Picko Lime

Walked in only to be greeted by a waitress with very nice manners. The aesthetics and interior of Picko Lime was very modern and clean, something I enjoyed.
Upon ordering the food however, which was summer rolls, a plate of Chicken Curry and Lemongrass Porkchop with rice, I was very disappointed.
The lemongrass with rice was smaller in portion compared to other Phở restaurants in the area with lower prices, coming with only one piece of steak with some vegetables on the side.
The Chicken Curry on the otherhand was not authentic asian curry at all, it was thick and looked plus tasted much like (if not) Glico’s Japanese Curry sauce which I could have easily bought from the market and ate at home.
Summer rolls on the otherhand were the highlight of my food, fresh and pretty well portioned.
There are better Phở restaurants around the area that cater better portioned rice as well as better tasting curry. I cannot speak on the other dishes, but if you’re looking for a clean atmosphere with great service then this is the place to go, otherwise you can do better.

Great place, a little difficult to find, but right near Vaughan Mills Mall. The mango salad was delicious. The soup and noodles were great and the black sesame ice cream and dip fried vanilla ice cream were to almost die for. Prices really good.
Janice Grant

Delicious veggie phở! The broth is super fresh and not oily. Love the attention to detail with the veggies.
When I asked for no mushrooms they even added more of the other veggies, super delicious. I’ve come back multiple times just for that broth.
Service could be a little bit better re: attentiveness .but it won’t stop me from going back again and again

Amazing food at reasonable prices. We come here with the family. The staff is polite. Service can be slow at times but it’s never terrible. Highly recommended as good healthy option.

Tasty, reasonably priced Vietnamese fare served piping hot. What’s not to like?! Spicy basil beef was delicious and the fried ice cream was a perfect end to a very satisfying meal. PS… the black sesame and ginger ice cream are excellent desert choices as well!

Came in today for a late lunch. I ordered the vegetarian fresh rolls to start. The ingredients were fresh and the peanut dip was delicious. As an entrée I ordered the vegetarian phở. It was a good size with generous veggies and tofu. The broth was filled with flavour and was very good.
The reason for the 4 stars is that the server was nice, but not attentive. Didn’t check up after receiving both meals. I will be back though, food was really good.

The place was great, such lovely presentation of food. One of the best Vietnamese restaurant filled with traditional authentic Viet food. On top of that, décor and the restaurant itself was beautiful (in comparison to other Viet places). ⁵⁄₅ would definitely go again. I gave this a ⁴⁄₅ because of food being on the pricier side; however, not by much in comparison to other Viet places. Anyways, you pay for what you get, and this place is just perfect.

What a great place. They have amazing food and awesome staff. It’s not just Vietnamese but they have a great variety of Thai food also. It’s relatively a small place in a very busy plaza but let me assure, you won’t be disappointed.
Try their Mango Salad.
Will keep coming back here.

Service– We were greeted right away upon arrival. Didn’t wait long for our food. Very clean place including the washroom. Automatic soap and towel dispenser which was a bonus.
Food– I ordered the phở sirloin which was excellent. The broth was clear and tasty, a tad salty. The meat was good quality. Mango salad was the best I had in a Vietnamese/​thai restaurant. I highly recommend it! It was sweet, tangy and a little bit of a kick of spiciness. Perfect! I will order it again. The spring rolls were larger than usual, filled with minced pork. My son enjoyed it very much. Definitely worth the price. The most surprising part of our evening and was well appreciated was having the cook come out to greet us and ask how the food was. I think that is excellent service and the restaurant is all about their customers satisfaction.
Like I mentioned to the cook, I will definitely return and order the mango salad. Look forward to trying new dishes at Picko Lime such as the curry chicken.
I rate this place 4 ½ stars

This is a quality Vietnamese eatery. That’s a word you don’t usually associate with Viet cuisine; at least not often in the examples we have in this city.
Let’s start with the good. The broth is flavourful, complex and clean. You do taste the various herbs and spices used and it’s not overly greasy or salty. I have to commend them on the meats in my Phở. They are probably some of the best I have ever had in any Phở. You can tell these guys took the time to hand cut their beef (they use sirloin) from the slight variations in the thickness to the «with the grain» cut not seen with machine cut meat. There’s a noticeable pronounced beefy taste to their meats. Even the chicken phở had an excellent broth. Though the chicken can be better. The prices are a tad above average but in the grand scheme of things you do get a slightly larger bowl of noodles than most places and most importantly you get top notch quality.
There are only a few things that detract them from getting the full 5 stars. The bbq chicken in the chicken phở lacked flavour. You do pickup hints of lemongrass, sugar, lime and fish sauce… just not enough of it. There’s also a lack of char to the meat. Secondly, the highly touted sriracha wings were a big letdown. The wings are dreadfully overcooked to the point of almost become chicken jerky. The sauce on the this was delicious but did lack some acidity. I supposed I could squeeze some lime on it myself but I shouldn’t have to. This part is an easy fix.

What lured me into this place. was the fact that their menu offered northern vietnamese dishes that I have not seen anywhere else in the city. Restaurant is nestled in a busy plaza, ample of parking. Décor and ambiance is definitely nicer than most viet restaurants and is geared towards the caucasian demographic. Phở broth is ok — I’ve had better. I had that cha ca la vong (tumeric spiced fish w/​dill and onions) — which is supposed to be their signature dish. I had this dish in Hanoi, Vietnam and have been dreaming of when I’ll get a chance to eat it again. Anyways, Picko made a good attempt but not quite the same. They have some other signature dishes I also wanted to try, like bun cha ca. I’m not sure if I’ll ever eat there again… maybe if I happen to be in the area, but I wouldnt go out of my way to eat there.

Have to say i’ve had better lemongrass chicken. I found it quite salty. I think I’m used to lemongrass chicken with a bit of sweetness. The chicken was tender tho, which was good, and I liked that the dish came with a side of veggies and not just rice. Don’t know if I would go back though.

Food was great, very good-​sized Large phở. Beef was advertised as sirloin and much better than the typical cheap meat found in other places. Nice fresh bean sprouts which weren’t cold because they just came out of a freezer.
You can tell a lot about a place by its details. The chopsticks are wrapped for hygiene which is appreciated. The washroom has automatic soap and paper towel dispensers which is cool. Not very large washrooms though and not wheelchair accessible, which is very understandable given space constraints.
Has free wifi!!!

Wow! The food here is so good, that I feel compelled to write a review while I am still eating!
High quality of meats used, fresh bean sprouts and mint leaves and flavourful broth. Best of all, portions are large. Also, when you order the larger bowl size, you don’t just get more noodles with only a little more meat — you actually get a proportional increase in meat as well and they don’t cheap out at all.
Décor is modern, well kept, clean and even the chopsticks are individually wrapped to prevent germs from going on them.
I’ve gone to a lot of Phở places and this one is now on the top of my list.
Enjoy!!!

Picko Lime is a fairly small Vietnamese restaurant in the strip malls between Rutherford and Vaughan Mills Mall. The restaurant has about 5 or 6 tables and some decent décor. The booth seats where we were sitting were a little thin and any movement pushes the back cushions for the patrons on the other side of the booth, which was unpleasant.
We ordered the regular brisket phở and seafood vermicelli noodle bowl. The regular size phở was quite large. Most of it was noodles, though, and the beef had a lot of fat. The broth was tasty. The seafood vermicelli noodle bowl was good as well. The shrimps were marinated and grilled, the egg rolls were crispy and also had shrimp in them.
For dessert, we ordered a crème brûlée and a fried banana with black sesame ice cream. The crème brûlée was good; your standard crème brûlée. The fried banana was good as well, but the black sesame ice cream was amazing! It was nice and smooth.

Tried Picko Lime today because our usual phở place next door was closed.
I am impressed. The décor is very nice, sleek and modern … washrooms very clean.
Now to the food. I had the bun (vermicelli) and asked for vegetarian version. Though the noodles were warm, it was still very tasty and full of garlicky vegetables, tofu and spring rolls. Also bonus points for having a vegetarian dipping sauce, instead of the usual nuoc cham made with fish sauce.
Mr Leny had the phở ga and declared it better than the competition next door which has been our go-​to phở place. Can’t wait to go back to try Picko Lime’s vegetarian phở to compare.
Staff was very friendly and helpful. The chef also came out during our meal to ask how everything was. Definitely recommend.

Went here again tonight and I must say it’s by far the best phở restaurant in Vaughan. The décor and service are very good. The food is also excellent.

I decided to try this place because I was in the mood for some phở and they had the pickled limes on display and that is something that I really love drinking/​snacking on. The inside has a very modern décor and I found service to be very friendly and fast.
I had the large phở special ($ 9), spring rolls ($ 4) and the pickled limenade ($ 3.5). I would say that this place is fairly priced considering that they are located in Vaughan and I’ve been to some places here where I paid $ 20 for phở and a smoothie.
The phở was fairly standard, as nothing really stood out but at the very least, the broth had a decent amount of flavour and decent amount of meat. The noodles were to my liking as well.
The Springs rolls were very crispy and tasty as well. I must say though that no matter where I try Vietnamese spring rolls, I will always compare it to my mother’s which cannot be topped.
Lastly, the pickled limenade a nice refreshing beverage. It tasted like that had used 7-​up or sprite rather than club soda. I’ve never ahd pickled limenade outside of either my home or my aunt’s so I’m unsure of how it should be but the slices of limes (3 slices) I had in my drink weren’t really edible. This is suppose to be my favorite part of the drink and I was pretty let down about it. I could be wrong and maybe its either meant to be as firm and tasteless or maybe others don’t eat it at all but I wouldn’t know.
I’d say this place is worth a try. Next time I’ll have to try the Cm as the pictures I saw looked very tasty. Make sure you give the limenade a try as it seems they named themslves after it!

3.5 Star
Picko Lime serves more than Phở and Bun which is more for casual eats. I like how the menu is versatile that includes other items that might not find in a regular Vietnamese joint.
Ch Cá Lã Vng — Hanoi Style Pan Seared Cat Fish?
Bún Ch Cá — Cat Fish in Tamarind Broth?
The meat they used in their Phở are Sirloin Beef which is of better cut that does reflect in higher pricing.
So for some that are willing to pay a little more for a better dining experience: environment, deco and plating. Picko Lime is the place to be compare to other Vietnamese restaurants in the same plaza.
Mc Chiên — Calamari ($ 7)
Ch Giò — Spring Rolls ($ 4)
Bún Ch Hà Ni — Hanoi Style Grilled Pork ($ 11)
Bò Lúc Lc — Shaken Beef ($ 14)
All the dish we shared were solid. Nothing too amazing but it was a good dining experience.

There’s a rule of thumb that I have: never trust a Vietnamese restaurant with good décor.
I’ve been proven wrong on very few, select occasions, but Picko Lime is not one of the m unfortunately. Prices are a touch higher than the neighbouring competition, and perhaps for good reason — they do need to cover the cost of their snazzy reno and fancy washrooms. They also put in a bit more effort into presenting their dishes.
But at the end of the day, the food is largely unsatisfying. Having grown up frequenting phở restaurants, I’d say I have a fairly established standard to compare these guys against and they have fallen quite short. Phở broth was bland and unflavourful. This wasn’t just an attempt to have a «lighter» flavour or more «natural» broth without the excess MSG often used by phở establishments, it was an outright travesty. Maybe their other dishes are decent, but I don’t know if you can really call yourself a Vietnamese restaurant without at least a half-​decent phở. It’s fine to have other types of dishes as your specialty, but the phở was bad enough that quite frankly I don’t care to give these guys another chance.
Much better options within a 10 minute drive in any direction.