Celebrity food critic Keith Lee said he might have had the “best pho” of his life at a family-run Vietnamese restaurant in Toronto.
Lee, who has more than 17 million followers on TikTok, dropped by Pho Ngoc Yen, located on Adelaide Street West near Peter Street, around 9:30 p.m. on Sunday night. The Las Vegas-based food reviewer said he was visiting the city for just 24 hours for a “life changing” shoot, details of which he did not disclose.
“You can’t tell me that don’t look amazing. I love Toronto,” Lee can be heard saying, as his video shows a close-up of the beef short rib pho he ordered. Lee also ordered fresh sugar cane and passionfruit juices.
The video then cuts to Lee taking a few bites of his soup.
“This might be the best pho I’ve ever had in my life. It’s spicy, it’s fresh, the amount of lemongrass in here is incredible. It’s super rich,” Lee said, before giving the bowl of pho a ranking of 9.4 out of 10.
A dramatic increase in demand typically follows after one of the food reviewer’s visits, also called the “Keith Lee Effect.” Last time he visited Toronto, wait times for Sumaq, a shawarma spot in Scarborough, doubled while Biscuits to Baskets, a tiny bakery in Ajax, was forced to shut down to prepare for the weekend rush.
Tan Trinh, one of the owners of Pho Ngoc Yen, said Lee’s influence has not unleashed its full potential—at least not yet.
“We’re anticipating that there’s going to be a lot of response to his video. We’re imagining that the traffic is going to be pretty busy,” Trinh said in an interview.
Trinh said Lee’s visit could be a “big life-changing event” for his staff, pointing to how fewer people are dining out due to the general higher costs of living. He said the restaurant has increased staffing this week to prepare for an expected uptick in business.
“When my wife told me about this gentleman, and I started to look him up, and like ‘Holy crap, this person came to visit us.’ We were very, very excited,” Trinh said. “This guy is doing such a wonderful thing for the community. We truly appreciate that.”
But, Trinh noted, with a laugh, that he and his family haven’t been able to sleep since Lee posted his video on Sunday (which has more than 90,000 likes as of publication).
The family-run Vietnamese chain is no stranger to celebrity clientele.
Over the summer, American R&B singer, Kehlani, also posted a video of their Adelaide Street location to her millions of TikTok followers, praising the food as the “best” Vietnamese she’s ever had in her life.
Her visit ignited a three-month-long spike in business, Trinh said, which is why this time they have added more staff to all three of their locations for the expected influx of customers.
“I would like to thank Keith for visiting Toronto and for coming into our establishment and make such a wonderful difference for everybody in the community and for my staff, especially, they truly appreciate that,” Trinh said.
“For us, to come in and enjoy our service and our product like that, it just speaks volumes. We truly appreciate him coming.”
With files from Hannah Alberga and CTVNews.ca’s Elianna Lev
