Tràng Tiên

Tràng Tiên
9449 Jasper Ave
Edmonton, AB

Finally, my posts from Edmonton! As suggested a couple of weeks ago, I went to Edmonton for BC Day/Heritage Day long weekend and, finally, I am catching up with those posts, hehehehe. Actually, at this point, I am starting to wonder if the posts in this month of August will be mostly non-BC based… Other than Minoas Greek Taverna (a min-gathering suggested by Elaine) and Mui Ngo Gai, all the posts so far have been from Tacoma and Edmonton. But, wait, what about the rest of the month, there are still weeks to go, right? Well, yeah… In part! Because, as possibly suggested by some tweets (here and here), I just came back from Portland! (And, yes, there will be some food carts!).

But back to Tràng Tiên… Not sure if you might have or might not have caught up but, when I wrote in last Friday’s post of Mui Ngo Gai, I made reference to “a reader” suggesting order other dishes in addition to pho or banh mi. That reader happened to be Trinh who was my host during my trip in Edmonton. So, putting things to test, I asked Trinh if she could take us to a place she would go for pho or, in her case, bún bò hue. And that’s how we ended up going to Tràng Tiên

Upon walking in, I finally remembered something that is more noticeable in other parts of Canada (and the US) but you seldom, if ever, seen in Vancouver: there is a mud room are with another set of doors (storm door?). I guess that is an indication of how “interesting” weather can be. Now, I know a lot of people might be looking at this statement funny but, remember, prior to me moving here, I used to live in a tropical country – there was never a need for it! But, once you go past that, one thing quite noticeable compared to a lot of other Vietnamese restaurants here is how bright it was. In fact, it was mostly windows and no blinds blocking the sunlight. Then again, facing north-west helps.

Since I pretty much had my mind set on bún bò hue, the question was rather… What else to order? Partially because I called shotgun (or rather because she knows the menu a little bit better), she order something else. So, without further ado..

When I first looked at it, I noticed it was quite… light? Compared to the versions I have had in Vancouver, this one looked almost as if the broth was the ones used in the regular pho. But, as usual, looks can be deceiving so when we digged into it, I noticed something even stranger: whereas the ones I have had here were on the lines of a strong taste with some spiciness, this one was instead strong in lemongrass. The “interesting” part was that Trinh agreed there was something strange on that days offering so I won’t argue with on her that…

The other “interesting” part was the cole slaw. Again, I don’t recall the ones I have had here ever being served with the cole slaw so it was odd. Still, at least there was some veggies! As for the meats, actually, I noticed some of them were heavily spiced (in the ham, I even noticed what seemed to be a peppercorn) but, otherwise, it wasn’t that different from others I have had.

As mentioned, Trinh ended up ordering pho. (Sorry!). The “interesting” part was that the rare beef wasn’t that rare. Either that or I took a bit too long to take the picture and it ended up being cooked slightly! Regardless, I found it was slightly better than the ones I have had here in Vancouver. For one, I found the broth to be quite “clean” and savoury enough. And the meats might look gristly in the second picture but, actually, it was your usual slices of meat. The loaded question would be… Were they using Alberta beef?

Just for kicks, I ordered something outside of the usual spring rolls and what not… That something else ended up being bánh loc lá or tapioca dumplings with pork and shrimp wrapped in banana leaves. They also had a version that is not wrapped in banana leaves but we ended up getting this one. Would it have made any difference? Not sure; however, this one was quite interesting. It had a quite “chewy” texture but, if you have had glutinous rice before, you will have a pretty good idea of its initial taste. Past that, there was some pork-y tasting goodness in the inside. Didn’t taste any of the shrimp (either taste or texture) but, otherwise, I was happy with what was offered.

Because the restaurant label themselves as a “Hue’s Special Noodle House”, I found it odd that the bún bò hue wasn’t as good as it could have been. Of course, my comparison is based from what I have had here in Vancouver; but, given Trinh’s thought, I can’t help shake those feelings. Still, I liked the rest of the dishes were good, so I can see myself wanting to give it a try again.

Tagged under: Edmonton • Pho • Vietnamese