There’s a dizzying number of Vietnamese restaurants opening along the Scarborough and Markham border area. Another newcomer joining the fold is Pho Ahn Vu, an addition to the growing chain that’s spreading across the GTA. Its claim to fame: an ornate dining room with fake pink blossomed trees that’s photographed just as much as their actual food.

To be fair, their food tastes good too. If you’re feeling hungry their bún thịt nướng (or rice noodles with grilled meat) dishes are very filling. It starts with a generous portion of vermicelli and tops it with your choice of protein.

The grilled pork, spring roll, and shrimp on sugarcane ($22.95) offered a bit of everything including cardboard thin slices of marinated pork, a hot and delicious crispy spring roll, and a golf ball sized fried shrimp paste that made up for its petiteness with flavour. Along with a mix of fresh herbs, julienned cucumber, bean sprouts, pickled vegetables, and roasted peanuts it’s a cool refreshing dish for the warmer months.

My tip: try the dish with a mixture of their chili sauces. That hit of heat goes so nicely with the fish sauce vinaigrette.

Their pho is tiny in comparison. The special rice noodle soup ($17.95) had a decent amount of protein with slices of rare beef tenderloin, well done flank, a couple cubes of tendon, maybe two beef balls, and a couple thinly sliced tripe, but a scant portion of noodles. So, you’ll either want to upgrade to the larger size ($21.50) or add a side dish to round out the meal.

At least their broth was on point – full flavoured and perfectly seasoned. I only wish it was hotter as it became lukewarm after the raw bean sprouts were added. Like the vermicelli, their pho contains several herbs creating a bright bowl of noodles.

I can see why Pho Ahn Vu’s expanding so quickly, opening locations in Mississauga, Hamilton, and Whitby. Pretty pink flowers, solid recipes, and friendly attentive service. Now this is the type of ‘send noods’ I can get behind.