Pho Real

Four of us came here for dinner. The ambiance and design of the restaurant was unique and quite likable. This, of course, brought on the thought of whether the phở would really be good as trendy décor often equals catering to non-​Asians which results in unauthentic food. This was our experience of Siamese Thai.
We ordered some take out as well for my girlfriend’s family and 2 of her family members independently mentioned the soup base tasted very similar to the soup base used in instant noodles. Maybe the instant noodle captures the taste well. It does not bode well if they are using the same mix here though. One of our party commented that the imperfection in the consistency of the broth makes it likely that they are using a mix. I haven’t had instant noodle in a while so I could not comment on that, but I definitely do not want my ravioli tasting like it was from Chef Boyardee.
I have heard that the ingredients here are fresher. If it was, I couldn’t really tell. I really haven’t had bad phở, and I can’t say this is markedly better than any other phở I’ve tasted. So for us, it did not justify the premium we were paying. Our bowl was $ 11.75 and was only available on Friday to Sunday and was the restaurant’s specialty. Other phở places might have the equivalent for $ 6.99 to $ 8.99.
My girlfriend asked for the cheque and the waiter said we pay at the front, but this meant we did not get out frozen grapes, which my girlfriend will never forgive the restaurant for.
Bottom life: Considering the premium prices and the average food, we will not be coming back here again. Phở Real was a real disappointment.

Nothing special here. The Phở is probably less than average and the service was also moderate. Probably won’t come back since there’s a lot of other options in the area. My girlfriend also found her vermicelli very dry and lacking taste. They can definitely do better.

Its great!
Phở Real guys I’m not kidding
All jokes aside, the scenes is real pleasant. Very modern looking. Ordered the beef phở, probably the best I’ve had in the gta.

The owners are lovely and clearly take pride in what they do. Their food is delicious; the broth is very flavourful and meat is of good quality. Frozen grapes as a pallet cleanser is a nice touch!

They do have a very delicious broth and the dishes are authentic Vietnamese. However I did find that the spring rolls were very greasy. The staff were attentive, definitely value for your money.

I found Phở Real on Unilocal a few months ago, something told me that I had to try it. Regardless of the fact that I live almost 40 minutes away! I had the Vietnamese Salad Roll to start. Fresh, delicious and paired with the BEST sauce I’ve ever had with one of those rolls. Followed by the vermicelli with grilled pork and seafood spring roll. Long story short, I’m hooked. My husband and I have tried every Vietnamese place we can in search of something comparable… haven’t found anything close. They know what they are doing and we LOVE it!

I’ve been to many Phở restaurants, and I can say that PhoReal is easily one of the top ones I’ve been to. They have a strong presentation of their food, and it tastes even better than it looks. The customer service is great — many Phở restaurants don’t really have this. The restaurant also has really appealing décor and is clutter free.
Although the prices are higher than average, they do serve higher quality food compared to its competitors. I usually eat at other Phở restaurants because of the pricing, but I still prefer the food and the service at this restaurant over the others.
Oh and I also really love the frozen grapes they offer at the end of my meal!

I saw the Unilocal reviews and had to try this place. It caters to a different crowd than your usual viet resto. The prices are on the higher side and they offer some unique items. I decided to go with the 5 styles of beef option. Its basically beef prepared in 5 different ways but to be honest, 3 items were grilled versions of beef. It came with a bunch of veggies, rice paper wrap, and hot water to roll your own wraps. It was very good and tasty. I never had this before in a viet resto and it was enough food for two people with moderate appetites. There is also a 7 course version that is much bigger in portion size.
The atmosphere and décor is modern and very clean. I like how everything looked new compared to the older viet restos. The service was also very good and is expected with the higher price points.
Overall, if your looking for viet but dont want the grundgy, old, lack of service viet restos, this is a solid option. 4 stars ****

I’m a big fan of Vietnamese food and I’m spoiled because I get some of the best in Chinatown NYC. So when i was looking for a meal in Vaughan Ontario I saw the reviews on Unilocal for Phở Real and I figured I’d give it a try.
This place does not disappoint. The owner is from South Vietnam and he told me everything is made to order with no advanced preparation.
I started with the mango salad which had grilled shrimp. The mango was fresh and firm and it was dressed with a delicious rice wine vinaigrette. Moved in next to miso braised spare ribs with a side of crispy rice. Now, I love pork and eat it in every way imaginable but these ribs were seriously outer worldly. Perhaps close to a religious experience. I’ve never eaten Asian style ribs that tasted so good.
In my conversation with the owner we both agreed that Vietnamese cuisine is more simple than other Asian cuisines. Less sauce and more flavor. The owner beamed about is specialty which is the Phở aka soup. I asked for a bowl and he said «you have too much food already» which brings me to my final point. This place does not skimp on the portion sizes.
So I’m leaving here wanting more… Phở. I’m in Toronto for two more days and another meal at Phở Real is probably in the cards as it should be for you.

What a pleasant surprise! Phở was delicious. The presentation was strong… Top quality broth. The avacodo smoothie was just right, not over sugared and grainy like most places. Very friendly and attentive staff. I came for the bun bo hue, (based on Anne N’s review), but that’s only available on the weekends. I’ll be back.
Update***
I finally got to try their Bun Bo Hue. There are two options; the regular, and the special. Get the special. Wow! Sooooo gooooooddaaaa.
Number one viet restaurant in all of the GTA. Well worth the drive up

Authentic Vietnamese food from all regions in semi fine dining setting. Unique dishes such as 7 types of beef dish, turmeric grilled fish, clay pot rice, etc. Weekend specials and unique deserts are worth a try. Restaurant is spacious, modern and clean. Service is impeccable!

Yes, it’s pricey compared to other local favourites for Vietnamese cuisine, but fairly so, and worth it. The signage says «Fine Vietnamese Cuisine», so one should not expect to compare it too closely with a typical place. People who are complaining about the price are missing the details:
1. The condiments/​herbs dish that came with the Phở is more premium than most places. The thai basil were clean! Did not have a single dark spot on them. The dish came with the Ngo Gai herb (Culantro) which most places don’t offer because it’s pricier, and a little red chili pepper which some places keep in a little container on the side of the table.
2. The tables are clean and clutter free. You will not find that typical tray holding all the chopsticks, spoons, condiments, etc. Even the hoisin sauce and chill sauce squeeze bottles are clean and better quality than the typical ketchup squeeze bottle. The server brings you your utensils and condiments when you order, as with any other western restaurant. I don’t really care for the ramen style soup spoon, but it’s nice to have. Each diner receives a small dish with condiment spoon, which is a clever touch.
3. Like others have mentioned, this would be a great place to take a first-​timer who has never tried Vietnamese cuisine. You don’t have to worry about freaking out your non-​asian friends at a typical Vietnamese restaurant. Likewise, this place would be good for dates.
4. The washrooms are VERY clean and does not smell of urine or bleach. Enough said. Also, they are wheelchair accessible with handicap open-​door buttons. Well done.
5. The Phở broth was excellent, full flavoured, not too salty, does not make me thirsty after my meal, has a slight different taste than most other places and I can’t quite put my finger on it. I enjoyed it very much and was compelled to let my server know that I was pleased. He seemed happy to hear it, but at the same time his expression seemed to say «Yeah, I’m aware we have good broth» hahaha. The meat tastes great, had real beef flavour, and noodles were perfect, not too soft, did not fall apart in my bowl, just perfect.
6. Speaking of the server, he made sure I was aware that the broth contained onions and cilantro, apparently some people are allergic to that stuff? So it was nice that he double checked.
7. My wife wanted a rice dish but had difficulty deciding what to order, the server recommended the chicken and ribs meal and MAN we were glad he did. The chicken was an actual piece of chicken breast, not your typical sliced and flat pounded piece that you normally would get at any other place. The ribs were super tender and the flavour reminded me of Shanghai style soup dumplings (xiao long bao), The rice was served with a sauce (not fish sauce) and the tomatoes were actually red, very good ingredients. Oh, and the rice came with a side bowl of soup, which was much appreciated because only a few places in the GTA actually do this for rice orders!
8. The seafood spring rolls were delicious, and came with a dish of mango and red bell pepper chutney in fish sauce. Very nice touch with the angled cut on the rolls.
9. The people who dine here are well-​mannered and well-​dressed (from what we saw on a saturday night). Again, this is not your typical loud Phở place. They play a nice mix of adult contemporary and jazz for ambiance. The furniture is nice, with real hardwood tables (I was surprised).
10. The mango smoothie was great! Actual mango flavour! The Vietnamese drip coffee with condensed milk was not overly sweet which is a nice change from other places. Well done.
The bad:
Yes, there are some bad things that prevented me from giving it a perfect score:
1. My tea cup was dirty. This is unacceptable. I hope the staff diligently clean and check their dishes.
2. The menu was just printed on regular printer paper and slipped into plastic sleeves, not very impressive for a «Fine dining» experience.
3. The seafood spring rolls, while tasty, were very oily. It did not come with any pickled carrots/​radish, or vermicelli noodles. Overall I felt this could have been cheaper.
4. The little black book that the bill came in had clear scotch tape all along the edge, which makes it look very old and cheap. This should really be replaced.
Overall, a good place to eat, it’s pricier yes, but rightfully so. We would come back and invite our friends and family to try it at least once. Yes, I know if I just wanted a quick fix for Phở there are a handful of wickedly good places in North York, I know, but here it’s a different experience and good for first-​timers. It’s just like dim sum places, you have grungy places and upscale places that charge a premium price, same thing. People shouldn’t judge this place so harshly.

Took 20 minutes for anyone to take my order, then took another 35 minutes to receive my order. I got vermicelli with grilled pork and seafood egg rolls. $ 11.00. It was the usual deal, didn’t blow me away. Bangkok Saigon Noodle in Bradford is my usual spot and is much better than this place, and cheaper at $ 8.00. I won’t return because I can’t wait this long on my lunch break.

Just ate at phoreal! I ordered the pork belly stone pot dish and split the exotic beef platter with a buddy, also had the seafood spring rolls. Food was delicious:
Spring rolls– one of the tastiest I’ve ever had.
Pork belly stone pot– very delicious (but when is pork belly not), especially with the fried duck egg.
Exotic beef platter– fun to eat and all the sauces were really good.
We finished off the meal with an iced coffee with condensed milk, the durian cassava cake, and a scoop of durian ice cream. I highly recommend all of them.
The only reason it gets four stars is because I thought the portions should be bigger.

We have been here a few times. Always happy with the food and friendly service. Great place!

It pains me to rate Phở Real A-​OK. I even wonder if my perception is wrong, cause there have been so many 4 and 5 starred reviews. Well, I ought to call a spade a spade. The Lemongrass Chicken on Rice (lunch $ 10) was just okay. The meat was quite tender, but the taste seemed «not lemongrass», but soy sauce+sugar+salt. Seriously, the flavors shocked me, too.
Maybe I blame myself for not ordering a phở.

I’ve been looking for a new go to place for phở that would be nearby to home but there hasn’t been many good options over the last few years. However, I stumbled onto this place when doing a general quick search and I am very glad I did. The location is a little hard to find if you don’t have the exact address as it’s not visible from Weston road.
I had item P7 which was a beef, tendon, tenderloin and beef ball phở. A large is very pricey at $ 11.50 which felt more like a medium and even the durian smoothie was $ 4.5 which is about a buck more than the average price give or take.
Though it was pricey, I must say that both items I had ordered were very tasty. The broth had a lot of flavour yet I did not find myself very thirsty at the end of my meal which would generally mean there wasn’t as much MSG. The meat had a lot of flavour, the beef balls actually tasted like beef balls unlike many other places and lastly, the tendons were very soft and melted right in my mouth. The only thing is that the noodles were very soft and not to my liking as I’ve grown to be use to a more firm. The durian smoothie here is properly my new favorite as many Vietnamese tend to use way too much ice leaving very little taste of actual durian.
If you live within the city of Vaughan or even close by, I would definitely suggest giving it a try.

I heard great things about «Phoreal» restaurant so decided to try.
Atmosphere (*****)
Taste: Very authentic (******)
Portion: Large = Med in silimar Vietnamse restaurant (***)
Service: Friendly and attentive (*****)
Im ok with paying premium but … it would be better if I was not already feel hungry, right after the complement desert

We used to go here all the time despite the high price.
The dishes are usually delicious and the presentation them is excellent. The atmosphere of the restaurant is above average compare to other Phở places in the area.
But yesterday’s experience stopped us from further visits.
First the lady brought out tea in mugs. I could see lints floating everywhere along with stains around handles.
We pointed it out and she just said «I give you different one, pour yourself!» No apologies.
Then she brought empty mugs which were even dirtier with black dots inside.
We did not pour the tea for obvious reasons but she proceeded to pour it next time she came to the table.
We also asked for peppers 3 times. Twice to her and once to other server. We never saw it. It felt like we were doing them a favour eating there.
We left without having their frozen grapes and I came home extremely thirsty because I didn’t want to ask for a glass of water. She had not given us the chance to explain what was wrong. She never wanted to see the issue and seemed bothered.

I just have the most expensive Phở in my life at Phở Real.
Seriously, $ 11.50 for a large which is the size of medium else where?
But the quality of the ingredients, the care they put in preparing their dish, the taste, the depth of the broth, the texture of the noodles: well worth the price they are charging! The sliced tenderloin was thick and the taste of beef was intense…
I though was disappointed with the Grilled Chicken Banh Mi ($ 8.50). I love the side salad which is a mixed salad with romaine, mango, pickled shallot, cherry tomato and pomegranate. The chicken though was way way too saucy and tasted more like it was deep fried.
Love the dessert selection which includes dessert with french influence and house made durian gelato! Durian Gelato made in house?!! I would just come back to try that!
And of course I am eyeing the 7 Courses of Beef Menu 2 person for $ 38 or 3 person for $ 45. Grilled Fish (rainbow trout) for $ 18. I guess I need to bring a Unilocal friend or 2.
Service and decoration are both pleasant and enjoyable. Definitely a more refine Vietnamese dining experience!
I will be back Phở sure!