Pho Vietnamese Cuisine in Summerland

Pat Le and his mom, Nhien Bui at Pho Vietnamese Cuisine. Photos by Amber Goodwin

The Vietnamese mother and son who own Pho Vietnamese Cuisine in Summerland admitted they never visited the town before they made the decision to sell their restaurant in Langley and move to the Okanagan.

Pat Le and his mom, Nhien Bui, opened their restaurant in August 2011. Pat feels the location, near Prairie Valley Road right off of Highway 97,  has helped bring in clientele and contributed to their success to this point. “So far, so good,” he said. “We’ve survived through the winter and that’s good.”

Pat does double duty, making cabinets by day and helping his mom with food preparations and cooking in the evenings. The menu is written in Vietnamese with English translation and offers Mon Khai Vi (appetizers) and items such as Goi Cuon (Salad rolls) and Cha Gio (deep-fried spring rolls).

Pho comes in medium and large sizes and can be ordered with chicken, beef or pork or added vegetables and can easily be a meal on their own. However, there are a variety of dishes to tempt one’s taste buds and servings are enough to satisfy the healthiest of appetites.

One of the main dishes is Bun (Vermicelli-grilled chicken and pork) served on a bed of rice with sliced cucumbers. To compliment any meal, there’s refreshing Soda Chanh Duong (fresh lemon with soda and ice) and Vietnamese-style iced coffee.

All of the recipes were created by Nhien through trial and error. Pat said when she started cooking about six years ago she’d sample food from similar restaurants and then put her own spins on the flavouring until she perfected the taste. “She asked what ingredients were in the food and pick all the ones she thought were good,” he said. After making and testing the dishes, she’d serve it to customers for their final approval and make any necessary flavour adjustments.

“People really like it. Business has been picking up and every day we have new customers coming and we have lots of return customers.” He believes the combination of their location, the unique and affordable menu items (almost every dish is less than $10) and his mom’s cooking talents will bring them continued success.

“My mom, she believes in herself that she makes good food,” said Pat.

– By SCOTT TRUDEAU

Pho Vietnamese Cuisine is open seven days a week, from 10am.

7702 Prairie Valley Road  Summerland, BC V0H 1Z4

(778) 516-5566