Location: 93 Ossington Avenue, Toronto
Website: https://thelunchlady.com/
The Lunch Lady is a Vietnamese restaurant that opened in Toronto with some built-in hype thanks to its Anthony-Bourdain-related backstory (it started as an anonymous street food stall in Vietnam that Bourdain visited and blew up, then it expanded to Vancouver, and most recently, Toronto).
And when I say hype, I mean hype. I actually tried to visit last weekend for lunch and was flat-out turned away. Reservations (for now, at least) are advised.
The biggest bummer here is that the dish that Bourdain tried — a noodle soup called bun bo hue — isn’t on the menu. The closest thing is the pho, which comes in two versions: standard (“brisket, short plate, rare beef shoulder, rice noodles, 24-hour beef broth”), which costs $22, and wagyu (“rare wagyu zabuton, beef cheek, ox tail, bone marrow, slow poached egg, rice noodles, 24-hour beef broth”), which costs a whopping $36.
The menu notes that the wagyu version is the chef’s recommendation, so sure, why not — you can’t take it with you, I guess?? $36 is a somewhat upsetting amount to pay for a bowl of pho; was it worth it?
Kinda? Nothing about the broth particularly stands out — it tastes quite similar to any other decent bowl of pho I’ve had in the GTA, with none of the extra oomph or beefy flavour you’d hope for, given the price tag.
Everything else, however? Fantastic. In particular, the very generous portions of oxtail and beef cheek are both phenomenal; they’re tender and unctuous, with a nice balance of perfectly rendered fat and ultra-tender meat, and an intense beefy flavour that lets you know they’re using good quality stuff.
Do I dare use the word unctuous twice in one post?? Yeah, I’m gonna do it. The generous amount of bone marrow — which comes right on the bone — is silky and unctuous, and has a really nice roasty flavour.
The wagyu zabuton (which, apparently, is a cut from the shoulder of the cow — I learned something today) comes uncooked on the side; the waiter advised that it be dipped in the soup for about 10 seconds to cook it very lightly. Like all the other beef here, it’s tender and flavourful.
There’s also an ultra-silky slow-poached egg in the bowl; it basically just melts into the soup, adding some extra richness. Everything else — the rice noodles and the sauces, veggies, and herbs on the side — are standard-issue pho stuff.
So, once again, was it worth $36?
I guess? I doubt I’d order it again (what am I, Warren Buffet???), but I’m not mad I tried it.
Michael Eats 