Okay, maybe this is just me getting old but I’m going to just associate it with having higher standards. Today is my cousin’s birthday and I wanted to treat her to a birthday breakfast. We weren’t sure where to go but finally decided on The Alley Restaurant. I have heard nothing but great things about this restaurant and finally got a chance to give them a try. Well we check in early this morning with 3 small kids and 3 adults in tow, the restaurant is pretty empty and we ask if we can sit in a booth. The hostess coldly responds that booths cannot hold 6 people. Okay, that’s fine. She lets us know that they just need to set up a table for us and asked us to wait outside.

So we’re waiting outside with three rowdy kids that surely doesn’t put me in a better mood. I figure all the empty tables inside shouldn’t take more than 5 minutes to set up for us…I mean all they really have to do is push two tables together right? So the time is ticking by and I watch as all these smaller parties walk right in and get seated. I’m getting pretty heated at this point and after 15 minutes, we send someone in to ask about our table. The same hostess tells us the same dang thing, we are just waiting for a waiter to set up the table. I was pretty hopping mad at that point and left, we told her to cancel the table. I don’t understand why only that waiter can set up the table when I saw about 5 workers running around the front of the house. Secondly, all these new tables that just came in will now surely take more of the waiter’s time. The hostess’ pilau attitude just pushed me over the edge. Will I ever taste this restaurant’s food? Not likely now.

Anyway, we ended up going further down the road and tried Pho Five-O for the first time. They had two young men working the front of the house and they were very friendly and efficient. It was nice to see good mannered youngins for a change (gosh I sound so old). They had some pretty good dishes, I appreciated their combination plates. I think their pho was just okay, it didn’t have as much seasoning (spices) as the ones in town.

This is the summer roll that comes with their combinations. Cute yah?

Vietnamese Beef Stew over Noodles – verdict? Thumbs up!

My pho – like I said, not as spiced as I prefer.