Pho Viet Vietnamese Noodle Bar — Restaurant in Cairns City

They deleted my informative review last week. I will rewrite my review again, the food is decent and the service is fast that is why they got my 1 star rating. However, the customer service experience is EXTREMELY UNPLEASANT that is to say the least. There is one culprit that operates the FRONT counter, a middle age Vietnamese lady lets just call her "SALLY" , and she never bares a smile. Me and my partner has always had RUDE experience with her.

Let me run through a couple experience: I went in there one time, and was waiting at the front counter there was no one behind me or infront of me. "Sally" was doing something at the front counter but did not bother to greet me or give me eye contact for about 2 minutes I was there.... (I already knew what I wanted there special beef pho), she looks at me briefly with a filthy look for some reason but I had wondered my eyes of to the menu screen because I was getting kinda bored waiting that long, so i see her look at me and went to look back at Sally but she had turned her back on me started doing something else and speaking loudly in her foreign language to her colleague.... I wait another 2 minutes, cause I could see that she seemed very busy... and finally she serves me without a smile, and says "ARE YOU READY NOW?" in an unpleasant manner, I respond "Yeah I was ready when i came in straight away" and she responded with such audacity "WELL I SAW YOU LOOKING AT THE SCREEN" , i ignored it and went about my day....horrible customer service

My partner was in line with several people waiting and she chose some bottled ice tea which to her surprised was overly priced at $6 , so my partner changed her drink and "Sally" responded in a condescending tone of voice in front of the large line "I've never seen someone change their mind for a drink once at the cash registered " (chuckled to herself) and my partner frustrated with the remark responded "I did not want to pay $6 for a drink I could pay $2.50 for at other places .... very embarrassing and horrible service

I am a Pho loving consumer, I have Pho weekly when I was in Brisbane, let me pin point some things that are not up to standard with their PHO, broth has Too much cinnamon over kills the flavour broth is a lil too oily, hard to eat if you have facial hair The rice noodle is not traditional, it is not fresh

My conclusion to this, if your a local don't support this shop unless they fire "Sally" , she is extremely rude. Reminds me of a communist style business, no smile, no friendly service, over priced and really a DULL experience.

I hope this is a big WAKE UP CALL for the owners and management team, this is Australia not asia, lets lift your standards up with your...

Replicating the electrifying, down-to-earth atmosphere of street side eating, this Vietnamese joint constantly gathers more people outside on the tables than inside the restaurant. Not because they have more takeaway customers than diners, but because they don't have enough room inside. Our order of special beef pho, crispy pork vermicelli and a meal deal which comes with chicken salad and small noodle soup came relatively quickly despite the busyn. A disadvantage with outdoor dining was the uncleanliness with tables yet to be cleared, bits of food stuck to cutlery and faint stains. But if you were to overlook the subpar hygiene, the food definitely meets the standard for comforting Vietnamese cuisine. The special beef pho was served in a gigantic bowl bestowing a rich, reinvigorating broth that melted the frigid night. What makes it the more special is the gigantic slices of tender beef alongside velvety tendon and meatballs. While I appreciate the generous amount of noodle, it was cooked al dente and didn't possess the smoothness essential to slurping and relishing of a delicious pho. I also wished there was bean sprouts as well for extra texture. The crispy pork vermicelli turned out to be crispy pork BELLY to our surprise. I have no complaints though, fatty pieces of meat with an audible crunch is irresistible. In between indulgent bites, the side salad was a refreshing intermission with a striking fish sauce amplifying the nice, cool veggies. The food wasn't knocking my socks off but I'm glad it was able to soothe the winter chills...

Before you read my review, please keep in mind that I have lived in Japan for a considerable amount of time to have standard japanese expectations.

When I first came into the restaurant, the staff greeted us, which is good. But, they did not offer water, which is odd. After looking at the menu, I found out that the price for just a bottle is 5 Australian dollars . This is extremely overpriced. Even in Tokyo, a place where it is crowded with foreigners, a bottle of water costs less than 5 Australian dollars.

As a foreigner to Australia, I am used to different types of Fanta bottles from different countries. When I took a bottle of Fanta to drink, I asked for a can opener as I thought the fanta bottle had to be opened with a can opener. The staff member quickly scolded me harshly and yelled at me to twist the cap. This was not the service I expected from an expensive store. In my standards, the chicken rice noodle was expensive. It was acceptable, but, I would not pay that much just to eat it again.

Not to mention - while I was eating my food, the background noise was unsettling. I heard staff yelling to eachother in the background, I thought someone was having a divorce.

Conclusion:

*People with low expectations can come here.

*People who have normal standards of service should not come here

Food was mediocre The bottles in the fridge are not worth it Service was rude Environment was bad Expensive

This place contributes to my bad image...