Miss Saigon grand opening 25% off

Almost failed to dine at Miss Saigon tonight because the door was stuck and we thought it was closed! They have been open for just two days and "this week" there is a 25% discount Grand Opening special. Our server said "next week" it would be down to 20% off.

Although they are very new, I was happy to see they were already listed on Yelp and Zomato (possibly by the owners), saving me the hassle -- especially on Zomato, where it can take admin a while to verify a new restaurant.

Even without the 25% off Grand Opening special, price for portion is really decent (prices below do NOT include the 25% off Grand Opening special). A large bowl of phở (it only comes in one size) was under $10. They even have a "no meat" phở for $5. I didn't get that but presumably it is just broth with noodles and basic garnishes.

Special phở ($8.50) comes with "everything" (NOT)

When I asked the server what it came with, he said "everything". Really? Turned out, no.

Initially it came with thinly sliced rare beef still cooking in the hot broth. (Noodle pictures below, first and second).
When I asked the server to double check, he came back from the kitchen and apologized, saying more toppings were coming, whereupon he brought a smaller bowl of broth and some more types of meat (picture 3; picture 4 is of all meats mixed together in the main bowl) -- looked like a different cut of beef, shredded intestine (?), and some sort of firm and slightly sweet meatball.

If you order the special, ask first what it contains. They are really new so it may not be exactly the same as what I got. No way it comes with "everything" though.
Tasty broth, huge portion. Even without the grand opening discount ($8.50) this is a good price for portion as far as phở goes.

Steamed Dumpling ($7) with pork and shrimp served in banana wrapping

By "banana wrapping" they meant banana leaf.
The "dumpling" is more like a kinda sticky dough possibly from rice flour or tapioca flour. Very similar to Singapore Oyster Omelette (or luak) minus the egg.
Token filling of strangely orange shrimp and chunks of ham.
Interesting to try, but not that tasty and at basically $1 a piece, not really worth it unless you really like the novelty.

Grilled Lemongrass Chicken on Steamed Rice ($9) served with green salad and carrot pickle

My friend asked for the rice to be substituted with vermicelli and they allowed it with no fuss.
Tender, tasty grilled chicken. None of the provided hoisin sauce was necessary.

Overall, price for portion was good and food was tasty (or in the case of just the chicken, very tasty). Nothing adventurous here, and points for a dinner under $10.
We were too full to try any of the desserts, which include the currently popular shaved ice.

2015-Dec-6 Miss Saigon - steamed dumplings

2015-Dec-6 Miss Saigon - grand opening special

Trafalgar's European Explorer 2006 memoirs part 3

A picture from my 2006 trip, a Trafalgar 's bus tour, on an itinerary called the European Explorer. I can't remember why I had this couple in the picture, but I do vaguely remember this to be in London, on the first official day of the tour group getting together. Their insistence on my helping them take a picture caused the three of us to be late getting back to the bus. The local tour guide had a "rule" about lateness, that we had to buy chocolate to share with everyone. As it turned out, later in the trip, on at least two occasions, we were stuck on the highway on either a long commute or a traffic jam, and I had chocolate and chocolate-covered marzipan to share. About the chocolate-covered marzipan -- Apparently we were in Austria just as they were celebrating Mozart's birthday with special marzipans wrapped in foil with the famous composer's picture. I'm pretty sure it was Mirabell Mozartkugeln . Anyway, there were enough to go around the en

Trafalgar's European Explorer 2006 memoirs part 10

The last of my pictures (at least the ones that survived the cheesy disposable cameras) from my 2006 trip, a Trafalgar 's bus tour, on an itinerary called the European Explorer. Below is the obligatory group photo. Not sure everyone's in it, actually. I'm pretty sure this one was taken by the tour director, Mike Scrimshire as I'm in the back row, on the right side.

Trafalgar's European Explorer 2006 memoirs part 9

More assorted couples on my 2006 trip, a Trafalgar 's bus tour, on an itinerary called the European Explorer. An American couple who joked about being from "the land of the giants" -- and with good reason, because both of them were really tall! A cute Jewish mother-daughter pair who ducked out part-way to divert to Israel. I vaguely remember the issue of the daughter being an orthodox Jew was highlighted in France when, to make things easy, she just declared herself vegetarian for the wait staff. I also remember there was some logistics error in France because our party size was way underestimated or simply relayed incorrectly, and there was a shortage of food at dinner. Dessert came as an unopened can of yogurt. It did not seem like they tried to make it up to us later, either. Plus there was smoking every which way in France, and I had a helluva time with that. We were also in a hotel that seemed tucked away in the burbs, and not walking distance from anythin

Life in the Lower Mainland (BC, Canada)

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