Pho No 1 Vietnamese Restaurant

Went today and was greeted by a «For Rent» sign. What happened and are you relocating or just taking a break? WHERE DID YOU GO?!

For a nice little restaurant, it’s good. Excellent value and quick easy service. The décor was very Vietnamese, which I enjoyed.
For those expecting some sort of fine dining, open your eyes.

Their phở is good — the best one in the downtown area as far as I’m concerned. The broth is light and does not taste like MSG, and the beef is alway super tender.
The staff is really friendly. It is always nice to have a chat with the waitress about Vietnam. It really makes a difference!
I have tried their Banh mi and Vermicelli bowls, which were ok, but my favorite item remains the Phở.

Walked into this place after a walk on Denman and craving some noodles.
It was 6PM and there was only 2 other patrons in the restaurant. I ordered the combo which comes with special beef phở and spring rolls. The noodles were ok. I’ve definitely had better downtown phở. the portion was a bit small. The one thing I liked about the phở is that the beef is actually rare when you order it rare. It’s bright red when it arrives. the spring rolls were really quite bad. They were were over fried and tasted a bit burnt. I didn’t care for them.
As for the service, after my food arrived, I never saw a glimpse of the waitress again til I walked up to the counter to pay for my bill. She walked to the back in the kitchen and never came to check on me. I wanted to get my water refilled and she was no where in sight during my entire meal. I won’t be back again.

Very friendly staff.
No disability bathroom.
Wheelchair assessable.
–30″ door ways
–pedestal tables (no x legs to get in the way)
–no high tables or stools.
Great experience !

Amazing, always smiling service. You definitely feel like you’re welcome here. The food is ok. It’s tasty but not the best vietnamese I have tasted that’s why it’s not 5 star, but I’ll be back just for the great smiles :)
My favourite is lemon grass chicken. Crispy and juicy …

I had the rare beef phở and was quite disappointed. The broth was nice but meat was clearly cheap and the noodles tasted like cardboard.

I’m usually a big fan of this place for its quick service but, today, not so much. It took 45 minutes to get food and it is not even busy. I ordered pork and rolls. Food was above average.

I’m a big fan of their # 23a (BBQ Pork & Spring Roll) — really tasty and the service is great too!
The only thing I would maybe look into is the price. $ 9.50 for a bowl of rice, BBQ, and spring roll is I think a bit much.
Otherwise, this is a quaint little Vietnamese place on Denman that I won’t hesitate visiting again.

⁵⁄₁₀₀
When I first walked by the place seemed really busy, so I thought I would swing by on the way back. I went in and walked to the cash to place a take out order. I had seen the menu taped to the wall outside however she did not give me one when I went in, she just asked what I wanted. When I said a sub and the rolls pictured on your menu”, I was then quizzed as to what kind of roll. «if I could get a menu, then maybe I could tell you what they are called.», She hands menu. Oh, thank you! I proceed home after waiting close to 20min. My sub and 3 tiny rolls were much smaller than the picture. I love me a good Vietnamese sub, but this one was a bit off. I am not sure if it was the texture or the sauce or both. Maybe their Phở is #1‘, but the lunch I had was far from #1.

Unlike little saigon in east van, not much phở choice along denman so this is the best and only choice.
the pork was nicely cut & grilled with the vermicelli, a bit smaller on the pricier side at close to $ 10 but that’s to be expected, would recommend this dish.
but not the iced coffee, as i’m the so-​called expert on this — just not strong enough nor had any real coffee flavour. as pics suggest, even a bit too light, as if almost too much ice.
For eye candy action, one can’t beat this — much better than Phở Central, as well as terms of cleanliness too ;) Great counter seating.
Clean washrooms too.

Came here today for a quick and really cheap bite after Rollerblading around Stanley park, twice mind you!
Me and a friend each ordered a $ 4.25 viet sub, and both were pretty good! I had the special sub which came with ham, pâté, pickled carrots and dicon and ample amounts of cilantro which as some of you know I absolutely love! The more cilantro the better! My friend ordered the meat ball sub, which came with seasoned ground pork, pâté, pickled carrots and dicon and again ample amounts of cilantro! We did the friendly thing and switched halves of eachothers subs, so we could each try something more. Her’s was good too, but don’t tell her I liked mine better, shhhhhh! Afterall mine was special! Lol
St3Fin

This place should consider changing its name to «Barbeque Chicken Sub Number One» — they are absolutely the best tasting ones in the city!
Fresh French bread, tender chicken pieces, fresh cilantro and pickled carrots and radish with a touch of mayo — I’m telling you, it is freeking amazing. This was the first place I’ve ever tried it, and the 5 or so «Vietnamese BBQ Chicken Subs» I’ve tried elsewhere have paled terribly in comparison.
I’ve also tried their Vietnamese coffee (so good), a chicken curry of sorts (4 out of 5) and peanut rice roll with shrimp (5 out of 5).
Couple the great food with the super nice family running the joint and it’s a solid 4.5 overall. The atmosphere is pretty bare bones but nice enough to sit down and enjoy your freeking amazing sandwich!

We all know I like Phở as much as Kate Moss & Linsanity loves Blow, and a good Phở can carry my mood all day. Phở Number One was no exception. Their broth is amazing and Phở without a tasty tasty broth is just soup with animal bits in it. The staff was great here, they overheard my love of very spicy Phở and offered some special squirreled away hot peppers for my Vietnamese Ambrosia. I ordered the «Special Meat» a name that never fails to bring a smile to my face, anyway the Special meat is, Rare Beef, Brisket & Beef Balls of always questionable province.
The two things that keep Number One Phở from 5 stars is the portions which for Phở was on the small side, and the glaring lack of Tendons, or Tripe. The manager said that tendons and tripe are not popular to the palates of western, west enders and was taken off the menu. Still if you are not married to the nasty bits like I am, I recommend this place for Phở in the West End. I will soon explore more of my culinary obsession.

I had grilled pork chop over rice for lunch. The pork chop was not bad. It was grilled rather nicely but there wasn’t much flavour to it. The menu says lemongrass but I couldn’t taste any. The portion was a bit on the small size also.

Had the chicken phở soup it was fantastic, white chicken breast, fresh mint leaves, highly recommend it!

Another in my regular rotation of West End lunch spots, Phở No. 1 isn’t as shabby as some of the other reviews might have you believe.
Now I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not a Phở expert by any means, and I know that I haven’t checked out a lot of the other Vietnamese restaurants here in town, but I do know enough to say Phở No. 1 is an okay spot to grab a quick meal at a reasonable price.
The rare beef soup for $ 7.95 is tasty, fills me up and always leaves me satisfied especially on those cold and rainy days. My girlfriend almost always gets the Special Sub and at under the $ 5 it is a lot better then anything you’re going to get a Subway.
If you’re looking for quick, decent and inexpensive food then give Phở No. 1 a chance. But if you’re looking for «thee best» Phở in Vancouver, then yes, you might want to keep your search east of Main.

Meh is right. There are much better options for Phở in the city.
The broth for my rare beef phở was edible but not very flavourful, The vermicelli were very clumpy and the spring rolls overcooked.
I will be skipping any repeat visit.

Phở No. 1? Not for me! I should know better than to eat Vietnamese food West of Main St.
Checked this out today. Tried the BBQ chicken banh mi as well as the BBQ pork bun cha gio.
Oy…BBQ chicken banh mi had what appeared to be mayo on it! WTF!!! The chicken was also a bit underseasoned.
The BBQ pork was thinly sliced, and had a nice char, but it was a bit tough. The vermicelli were clumpy. The veggies were slightly wilted as if they had been sitting around chopped up for a while. The sauce didn’t have enough of that fish sauce taste it needs to.
Overall a disappointment. I’ve learned. Shame on me. I’ll drive over to Kingsway for my Vietnamese food in the future. It is my No. 1 area for Vietnamese cuisine in Vancouver!

If you’re driving, you’ll probably miss it — much like all of the small establishments along Denman. It’s small — with approximately 30 seats. At 5ish on a Friday afternoon/​evening, there was no one.
The menu is full of pictures and there’s a menu on the wall — perfect for take aways.
When I saw Vietnamese subs — I couldn’t help but get a bit giddy. It was the best BBQ chicken viet. sub I’ve had since backpacking through Oz years ago. (I’m craving another one just thinking about it)
Totally reasonable ($ 4.50 for a decent size sub on a proper baguette). I also had the rare beef noodle soup. Not a huge variety of soups like some other Phở restaurants, but their broth was delish!
I’d take a pass on the spring rolls — too small, over fried and lacking in filling.