New Vietnamese/Thai fusion bistro in Southwest Edmonton

I know, I know, I haven't written in my blog for so long! Has it been ten days already? I've been away sick for the past week, so I haven't really gotten a chance to blog about my adventures in between.

I have a new family doctor that's located in a new community in Southwest Edmonton called Summerside. Within the past year, Save On Foods, Good Earth and Brewster's have popped up, including cute little restaurants/bistros like Teriyaki Corner (which I blogged about). Most recently, I was curious about a Vietnamese/Thai bistro that had just opened. It's called minimango, and it's a small sister business of a restaurant on 91st and 82 ave called "Sweet Mango" (I've been to this place before; it's alright).

The decor is very sleek and modern looking. Dark flooring, orange plastic light covers, raised barstools and booths, accompanied by a large picture consisting of smaller pictures of the Vietnamese culture; one would want to eat here just because of the cool decor.

Their menu was electronic on flatscreen televisions. I'm personally not a fan of electronic menus, but I suppose their easier to change if their menus fluctuate. That being said, I was having sort of a tough time reading the menu, so the cashier upfront handed my boyfriend and I paper menus. I scanned and scanned the menu. All I wanted was a simple Pho soup with beef, good broth and noodles. So I opted for the beef lover's choice (beef balls, tendon, and beef slices) for $7.95. My boyfriend opted for something a little less ordinary: Tom Yum Coconut noodle soup for $11.95. I also wanted the salad rolls for the appetizer. It was a whopping $5.95 for only 3 rolls!

We waited 7-8 minutes before our food came. We both munched on the salad rolls first. Not too bad. The sauce wasn't the typical dipping sauce for salad rolls which consists of hoi sin sauce. It was still tasty, but for almost $1.98/piece, I definitely won't be getting that next time. Next up was my Pho soup. The soup could of been hotter; the broth wasn't bad but wasn't as bold as I wanted it to be. The beef slices were too tough and if I remembered correctly, they only gave me about 2-3 beef balls. On the other hand, my boyfriend extremely enjoyed his new experience tasting the Tom Yum Coconut noodle soup. Topped with shrimp and mussels, his was a bit more appealing than mine.

Overall, the restaurant wasn't horrible. It wasn't spectacular either. The prices are a bit high and for Pho, I'd rather go somewhere more authentic. But it was a great experience for my boyfriend!

Verdict: pretty scrumptious

If you are interested in going, they are located just in the new shopping complex of Summerside on 91st and Ellerslie Road (9th ave SW). They don't have a website yet.