My Canh

We had searched around Montreal for a new place to get noodle bowls (rice noodles, spring roles, cilantro, bean sprouts, etc.) and had been frequenting a little hole in the wall restaurant called Crystal #1. It was rather run down, dirty, but the noodle bowls were good, with a slightly different approach (sauted onions!). One Sunday, we decided to check out a place up the street that was always quite busy, in hopes that I could try their Pho soup. It is called My Canh, situated in the China Town region of St.Laurent Blvd. [ MAP ]

The place has about 12 tables, typically busy with families and couples. They have a mainly Vietnamese menu, with a healthy selection of soups and noodle bowls to suit most tastes.

*Note* We were unable to find any Pho soups on the menu, which was what I was looking for, having fallen in love with them in Vancouver. To our surprise, the majority of the soups on the menu were Tonkinese soups. With a little Google searching we found out that Tonkinese soups are simply Pho soups from the Tonkin region (I assume in Vietnam). In any case, it looks like they are very similar soups.

We ordered one large Tonkinese Soup with Rare Beef and a Vietnamese Noodle Bowl with Spring Rolls and Lemon Grass Beef. This came with tea and a plate of bean sprouts, lime and Thai basil for the soup.

The Tonkinese Soup was a large bowl of broth, flat rice noodles, onions, and thin slices of rare beef. I added the bean sprouts, lime and Thai basil, along with a healthy dose of Hoisin sauce and Sriracha Hot Chili sauce (the one with the green top!). Stir and enjoy. First impression - WOW! Amazing broth - flavourful, savory and citrus fresh. That magical combination typical of most Asian soups combining savory base flavors with herbal and citrus top notes. The bowl itself was massive - I would not recommend the large for one person unless they have skipped aleast one meal. The rare beef mixed well with the overall flavors of the soup, with the noodles providing good substance to pull in from the broth.

The Vietnamese Noodle Bowl with Spring Rolls and Lemon Grass Beef came with a bed of thin rice noodles, cilantro, peanuts, sprouts, shredded lettuce, Thai basil, crisp Spring Rolls (bite size pieces) and stir fried Lemon Grass Beef - toped with the traditional clear sauce (not sure what is in this, but there is a component of Fish sauce). Mix and dig in. Your first bite is flavor explosion - the flavors start to mix into each other, the crunch spring rolls contrasting the noodles and the tastes of fresh herbs really seals is all together. The bowl is a perfect combination of flavors and really fills up one person.

We ended up frequenting this place on a weekly basis, and typically order one soup and one noodle bowl, and then simply share.

Great restaurant for weekend lunches!