West Lake- There Are Better Pho Alternatives

Kirma (my mama) and I haven’t had Pho in a while so we decided to go to West Lake for some big ol’ bowl of soup and noodles. I love hot soup and noodles on a cold chilly day. :D

West Lake used to be located at Empire Center in between Parker Place and Aberdeen. Now it’s located on No.3 road across from Superstore. I’m not sure if the owners changed or anything but it seems like a completely new restaurant to me except for the fact that the name stayed the same.

Their menu is quite extensive and they have a pretty cool lunch combo for $9 in which you get a bowl of pho, a hot or cold drink, and an appy.

I ended up ordering the Lunch Combo ($9.00) and I chose the House Special Noodle Soup, Cold Horlick, and Satay Pork Skewers (2 pieces).

Here is the plate of bean sprouts, lemon wedges, mint leaves, and spicy peppers. Very standard.

I was surprised to see that the bowl of noodles was quite small. Also, I thought the House Special would consist of a bit of everything, but it actually only had Vietnamese ham, slices of raw beef, and slices of cooked beef. I personally like all the innards so I wasn't thrilled with this "House Special". 

I’ve never ordered cold Horlick before and it was surprisingly good and refreshing.

I would say the pork skewers were the best thing I ate at West Lake. The satay sauce was thick, flavourful, and had good chunks of peanut in it. 

I liked that the skewers were a bit charred (even though I know it’s bad for me). It gave a good “smokey” flavour to it.

Kirma ordered the Regular sized Pho with Pork Balls, Vietnamese Ham, and Beef Tendon (~$6.00). She also thought the size was a bit smaller than other Pho places so she wasn’t that full from the meal. 

Also, she said the broth had way too much MSG because she felt super thirsty after the meal.

Overall, West Lake is not a bad place to get Pho. However, there are so many better alternatives in Richmond so I probably wouldn’t come back here any time soon.


Based on these reasons:

• relatively inexpensive
• not the best Pho place out there (not very authentic)
• good lunch combos for people who like multiple dishes
• lots of parking spaces

Service Rating: 3/5

Food Rating: 2.5/5

Price: $

Overall Rating: 2.5/5

Happy Eating!

courtesy of http://thesommerlier.typepad.com/.a/6a0134811e9e1f970c0133f54505e9970b-320wi