Edgeware Road and Pho Mile

Visiting a metropolitan city like London can in reality be a trip to several different countries for me. London, Toronto and Montreal, all cities of immigrants, have ethnic enclaves where you can eat the food, visit the stores and hear the language of the country of origin of those who live there. So not only do I get my cuppa strong English orange pekoe tea, but mint tea, spiced chai, jasmine tea and bubble tea...

My first morning in London I walked (through the snow) down Edgeware Road, home of a large Arab-speaking community from all over North Africa and the Middle East. Despite the unseasonably low temperatures, the dozens of restaurants and cafes I passed had their patios out, with those small tables and typical red and beige wicker chairs aligned so that everyone has a view of those passing by. Shisha pipes and pots of mint tea were being shared to help stave off the cold and humidity.

Later Thursday night I visited the "Pho Mile" on Kingsland Rd. in Shoreditch. It's not what you'd call a Vietnamese neighbourhood, but there are dozens of restaurants along this road serving pho noodle soup, grilled meats, nice noodles and other Vietnamese dishes. I love pho, but a good bowl is hard to come by in Halifax, so I headed straight to Song Que, at the end of Pho Mile, and ordered a bowl of rare beef pho and a pot of jasmine tea.

To make pho, they take rice vermicelli noodles, onions, mint and cilantro, top it with razor-thin slices of raw beef and pour boiling hot broth over it all. The broth cooks the meat. You top the soup with bean sprouts, basil leaves and a touch of lime before digging in. The broth is what differentiates pho from restaurant to restaurant, in my opinion; a mix of bones and herbs and spices and who-knows-what is simmered for hours on end, creating a subtle base for a soup that's seemingly simple, yet delicious. That's what's wonderful about Vietnamese food in general--the straightforward combination of fresh meat, rice, noodles and herbs.

This weekend I also had late-night Peking Duck in Chinatown,  a heaping plate of Turkish meze in Camden and a feast of curries and naan at a hole-in-the-wall Indian place near St. Pancras station. And of course a few full English breaksfasts. Good thing I'm doing so much walking around...