic sauce! Yum! A hole in a wall Vietnamese place to go

There are restaurants that do certain dishes really well and other dishes really poorly, but still keep them on the menu because they are popular, and I think Kim Po is one of those restaurants. I have tried MANY of the menu items from here and I can confidently recommend not ordering Pho or Bun Bo Hue/Bun Rieu from here and just sticking with their house specialties, namely the House Phuc Kien Noodle Soup. This dish is fantastic. The piping hot soup is so flavourful: so rich, but so light. They are very generous with the noodles and toppings. Every ingredient has a place and adds something to the dish. It is masterfully done and probably the best Phuc Kien noodle soup I've had in Toronto so far (that's why everyone gets this dish here!). Pro tip: Add some sambal and minced garlic to your noods, throw some fresh peppers in there too if you're feeling spicy, and you've got yourself a party! I also really enjoy the fresh rolls from here. The pho has never really been good here in my experience. The Bun Bo Hue is a hit or miss, mostly leaning on miss. There are other restaurants that do it better. The Bun Rieu is not... great. Other menu items were also hit/miss for me, but 201 never misses. TL;DR: YUM House Phu Kien Noodle Soup.

Kim Po Ratings: 4.1/5 Food: 4.5/5 - Visited Kim Po on a snowy day after visiting Pacific Mall, and we were all in the mood for some comfort food. We came here, because my boyfriend's brother recommended this place, and he liked it. I'd say there's certain dishes here that's definitely worth checking out and tasted delicious, but some were just okay. See the descriptions of the food we got to share below. - Curry Chicken w/ Rice [GET]: First time having Vietnamese curry, and I was so surprised in a very good way. I've had many kinds of curries, and I can say this one is up there. It was packed was flavors, beautifully prepared, and tasted delicious! I literally soaked my rice in that entire curry. Also, I think they use curry powder as the base, so the curry is actually running instead thick compared to Indian or Thai curry. Sad to say though, there was only three pieces of chicken and a small piece of taro in the curry, but the flavors were phenomenal. - Shrimp and Sliced Pork Rolls [GET]: One of the appetizers we got and a classic at any Viet places. The spring rolls are tasty, refreshing, and made with fresh ingredients. I like that there's a good amount of shrimp and pork in it, packed with veggies and noodles. The peanut sauce was nicely made too, would recommend. - Grilled Betel Leaves Beef Rolls [GET]: Interesting for sure, and my first time having betel leaves. The leaves didn't have many flavors and have the texture of a wet nori sushi wrap. The beef has a ground beef texture and was a bit under seasoned and slightly greasy for my liking. All in all, it is great to try it, but I probably won't order it again. Not as refreshing as the spring rolls. - House Phuc Kien Noodle Soup [GET]: There's two types of noodles in it, there's the thick egg noodles and the regular thin rice noodles, which I thought was interesting. The broth was good, however too sweet for me, but my boyfriend enjoyed it. Not many meats in the bowl, but they were well cooked and tender. The shrimp patty looking thing on the top was unique, but could be crispier, and gets soggy fast since it's sitting in the broth. This is what they are known for, but I wasn't personally a fan of it. Ambiance: 4/5 - A hole-in-the-wall spot. Upon entering, we were seated immediately with my boyfriend and his family. This place looks like most Vietnamese place that needs some renovations. Interior looks dark, not too spacious or tight, and there's a big fish tank near the entrance. A great spot to grab a quick and casual lunch or dinner. Price: 4/5 - I am not exactly sure of the total amount, but the appetizers are around $10 each, and our entrees are ranging from $14 to $17 before taxes. The average prices compared to most Viet places but do know that the portions are on the smaller side (at least for the curries), so make sure to get some appetizers as well to be full. Service: 3.75/5 - The service isn't the best here. I think our server was new, so he was a bit nervous. Also, it was quite difficult ordering and asking questions to the server, since he didn't understand us. It just made things a bit harder, and he didn't really check in with us during the entire meal. We ordered a dessert too, but it never came out. The service was okay, but not expecting too much from them. BLUF: A mom-and-pop shop and a hole-in-the-wall Vietnamese restaurant located right across from P-Mall. Their pho broth is light and pleasant, but it has a unique sweetness to it, making me not liking it. If you like a sweeter broth, then totally go for it. Make sure to get some appetizers, they are solid. I would recommend their curries, and next time when I want to return, I want to try the curry noodle soup! Overall, pretty good experience, but nothing that outstanding.

Post rainy day dinner, decided to go for Pho. Visited Pho Kim Po on a Wednesday evening since I was craving Pho on a rainy day. Except it became sunny when I got here. Starting with the food I the Pho Dac Biet (House Special Pho) and Bun Cha Gio Ga Nuong (Spring Rolls and Grilled Pork on Vermicelli). For the Pho, I actually like the broth. It was tasty and didn't leave me thirsty like some other places. One thing I didn't like however is that there's not a lot of meat. There's another Pho I know that is more generous. But this is average amount which is alright. Another thing I didn't like is the noodles were all bunched up and stuck together. For the vermicelli dish, I enjoyed this a lot. The spring rolls were very crispy. The pork chop was marinated with lemon grass which made it delicious. Next is the location, it's it an obscure place near Steeles and Kennedy. May be hard to find but worth finding. The inside is big enough and can fit about 10 groups plus some high chairs for individual diners. For the service, it was really quick and we didn't wait long for the food. I enjoyed my time here but this place did not make my top 3 Pho restaurants. Definitely in the top 7 though. Check this place out nonetheless if you're craving Vietnamese cuisine!

So tasty! I love getting bun bo hue here. It's so flavorful. For the last 1-2 years, this place has been fulfilling my cravings. I've dined here, I've gotten take out. It's delicious either way. It's a smaller joint so if it might be hard to find parking if it's busy.

November 21, 2018 - my friend took me here. It was a bit cold inside the shop, so dress warm on these winter nights if you go. We ordered: #412 Spring Roll, Grilled Pork and Sugar Cane Shrimp. #001 Vietnamese Spring Rolls I forgot what # my friend ordered for his pho, but everything was so tasty. I wanna go back as soon as I can (I got braces, I can't chew on yummy things like the spring rolls or sugar cane shrimp) We didn't have to wait too long for our order, the staff was nice. Only complaint was that it is a bit cold in there. Maybe it's just me.

Parking is rather tough here since this tiny stand alone restaurant resides along a small street across from Pacific Mall so beware of coming at peak lunch/dinner hours.. especially on weekends! I've been here a few times and I've had conflicted feelings because there were both dishes that were super delicious that really stood out as well as dishes that were shamefully bad that I would never order again. Overall though, this restaurant is fairly consistent with their food so I'm perfectly content with coming back just to order the same Tracy-approved dish over and over again! So without further ado: Would recommend = crab meat thick rice noodle soup (and then switch out the thick noodles for regular pho noodles) because the flavour of the soup is so rich and savoury. There are no "real" chunks of crab but there's a generous amount of substitution meat. I normally switch out the noodles purely out of preference because the thick ones are too slimy and chewy in my opinion. Would not recommend = seafood pineapple fried rice because it's just downright disgraceful. The rice is simply stir fried in salt - which makes the dish lack colour overall. Then, I'm almost certain that they use canned pineapples soaked in water because when you bite into it, you literally taste nothing - just a burst of warm water. Gross. As the food here is priced reasonably, I would recommend you try this place out if you're in the area and looking for Vietnamese food!