Life in the Lower Mainland (BC, Canada)

Impromptu late dinner-snack and we ended up at Miss Saigon. Because on that block of Kingsway on a Tuesday, it was the only game in town for eats. Anyway, even without Miss Saigon's grand opening special discount , portion for price is good (always worth bonus points). It's a bright, clean, place with friendly service. Green Papaya Salad ($6.75) green papaya, herbs, home made beef jerky, and sweet soy sauce The mysterious "herbs" look like caramelized spring onion, cilantro, and peanuts. Overall sort of almost bland tasting except for the brilliant use of beef jerky, which was tasty and sweet. They oughta make a bánh mì out of that jerky. Use the provided sweet soy sauce, but not too much. Maybe 1-2 tablespoons max.

Back to Miss Saigon  Friday night to try a couple more things before their 25%-off Grand Opening special drops to 20% next week. I had the phở before I gave their bánh mì and shaved ice a go. After comparing notes with a few friends, their phở is "standard sized", and the amount of meat in their bánh mì is average. Grilled Meat Bánh Mì ($5.25) choice of chicken or pork Went with chicken. Meat was actually quite tasty, like satay chicken minus the satay sauce. Too bad the flavour was covered up by the veggies and bread. I suppose you could isolate the flavour by taking out the meat, then eat your remaining veggie sub with liberal amounts of hoisin sauce or hot sauce provided at the table (no, those coloured bottles aren't mustard and ketchup). Shaved Ice - Red Bean ($4) served with tapioca and coconut cream They had no fruits (eh?) that day so I had to choose the bean desserts. Where's my tapioca? Shaved ice on top fell off when I was trying to scoop out...

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". Re...