Ginger

Not my cup of tea…

Hi, I visited this location near yonge and dundas a couple times and was quite disappointing each time. The food is mediocre for the high prices but what is most frustrating are the owners/​employees. The boss is a short haired Vietnamese woman, and she was quite rude when greeting my friends and I. I know this isn’t a cultural bias as i’ve been to numerous Vietnamese phở stores and have always been greeted nicely and politely. I was throughly dissapointed by the mannerism of the staff here and would recommend not to come to this location! the one at church is alot more friendly and delicious!

Decided to try out the phở here since hearing some good reviews. You have to pay first and then the waiter brings you your food to your table. I got my phở 5 minutes after I ordered. It looked pretty good. There was lots of meat and the right amount of noodles for a small size. The noodles were hard and should have been cooked longer. The soup was more salty than I expected. It’s a cheap place to go to with quick service if you’re ever in a rush.

Phở is very good for the price, great place to eat on a budget.

I visited this restaurant based on a recommendation from a very good friend. I’d like to think she’s a foodie… And a smart one at that!
During the middle of exams and midst of a snow/​rain storm in April; I had the experience of a life time. I got a large seafood phở for 8.13 taxes included (a 10% student discount was provided to me for showing my student card).
I went around dinner time and the food came fast and fresh. My seafood consisted of shrimp, squid, mussels and crab meat; all very large proportions. The broth was excellent and the noodles were cooked to perfection. The portions were large, so big I had to ask for a take out container.
I chose to dine in and the restaurant was small but quaint. A lady was walking around and picking up garbage as often as it was found.
Overall great food, amazing price and huge portions. I’d go again for sure.

Came for take out. The older lady at cash (seems like the owner?) spoke with an extremely rude tone the entire time. I also had to repeat my order 4 times before she got it because she kept asking me what I want before she even finished charging the previous customer, even though she’s clearly unable to multitask.
Food was below average. Fresh roll was ok, but the chicken vermicelli was mushy and the chicken lacked flavour. However, it’s the closest Vietnamese restaurant in the area, so I may regrettably go back during late nights working at school to feed my craving. They offer 10% off for students (I forgot my onecard, and she refused to give me the discount even though my friends all had theirs. Which is understandable, but it would’ve been good business to let it slide. And I’m often mistaken as a high school student, so I doubt she questioned if I was lying.)
Service — 0
Food — 2

Good Food — I prefer takeout… the restaurant isn’t overly clean… But the food you get for the dirt cheap price is amazing! I love the sweet and sour seafood soup and the avocado and tofu fresh roll.

It wasn’t very good. I had a regular phở. The noodles were sort of hard and not quite cooked. The soup was sort of flavorless. The rest was pretty mediocre. I don’t think I’ll be coming back.

I always eat here because it’s cheap and near Ryerson Campus. The food here is cheap. For those that aren’t used to a restaurant like this, the routine of the place is pay first and served after.
I typically go for the Rare beef Soup and Shrimp Fresh Rolls. The soup base was pretty good and was not as fattening as other Phở places that I’ve been to.
Unfortunate high noodle-​to-​meat ratio.

This place is very convenient for me to go, and with $ 3.50 banh mi sandwiches I’m a fan. The first time I went here, I got the kim chi and tofu sandwich, and I was blown away at how good it was — delicious tofu, kim chi, fresh carrots, and cilantro. Second time I went, they didn’t add the carrots nor cilantro, but it was still pretty good and (most importantly) I was really hungry. Having learned my lesson, the third and most recent time I went, I specifically asked for the carrots. Somehow, they still didn’t include them! I was a little annoyed, but when I asked the waitress again she brought me some on the side, which was fine. I don’t really think I’d order anything else from here, but it’s great when you’re hungry and want something pretty tasty and cheap.

We had rare beef phở, pad Thai, Vietnamese coffee on ice and a taro bubble tea. Delicious for $ 25.

I wanted to be that guy who wrote a stellar review of this place after everyone else panned them… but I won’t be. I was kind of disappointed.
The «Superbowl» noodle soup, at $ 9.50, sounds like a great deal. Rare beef, tripe, oxtail, even chicken. A bit of everything.
Pros:
* XL size will fill the hungriest of stomachs
* Inexpensive
* Staff was nice
Cons:
* High noodle-​to-​meat ratio
* Strange vegetable stalks in the soup (lemongrass?) that tasted spicy and also felt like it poked my throat
* Broth is below-​average flavor
Overall, I was disappointed with the phở. The broth left a lot to be desired, and the vegetable stalks that poked my throat weren’t pleasant. I was looking for more meat, but got mouthful after mouthful of noodles. I know for $ 9.50 you can’t expect the moon, but hey, how about a nice, pleasant bowl of phở on a cold Toronto afternoon?

I had their small bowl of super noodle soup (it has all rare cooked meat in it and oxtail), a shrimp salad (summer) roll, and a bubble tea. Everything was pretty much terrible. I would give it no stars, but the extra star is for the nice customer service. The noodle soup was way too salty and lacked in flavor. It could’ve used more mint or basil leaves. Usually the broth would make or break the dish. This time it broke it! Towards the bottom of my bowl my noodles were kind of congealed all together and I had to use my chopstick to break them up. The summer roll had a bit of old iceberg lettuce and bean sprouts rolled up into it. I could’ve dealt with that if the peanut sauce that came with it wasn’t so bad. The sauce tasted like day old hoisin sauce with sprinkles of peanuts on top. I mean, the sauce was kind of sour… like rotten sour, and it was masked with more salt! I’m going to have to take a diuretic pill just to cleanse my body of all the salt I just ate. And I love salt! I cover my fries in it, I love my Chinese food with MSG! So when a salt lover tells you, it’s salty, then damn! It’s going to be salty. Lastly, the bubble tea was watered down and the bubbles were too mushy. I think a lot of the stuff they’re serving has been sitting out, which, when you think about it, is so gross.
Vietnamese noodle dishes aren’t hard to make. It’s literally hot water, beef broth, choice of meat, rice noodles, and basil and mint. I wish this place could just get it right. The worse part is, it’s Vietnamese owned. You would think they would know better.
I should’ve went back to Made in China :)

First I tried this place, I got a chicken and a beef sub. It was decent tasting but the volume of meat was lacking. At $ 3.50, it shouldn’t be surprising.
I decided to go back a second time to try a rice dish. I went with the grilled shrimp, beef, chicken and spring roll combo. Boy was that disappointing. I have grown up eating similar dishes in Scarborough, Markham and Richmond Hill. This was by far the poorest attempt at Vietnamese flavours. Where’s the fragrant lemongrass that’s a big part of Vietnamese grilled meats? The beef and chicken pieces were thin cuts and bland. The spring roll was anemic and lacked any resemblance to real crispy, ingredient packed Vietnamese spring rolls.
It’s safe to say that I won’t be returning to try the phở.

I agree with those who feel this is a substandard franchise of a usually good restaurant for the price.
Anine Y, you were right on in your review. I too had the Superbowl Phở, and yes it is lower than substandard, considering it is one of the more expensive menu items. The beef in this soup was tough, the «rare» beef was very thin slices of overcooked hard beef, the chicken breast was cardboardy, the tripe (I usually love tripe) was tough and flavourless, the beef balls were gross, and the oxtail (I love oxtail) was exactly 3 tiny pieces of mostly bone. The broth was boring. Ugh!
Butter chicken was greasy and bland.
Staff are lackadaisical and mostly sitting around eating or playing on a computer or chatting on the phone. I don’t think the kitchen staff can be bothered to put out decent food. One star is too much for this place.

Hmm this branch of Ginger kind of sucks compared to the others (not that the others are mind-​blowing phở, they are however acceptable for when you crave phở). Service wise it is no frills, you pay upfront and get a little number card and the food will be delivered to your table. You get your own napkins, condiments and water in front. It is cheap and is a place to grab food on the cheap, eat, and go, so I don’t really mind the «service». However, there are sooo many issues with the food, I have tried the grilled chicken baguette and it is alright, and I have had the Superbowl Phở a few times, all times were substandard. This Phở has beef, chicken breast, tripe, beef balls, oxtail.
Reasons why the Phở is not good:
1) The beef here is not raw sliced beef, it is very overcooked bland beef. All the other meats are bland.
2) The broth isn’t flavorful and is kind of weird compared to other Phở broths, it is kind of sweet which is not that palatable.
3) No basil and bean sprouts or fresh chillis served on the side, there is a few strands of bean sprouts added into the broth for you.
The positive about this branch is that it opens till verrrryyy late, I guess catering to the stripper going crowd since it is right next to the Zanzibar. Overall, I would only come if I am reallyyy hungry and want Phở and all other options around the area have closed.

i wonder how other people ended up with 1-​stars ratings. I’m guessing the restaurant might have changed owner or staff since other Unilocalers’ rating and my rating today. I thought it was okay. Asian single dish fast food type. The waiter was walking throughout. The food was fast. It was pretty cheap (you get what you paid). I thought it was okay. If I need a quick bite, then I still would visit this place again.

I’ve visited several of their locations and this one is by far the weakest. Other locations are typically known for getting good value. Unfortunately, this location is overpriced and the portions are really small.
First visit, I ordered a regular Phở which was served in a tiny bowl and contained broth, noodles, and some beansprouts, thats it. I gave them a second chance, and tried their butter chicken roti (yes, I dun goofed ordering roti at a Vietnamese place) and it was not only small, but contained half potatoes, and a handful of «butter chicken».
Unimpressed. Stay away.

We had a craving for phở after exams and the closest phở place in the downtown core was this one. As well, Ginger’s had a good rap for phở so we decided to check it out.
If you’re hungry, don’t order the small.
2 star service
2 star noodle + broth
1 star beef. This beef was just ordinary beef, not the special phở-​style slices you get in authentic restaurants!
The large beef phở ($ 7.50) that we ordered was probably the most boring phở with the least amount of ingredients ever. Never coming back again. I guess the hype was wrong about this place — or at least, this branch lets the franchise down.
As well, it’s a pretty cramped place, so don’t bring large groups here. In fact, just save face and don’t bring anyone here at all.

This seems to be the newest Ginger branch — but definitely subpar version of the original.
We were there on a weekday late lunch take out. There was only one couple in the restaurant, plus the chef eating at the back.
About ¹⁄₃ of the menu are Indian dishes, the rest Vietnamese: you have your butter chicken/​samosas, as well as spring rolls and phở’s.
We ordered the butter chicken roti ($ 5) and mixed meat bahn mi ($ 3.50).
Prices sounded good, but the food was not.
The bahn mi was basically deli cold cut meat (they tasted like Maple Leaf ham slices), and there was no butter or pâté.
The butter chicken roti was cold, and the sauce had a weird, tangy, out-​of-​the-​jar taste.
Your $ 5 lunch could be better spent elsewhere in the hood.