Pho Tam - Whalley

We are finally back to our relentless pursuit of the restaurants listed on Scout Magazine's, "Never Heard Of It" list with Pho Tam.

Located in front of Surrey Central Station in a strip mall whose days are numbered owing to the coming redevelopment of everything within view. These folks have the additional challenge of being only 3 doors from another pho joint but they seem to be doing OK at the moment.

Following the advice of the Scout Magazine reviewer, we started with the Pho Dac Biet (house special) which included beef, tripe and tendon. This was perhaps the most generous serving of meats that I have ever seen in Pho and along with sprouts, basil, jalapenos and lime, a large at $11 could easily have fed Marie and me.

But what would be the fun in only ordering what we could eat? By making it a combo, they also served us a Spring Roll for an extra 1$. Crispy and with a flavouful pork filling, this was a very good spring roll served with vinegar on the side.

You'd think we were done there but we also wanted to try their Shredded Pork, Pork Skin and Meat Loaf on Rice. This again was a wonderful plate. The shredded pork and pork skin was cut as thin as noodles and included meaty and fatty strips. It is fried with toasted rice powder and garlic if they follow the traditional recipe and that is what I would guess. Wonderful! The meatloaf too, rivaling my Mother's was a lovely dish that we would order again. Porky, moist and not overcooked, but with a nice sear before serving, it included some kind of tasty dark colored mushroom in the mix. All of this came to just over $23 before tax and tips. 

Very casual and a little noisy, service was nonetheless very friendly and attentive. We were served tea within moments of siting down! When we lose this block to gentrification, I hope we don't forever lose Pho Tam as well.

For what it's worth, we give Pho Tam 4 out of 5.