Vietnamese Village Express

Extensive menu.
Decent prices.
Good service.
Patio seating!
Great phở. Very flavorful broth. One size?!
No waters, tea which is loose leaf– don’t fear.
They don’t bring you a check to the table, leave at your leisure and pay at the counter.
Fortune cookies when you check out. Weird but no complaints!
Close to a hotel we stay at for work, best part. Don’t fall down, or up the stairs– they’re slippery!

Conveniently located and very good food selection!

Vietnamese Village Express is located on 7^th Avenue SW downtown in a complex along the C-​train line. I was actually on the C-​train, gazing out the windows aimlessly when Vietnamese village caught my eye. It really caught my eye because my favorite beef satay phở is from a Vietnamese village up in the NE and I thought that they had another location… wrong.
It was Remembrance Day when Alex and I were both wanting some soup cause it was a little chilly and I suggested phở. I gave them a call to make sure that they were opened before we went over — Hurray! They were opened until 8pm. I had actually asked if they had another location in the NE and the lady said they didn’t — they were different owners. «Oh…» I said. «So…what is your satay like — is it like actually satay paste you use» (I had asked because I reeeeeeally wanted the same satay from Northview VV), «Yes, it’s the same broth as the other place» she says. SCORE!
I went to grab Alex and we headed over. Parking doesn’t really exist as it’s along a C-​train line but you can park near the Tim Hortons or just park a few blocks away and walk over (NOT SUGGESTED IN THE WINTER — BRRR BRRRR!!! (I’m a baby)). We walked up some stairs, I can smell phở brewing up and were at our stop. We were welcomed by a large grouchy fish at the front in the fish tank. I noticed that it is a pretty decent sized restaurant, a lot of seating! It wasn’t busy at the hour we went. The menu is pretty much identical to Northview Vietnamese Village, in fact beef satay phở is number 17 as well. We had some tea and both ordered a bowl of beef satay phở.
Shortly after we ordered, our phở came steaming out. Phở never takes forever to come. I snapped a few photos, Alex dug in, and I snapped more photos. Phở always comes with a side place of some quartered limes, chilis, bean sprouts and mint. I grabbed a handful of sprouts, picked at the mint, squeezed some lime on top and mixed it all together. At first sip, it was good — not as great as Northvivew in my humble opinion but still good. My noodles were definitely overcooked, almost that mushy texture but not quite, beef was ok. Must have been the remaining before closing! But Alex quite enjoyed his phở and literally inhaled it… in lighting speed. Alex was hungry. After we finished, we stayed to hang out, chat. We came to the conclusion that Vietnamese Village Express is a nice cozy place where you come and have a nice bowl of phở on a cold snowy day and chillax. It was lovely… until we got asked if we were going to pay with cash or debt. That was their way of well. kicking us out :(There were other patrons still dining but it must have been past closing and they wanted us to pay. Oh well! Back out to the cold we went. Cozy place, ok phở, and ok service. That is all.

*GOING DOWN MEMORY LANE*
Before the Vietnamese Village Express was in Business, the place was actually a Mandarin buffet style restaurant. I have fond memories of (My childhood) the delicious garlic Broccoli, and home-​made wish cookies. I remember the place had grey walls, grey floors, grey ceilings and a few odd Asian monument statues. However, about 5 years ago the family owned establishment sold the place because they wanted to retire and move somewhere warm (don’t blame them).
Around that time I moved South West of Calgary and never had the right chance to try the new place out. Well after being invited to a business lunch with an old co-​worker I toke her up on the offer and tried the place.
The outcome was surprising:
We both ordered the same menu choice (she ordered her dish before I got there because she’s diabetic) and I unknowingly picked the same thing. It was a great conversational piece. Our meals arrived 10 minutes after ordered and together.
The dish was #36 Peanut Chicken with greens on Vermicelli noodles. It sounds as good as it looked. I was impressed, the food was evenly distributed and a large portion (dog bagged leftovers) — chicken a bit burnt but still tasty. While eating the dish I couldn’t help but notice the sauce options and how healthy everything was. The food is stir-​fried or sautéed. Nothing was deep-​fried or salty either (hard to find these days).
I would definitely return. Another side note nothing was grey, the new owners have painted the walls white and added an aquarium at the main entrance. It’s clear the place needs some upgrading and TLC but they seem to be making a great name for themselves and the food is worth the buy.

I just ordered the vietnamese spring rolls and the phở soup. The spring rolls were ok. Not the best I’ve ever had, but not the worse either… The soup was weird. It says rare beef, and it was REALLY RARE. I prefer do not think what I had. Even when I am very open to try new things. This was too much for me. It tasted rare too.
Finally the check was a little expensive for what I got. In my opinion it doesn’t worth the price I paid.
This is a place where I wouldn’t go back, unless there is no more options…

I am kind of indifferent to Vietnamese food in general. But this place is pretty good. It gets quite busy at lunch so its good to get there a bit before 11:30 during the week. I’ve tried several of their dishes and they are all good, albeit a touch pricier than others in town. It could be a location thing though being right downtown and so busy.
My only beef with this place is that it isn’t always the fastest service (despite express in it’s name) and if you go during off hours later in the afternoon they can be really inattentive. But for the most part they do a good job and its better food than other nearby Vietnamese places.

When I first moved to Calgary, I had moved from Guadalajara Mexico, so the food that we could basically eat there was Mexican, Argentinean, Italian or American. It was difficult to find a good Indian place let alone anything Asian besides Chinese, so when my cousin invited me for Vietnamese food, I was all too excited.
Her restaurant of choice was the Vietnamese Village, extremely convenient as it was near my mother’s condo and on the train route.
We said our formal hellos and ventured upstairs to a somewhat empty restaurant, it was a Monday night.
The owner/​waitress/​hostess was really nice and she told us to choose whatever table we wanted, I decided it was only fitting to sit by the window and to watch the snow falling.
The place is very beautifully ornamented, with fish aquariums and pleasant décor; it is not as tacky as other places I have been too, in fact I find it elegant.
My cousin ordered a Phở soup which she claims is her favourite in the city and I ordered the vermicelli with noodles, spring roll and spicy beef. I felt it was a bit pricey but maybe I had been biased from living in Mexico; but 10 dollars or 100 pesos was at that time tons to pay for a meal for me. I have since discovered from eating at many Vietnamese places that VV is indeed a little higher in price than other places in town. But what did I care, my cousin was flipping the bill.
I also had the Vietnamese coffee and was so elated to watch my coffee drip in my condensed milk.
The meal needless to say was spectacular, the beef was perfectly spiced and the spring rolls were large and so crispy. This combination plus the sauce and the hot noodles was fantastic. I was so happy to be back in Canada and to have an authentic Vietnamese meal again.
Expect slightly higher prices but excellent food and nice ambiance.

Vietnamese village is super tasty fare. Even walking up the stairs, you can smell the phở broth and cooked noodles… It smells so good. The restaurant is actually pretty big, and pretty nicely decorated, with big fish tanks and little tables and nice big windows with natural light.
The crispy egg noodles with beef are delicious, but soooo bad for you. That’s cool — the nest of noodles gradually soaks into the sauce and has a few different textures that I was really into. The phở is really tasty and nuanced — I love it. And the best part about it is that all of the food is prepared super fast I waited a grand total of seven minutes for the food.
My only issue with Vietnamese Village is that the prices are a little on the expensive side: not super expensive, but a little more than other places. It’s worth it, I guess, considering the quality and convenient location. Vietnamese Village is located right across from the crack mac’s and the old 8^th Street train station.

One of the best sate beef phở (noodle soup) in town! My co-​workers and I come here all the time and it is consistent time after time. The soup is perfectly flavoured with a nutty-​taste and just the right amount of heat.