Pagolac Restaurant

To be honest, this wasn't going to be a place that I was going to blog about; it was just going to be a quick bite prior to the Usher concert that was picked due to its convenient location (hence the missing venue pictures). When we arrived at the restaurant, it looked rather sketchy and slightly out of place, being the only opened restaurant in a quiet industrial area. Regardless, we walked in, and the interior decoration confirmed that this place was rather old - it reminded me of my grandparents' house back in the 1970's.

But you know what they say about sketchy Vietnamese restaurants - the sketchier they look, the more delicious their food is. And Pagolac proved this statement to be true! As a result, here I am writing about this place because I want to share this hidden gem with other fellow food lovers :)

The three of us ordered the large satay beef pho to help offset the -30 Degree Celsius chill in our bones. Let me forewarn you that the large bowl is not like other pho restaurants, in the sense that the difference in size is due to extra soup. No, not in Pagolac's case, the large bowl had a mountainous amount of noodles in it.

Rice Noodle with Satay Beef (Spicy)

What really stood out about this satay beef bowl from other pho restaurants was that the broth was really thick. It was so thick that we kept referring to the soup as a sauce instead. Nonetheless, the "soup/sauce" was full of bursting flavours and contained plenty of chopped up tomatoes and cucumbers (something rarely found in your typical satay broth). The satay broth was very spicy (read: "Excuse me, can we please have more ice water and napkins to blot my runny nose with?") and contained a touch of sweetness that makes you want to continue eating despite how filling the endless noodles were.

As much as I love this satay beef pho from Pagolac, I would probably not eat this on a regular basis since it was really heavy. Pagolac's take on satay beef would be a treat that I would succumb to once in a while only. If you visit, I highly suggest getting the regular size, and do go with a hearty appetite. This isn't just any satay beef bowl.