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.

Osteria Rialto was one big, pleasant surprise. In need of a last-minute reservation to be close to after-dinner festivities, we booked the restaurant based on availability versus reviews. Their menu offers a selection of Italian staples that looked adequate. It’ll likely be a safe but forgettable meal, I thought.

My first bite into the suppli cacio e pepe ($12 for two pieces) and Rialto already brought the arancini to another level by combining it with a mozzarella stick. There was a nice cheese pull to the rice croquette encapsulated by the creamy risotto with a liberal sprinkling of black pepper to balance out the rich bite.  

A decent portion of cheese and meat arrives with the burrata e prosciutto ($25), enough for a taste each for our table of five. The 36-month aged prosciutto had a lovely savoury sweetness against the creamy cheese. And while we didn’t want any bread, they mistakenly provided focaccia ($9) that ended up pairing well with the cheese, the bread salty and fluffy served with a generous dish of olive oil.

The tagliatelle ($27) was surprisingly rich for a meatless sauce. Soft buttery squash was tossed with parmigiano and fried sage, almost melting into the chewy pasta ribbons. The dish is a hearty vegetarian alternative for the winter.

I preferred the squash pasta to the rigatoni ($28), which was a touch dry. While I liked the hint of heat in the sugo, the lamb tasted more like sausage, so the dish was too salty and greasy.

While the chicken in the pollo ai funghi ($34) could be cooked less, the thin cutlets were at least crispy and flavourful slathered in a creamy mushroom and black truffle gravy. If only Osteria Rialto offered rice as a side, the grains would soak up the delicious sauce so well.

It was difficult to decipher the background flavour in the sauce on the braciola di maiale ($38) ... it had a hint of umami that seemed out of place from what looks like a cream sauce. Consequently, the bagna cauda sauce incorporates anchovies (along with garlic), which is likely what added the umami and gave the neutral pork chop a lot of flavour. The meat was cooked well and the roasted rapini kept nice and crispy.  

Osteria Rialto tried to jazz up the insalata misticanza ($16) with a colourful variety of lettuce, including pink leaves – spoiler alert, it tastes like any other bibb lettuce. Ultimately, it’s a plain salad with a few slices of radish and sprinkling of crispy farro tossed in a vinaigrette. Nothing exciting, but if you’re looking for a traditional way to finish an Italian meal, a simple salad is it.

The dinner reminds me to sometimes not over plan a meal – there’s so many reviews and opinions that at times it gets overwhelming. Keep it simple: look for location and a decent menu, then grab a group of friends and go.