Pho Don

They mixed up my order. Both appetizer and entrée. I ate the crappy, boring, and cheap food without complaint, then paid a bill way higher than what I had ordered in the first place. Wouldn’t eat there again if it were the last place in Van.

I would give this Zero stars but that’s not possible. Came in and wasn’t greeted or acknowledged at all and took so long to even order because the waiter was no where to be found. There isn’t anything special about this place. I wouldn’t return because the broth was nasty, oh and I also found a long thick black strand of hair in my phở… EWWW also I was accused of putting it there (what the hell) my friend didn’t really enjoy it either but this place is busy somehow. I would NOT recommend this place to anyone.

3.5 stars. Sprouts and basil were fresh and plentiful.
I ordered the number 42. Decent amount of meat but a little light on the tendon and tripe. Broth was a bit on the watery side and definitely could have been more flavorful. Noodles were fine.
Fast, friendly service. Restaurant was clean and bowls /​plates /​utensils are all relatively new.

At first I thought this place isn’t too bad for late night food as it’s pretty close to the area I live. Clean, and the gentleman who normally works there is pretty nice. The food is a little on the bland side, but I’m ok with that. The phở has a bit much of noodles for the ratio of soup they put in. Their lemongrass chicken on rice (I got noodles instead, it was bland and it taste like those fast food Chinese places)
Although, I wanted to input this mostly about last night I went in at 1:35am knowing they’re closed at 2am. Phở usually comes out pretty quick, eat quickly then leave. The lady whose probably in her 20’s didn’t make it feel welcoming at all. She said rudely, «are you going to be out right at 2am?» and literally as we sat down trying to make a decision. A minute to two later she comes over and says «ready?» And I said «No, I think we need just one more minute». A different gentleman that I haven’t seen who was counting cash sounded like he was making it very obvious as if they didn’t want anyone else in there. I understand you want to go home, but don’t be rude if it’s not even 2am yet. Otherwise, don’t close at 2am! Orrr even mention that you guys are only doing take out at that point.
I work at a restaurant myself and I know what customer service should be like. Then again, it is a Vietnamese restaurant, what can I really expect.

I usually go at night since it’s open till pretty late and the food is decent. The down side is that the service isn’t that great. There is this one girl that isn’t very polite. The interior is very cosy and nice which is great.

Love this place. My go to phở place not only when I’m sober but when I’m drunk as well… ^_​_​_​^
First of all I love how clean phở don is. It’s quite spacey and never messy or dirty. Secondly, the menu covers all your basic phở needs and much much more.
The food here is always good. Nothing amazing but I do enjoy my meals and every time I visit I leave happy. Consistency is really important for me and this place passes the test with no problems at all.
The service is also quite good. They are very accommodating both when I’m drunk and sober…
The open till 2am thing is really great you feel?

Probably the cleanest phở place I’ve been to. Their broth is awesome and doesn’t taste like sugar like some places do. #12 is rock solid and the hot and spicy seafood soup ordered with the thick noodles is next level. Order a Coke with lime on the side for a full sugar experience and buckle up. T2 out

Stayed in a hotel opposite to this and after midnight got hungry. They told me about this Vietnamese and seriously it was perfect. Fresh and no MSG friendly staff and so yummy

Decided to drop by for a midnight bite, and figured it was close enough by to ride my bike there. Checked Unilocal to see if they were open and if there were bike racks. The Unilocal app said yes. When I got there, I realized my time was wasted as there were no racks anywhere nearby. When I went in to inquire about safely storing my bike, the waiter told me that she didn’t know anything about it and that she wouldn’t allow me to store my bike somewhere inside. If you commute by bike, don’t go here.
This put me in a bad enough mood to actually log in to Unilocal and place a review.

We originally were going to dine at Laksa King, but they were closed today for the holiday.
Then couldn’t find parking at Bao Chau so we ended up here.
We were greeted upon entering and seated quickly. We were brought water /​tea quickly and given menus.
I noticed right off the bat that the prices were $ 1 — $ 2 higher than other Vietnamese restaurants. Then when the food arrived I also noticed that the dishes /​bowls were also smaller than other places.
So that’s a double whammy
The soup was a bit bland. The bun dish was flavour full.
May or may not come back depending on if other restaurants are full or closed …

Good late night bite
We were looking for a place to chill after the PNE, and this was the first place that showed up when I searched for food on Unilocal.I had low expectation walking into this place. However, their fresh fruit smoothie menu surprised me. I ordered the mango smoothie, and it had tiny mango chunks in there, which means they used real fruit. The restaurant itself is pretty spacious, the service is nice and fast. If you are in the neighbourhood at night make sure you check this place out!

I decided to give this restaurant a try. First thing I noticed was the nice décor and cleanliness of the restaurant. The place was very clean!
I ordered a small house special and spring rolls. The food took almost 30 minutes to arrive! I found that borderline unacceptable as most ingredients are made in advance.
The spring roll was made with Chinese spring roll wrappers and stuffed mostly with pork. There were bits of glass noodles and some vegetables. The phở had a decent amount of noodles and toppings. Broth was light but I found the broth not as flavourful as other restaurants.
Service was minimal. I was seated, got my water, placed order and received food. It was 8:30 pm and the restaurant was not a quarter full. This is a good late night option. However, the wait time for food was very disappointing that I do not think I will return anytime soon.

Dropped by near midnight today to grab a quick bite because no other decent places were open at this hour near our neighborhood. Hubs and I got the Deep Fried Chicken with Noodles and the Bun Bo Hue. Phở Don is certainly more crowded at night than at day when we went last time!
It wasn’t really different regarding the service and such, so no comment there. However, as for the food…
Deep Fried Chicken: hubs got it last time with vermicelli. This time he decided to get the fried noodles which were originally offered. Good if you want more flavor! I preferred the vermicelli but he liked the oiliness that came with the noodles. The melt in your mouth quality of the chicken though, was as good as ever.
Bun Bo Hue: not exceptional. The broth wasn’t very spicy and more importantly, it lacked the pig blood that is a characteristic of the noodles. Less authentic than the ones that I had in other Vietnamese restaurants in Vancouver, but considering that the clientele of Phở Don appears to be mostly Caucasian as opposed to Viets/​other Asians, it makes sense. However, points for not adding too much msg in the broth, which made it so I did not have to drink excessive amounts of water later.
Overall 3/​5, average. Again, Phở Don is really just for those late nights where you are kinda hungry and there’s no really better options locally. Otherwise I would try Le Do or Le Petit Saigon nearby.

This place is good. The portions of phở are huge with lots of meat and noodles! The phở came very quickly after we ordered and the server was very polite as well. And the phở includes tripe and tendon which is a good thing. Several places I’ve eaten phở don’t include tripe and tendon because they think white people don’t want it or something. But I love it! So that’s an automatic 1 star at least. This place is open late as well till 2 am, so that’s another plus.

Other than the fact that my dad pronounced it as «poo dong», everything about this place is good. :) I had low expectations because the area looked kind of empty and stuff but I went there late (not many people eat at 8 I think). I didn’t know what to get so they suggested the house special. The small size is like a large at most places (that I’ve been to). The serving amount is really generous. The beef blobs were really good and tasted like real beef, unlike the erasers they call meat at food courts. The noodles are yummy and not too soggy or too hard. I ate it really fast so it was all a blur but it’s the best phở I have had. I was really really hungry though so maybe that’s a little biased. The server was really smiley and nice even though it was 8 pm already. :o
I would go there again! :)

I have lived off and on in Vancouver for the last 15 years… I am from San Francisco. Phở is an art… In SF there are many artists, there is Northern Phở and Southern Phở, I am partial to the Southern. I have been lucky enough in SF to have found some of the best Phở in the city! For super cheap.
I am once again moving to Vancouver and I have to say that Phở Don has Given me hope that I have not come to a waste land of disappointing Phở! (as my recent experiences have been).
I only give them a 4 star because the service needs work. I have a feeling that this is a staffing issue more than a service issue. You are going to become more popular, I foresee it. Get More Staff!
Your product is too good to waste on poor staffing needs… If you need help with it please let me know! cleoluvr1@gmaildotcom. I would help you if it would make you the best in Vancouver! even at the expense of getting a table;)
Your Phở is that GOOD!

The biggest upside to this phở place is the hours as it’s open late night. Soup is good, toppings had a fair amount. My favourite part were the noodles as they were just the right texture. Also ordered the spring rolls which were okay, but I don’t think I would order them again.
Would definitely come back, especially when I’m having late night phở cravings!

Enjoyed the ambiance, it’s very clean inside and spacious with a lot of tables. Friendly staff.
Their phở is tasty. The soup seems clean and did not contain much MSG.
The only thing is that their menu is quite pricey but I guess since I didn’t feel thirsty afterwards, the soup was totally worth it! I usually find that other Vietnamese restaurants put too much MSG in their phở.
They have a good selection of other food on their menu if you’re not craving for phở.
I like coming here because they accept debit/​credit which is rare at any Asian restaurants.
Easy parking in the front.
Overall, this place is solid and I will come back :)

Came here to get my late night phở fix.
Parking is plentiful in front of the strip mall.
The place is obviously quite new, and the interior has been renovated since the days of Gourmet Castle.
Staff were quite friendly and helpful.
This place is not the cheapest (dishes are closer to $ 9), but they do a really good job with the soup. I had the #50 hot and sour seafood noodle soup. The soup was nice and fresh, and the seafood bits were nice and fluffy. Lots of green onions too. I’m getting hungry just writing this review.
Definitely will be back, as this is the only place that opens late for phở in this neighbourhood. Recommended.

Never thought I would see the day that ‘Gourmet Castle’ would disappear, and it happened, and what popped up… aww man, another ‘phở’ joint?! I’ve lived around the area for a long time, and it seems like this area has become the new ‘phở’ battlefield, as I can name 5 solid Vietnamese restaurants in a 5 minute driving radius from this location. Well, if your coming in this hood serving this type of food… you better be up to snuff of be prepared to shut down… While on one of my walks with my dear we decided to finally stop in to see exactly how the food was.
They actually came in and did some renovations, as I thought they would keep the ‘Gourmet Castle’ look, which they didn’t, new floors, new coat of paint, the place feels bigger, new tables and chairs too. The first thing I noticed was the chairs, seems like they bought all their chairs from an auction of a Delaney’s coffee house, go in and you’ll understand after seeing them! We were presented menus once we sat near the window, and while looking at what to order my dear was set on the vegetable phở (#47) that was on the menu, and asked the waitress what was the stock in the soup, and she said it was beef, I chuckled, as she wasn’t going to get full on vegetarian on this meal, I ordered the house special (#45) and we didn’t wait too long when the food started coming up.
The waitress serving our table asked how we liked our bean sprouts, I am indifferent on this matter, but my dear wanted them cooked, and they came at the same time with our order. The plate looked fresh, served with jalapeño peppers, lime and some Thai basil. The bowls looked like your average small size at any Vietnamese restaurant, except the soup looked a little lacking as they decided to really pack the bowl. When I was putting the minimal bean sprouts, thai basil, and hot sauce in my bowl, mixing it was difficult as I was afraid of things overflowing out of the bowl, but prior to the adding of all of my ‘extras’ I was very surprised at the noodles. I didn’t expect the noodles to be so firm, cooked throughout, but solid, with a bite, not remotely soggy, and not undercooked, these people are using some good rice noodles here, and know exactly how to cook them.
The broth was clean, very beefy in my dish, probably from all the meat that was hidden around the noodles in my bowl. They were, to put it, overly generous, as this small bowl of phở was a struggle to finish. The one thing I could say is they probably could use a little more broth, as the ratio of soup to chewable food was a little off, also they just had a little too much meat in here, and I don’t usually complain. At the end of the bowl I was just eating meat, as the noodles were polished off by yours truly…
Value for the dollar, and a pretty good bowl of phở, this is the place for you, also it is open late, till 2AM, a little taken from the old restaurant that sat here before. The place is super clean (probably cause it is new) as even the condiment dish sitting on the table was spotless, so for any one needing the premises clean, you’ll like what you see just sitting here.