Golden Turtle is Toronto's first pho restaurant and also its most famous.
It's the favourite pho of Canadian celebrity chef Susur Lee who was spotted eating there (but aiyoh, that was more than 10 years ago lah). As a pho-natic, I have to try it for myself 😃
Golden Turtle is a small family run restaurant, simply furnished but a notch above the average diner and is lovingly kept.
Golden Turtle was founded in 1978. When the founder retired, his chef Hoang bought over the business. The Hoang family business is in the second generation now.
Golden Turtle has a patio. Torontonians love their bicycles and one of the top summertime things to do is to cycle to their favourite eating places to enjoy a meal and the sun in the patio. This year's summer is hot, with the sun beating down at nearly 30℃, even just in June.
Photo credit: Wikipedia
So, why is this restaurant called Golden Turtle?
According to Vietnamese mythology, in the 1400s, Emperor Le Loi received a magic sword from heaven which helped him win battles, driving China's Ming Empire out of Vietnam. After his victories, the grateful Emperor returned the magic sword to the Golden Turtle in the lake which he renamed Hoan Kiem Lake or "Lake of the Returned Sword". Since then, the Golden Turtle is an auspicious symbol of divine blessings, longevity and freedom in Vietnamese culture. (Source: Atlas Obscura.)
I ordered a rare beef pho (pho tai price CDN10++ large serving) which comes with a customary plate of fresh bean sprouts, Thai basil leaves on a stem and a wedge of lime.
I piled everything on top of my bowl noodles. All these years, I never observed how others eat their pho, so I don't know what is the proper way to eat the bean sprouts and Thai basil.
The beefy broth made with a blend of beef bones, chicken and sea cucumber was mildly savoury sweet but clean tasting without the salty and sugary feel. I prefer Golden Turtle's beef soup over those at Que Ling (East Chinatown), Tien Thanh (a few doors south) and Pho Hung (Spadina Chinatown).
The rare beef came in a lumpy stack which I peeled off one by one like strips of paper.
The paper thin slices of lean beef were cooked on contact with the steamy hot broth.
They were tender, and tasted savoury sweet with subtle underlying beefiness. A little too subtle for me as I like my beef to be assertively beefy.
The vermicelli (rice noodles) were the generic type, done soft.
The rather mild tasting beef could do with some flavour boost, but Golden Turtle have only commercial bottled sauces, so I went without. (So far in Toronto, only Que Ling has house made chili sauce.)
What is Johor Kaki doing in Toronto, other than eating pho? 👈 click
Restaurant name: Golden Turtle Rua Vang
Address: 125 Ossington Ave, Toronto, ON M6J 2Z2
GPS: 43°38'48.8"N 79°25'11.0"W 🌐 43.646900, -79.419716
Tel: (416) 531-1601
Hours: 11:00am - 9:45pm
Non Halal
Date visited: 30 Jun 2019
The original owner and founder of Golden Turtle initially opened a restaurant called Minh Chau in China Town, named after two of their four children. However, they soon moved locations and reopened as Golden Turtle at 168 Ossington, across the street from the current Golden Turtle. During the 80s/90s, Pho was not as popular as it is today, leading the owner to sell the property due to high ownership costs and insufficient customers. They relocated to St. Clair and operated there for a while before selling the franchise to one of the cooks. Subsequently, they opened a new restaurant nearby called Banh Cuon St Clair, which unfortunately closed permanently during the Covid pandemic.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your very interesting insights. Appreciate it.
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