Chef Nicky Dao reveals his favorite Mississauga pho spot—his own family's restaurant

Since taking the reins at Parquet, Harbord Village's romantic French bistro, a year ago, Nicky Dao has established himself as one of the city's culinary talents to watch. But when he's not threading Vietnamese heritage through French classics, he's reliving the food of his Mississauga childhood—specifically the pho broth his uncle now simmers daily.

Pho Ngoc Yen sits in the middle of an industrial area on Kamato Road, unit 17–19, in a heavily decorated interior that mirrors Vietnamese cafés. Dao's uncle, an engineer in Windsor, dropped everything one day and opened the restaurant with Dao's aunt. Dao's father renovated the place himself. What started as the best food option for factory workers nearby has exploded: now 20 people work shoulder to shoulder in the kitchen, with five guys making spring rolls for 10 hours straight on any given day. Three locations exist now—this one, another in Etobicoke that Dao helped open, and a new Adelaide Street spot that recently drew attention from influencer Keith Lee, who called its pho the best he'd ever had.

Dao's take is blunt. "As far as Toronto proper is concerned, none of the Vietnamese restaurants are that good," he said. "I feel that way about most ethnic cuisines downtown. The best version is always going to be found in Markham, Scarborough or Mississauga. It's an overhead thing—if you don't have to charge an arm and a leg just to cover rent, then you can put that toward your ingredients instead. For the best pho, there's no contest."

The signature order: authentic Saigon fish noodle soup, a sweeter, herbaceous southern Vietnamese preparation loaded with an "obscene amount" of green onion, Thai basil, raw white onion, and fish cakes—a dish you can't find at many other pho restaurants.