Fresh Bowl South East Asian To Go

Laksa has become my new obsession ever since my dinner at Bo's. Last week, during a failed attempt to give Salsa and Agave's a second go, I ended up at Fresh Bowl South East Asian To Go.  A small take out joint tucked into the very end of Yaletown.



I have peeked in the window here a couple of times during my trips into Yaletown. I like the decor- bright, modern and clean- but the prices seemed a bit on the Yaletown expensive to me. $10.00 for a noodle bowl? But, I was running out of time on this day so I decided to give it a go.

The inside of the restaurant is very small, but I like the decor. Large funky lamps hang above a row of tables with seating for about 10-15 people. They market this place as a "to-go" restaurant and certainly doesn't have enough seating for a large sit in lunch crowd.

The menu is posted on a large board above the counter. The going price for a meal seemed to be about $10-$12.00.



The girl at the counter, who turned out to be on her first day, dutifully informed me of the lunch special. Any bowl plus a tea for $10.00. That is getting better in price. They have a nice menu selection but I saw the Laksa and it was a done deal. She said I had my choice of a Hibiscus or Calamansi tea. Even on her first day she could recognize the blank stare I gave her about the "Calamansi" option. Turns out it is a lemon-lime type flavour. I chose the hibiscus.



The tea was surprisingly tasty and went really well with the soup. Good start.  The service was very fast and I had my soup. I ordered the Laksa with tofu option. The other options were chicken or shrimp.



Hm. It was fine. I don't know how authentic it is. Seemed like a easy listening version of the soup I had at Bo's. I really liked the noodles. They were more like a really thin soba than a rice noodle. The soup was coconutty and not overly hot. The "salad" on the top consisted of mostly bean sprouts and a couple of carrots for veggies. Of the two laska's I have had, this is not the best one but it will do when I have a lunchtime craving. I hope the lunch special price continues because otherwise I don't really think it is worth the cost.

They also offer lunch time delivery to office buildings in the area. I want to try that mainly because of the delivery vehicle parked in front of the door:



That seems to be the most authentic bit of the place.