Pho A Gogo — Restaurant in Melbourne

edit: OWNERS REPLY doesn't take criticism very well. Here have a 1 *. Really shows your true colors! Have another read of review - We criticized your attitude not food! What a wacko.

The food was good, but the overall experience left us feeling uneasy and uncomfortable.

Arrived before 8 PM & thought the restaurant was closing early since the doors were locked. After ringing the doorbell, a man (presumably the owner) greeted us and asked how many were in our group. When we said 6, he questioned where the other person was. We explained that he was parking the car. Then, the owner looked at my toddler and immediately says, "no prams and no playing with chopsticks ok". Was rather odd & intimidating, but we brushed it off.

Once inside, the man locked the door and seated us. When my husband arrived, he motioned through the window to be let in. The owner opened the door, my husband jokingly commented that we must be special to be the last diners of the night. The owner didn't seem to understand. We later realized that other guests were also being let in under the same arrangement.

We ordered five bowls of pho and a Vietnamese coffee. The owner asked if we wanted an entrée for the little one, which we politely declined. Standard question, fine. As I caught the attention of a young man (presumably the owner’s son) I asked for three small bowls. After he disappeared into the kitchen, we overheard a commotion between him and the owner. He returned and explained that there would be an extra $1 charge per bowl, as stated on the menu. We decided to get just one.

When our friend’s Vietnamese coffee arrived, the owner asked if we could pay cash. We told him we didn’t carry cash and would be paying by card. He immediately brought over the EFTPOS machine and charged us on the spot even before we had eaten. Wasn’t a huge deal, but it was unusual. In our private chat, we speculated that maybe the doors were locked because the area wasn’t safe or perhaps he had issues with people leaving without paying, which could explain why he pre-charged us.

As we ate, the owner came over to chat. He asked if we liked the food and joked that if we didn’t, he wouldn’t be able to sleep all night. He then explained how their pho was different, originating from northern Vietnam, and unlike other places, they didn’t add sugar or MSG that might leave diners feeling overly thirsty. We told him the food was good and thanked him for the insight.

As we were finishing up the owner approached and asked if we had our phones. Seeing my friend holding his, he directed him to the Google review page and told him to leave a review—while standing beside him. As my friend submitted the review, an error occurred. The owner asked if he had done it, and my friend explained it failed. The owner then asked to see his phone.

After that, he approached me and said, “Can you take out your phone and go to this page?” I was taken aback a little and politely told him I would do it in my own time. His demeanor instantly shifted and became so unfriendly and walked away.

At that point, we all exchanged looks and knew it was time to leave. This was our first experience with such a bizarre way of operating a restaurant. The owner was certainly not quite right. Now we understood why there were so many five-star reviews, it seemed like people were being pressured into leaving them before leaving. Nonetheless we said our thank you as we left, even though we were ignored.

In summary: I've been to many Vietnamese restaurants, so my rating is based on my standards.

Food: The pho was decent (3 stars). It was clean, tasty, and a somewhat healthier option (knowing there were no added sugar or MSG enhancers). The portion was a bit small for the price, but that’s expected for a city location.

Experience: Despite the restaurant's weird operations, we were initially fine with everything. However, things took a turn for the worse when we felt pressured to leave a review. The sudden shift in attitude, becoming unfriendly after we mentioned we’d review later, left a...

It was such a bizarre experience, my friends actually heard about the weird reviews on how the owner behaves, but still wanted to go to check out the vibe and the restaurant had such a high rating. Honestly if you want a good bowl of Pho and want to eat at a nice restaurant with good service DON'T GO HERE.

The owner was intimidating, grumpy, and difficult to deal with, and I felt his staff were afraid of him. He was upset that we had said 5 people were dining and another friend was coming to join us nearby. We had to negotiate with him to allow our friend to join us, which was weird because we were bringing him more business.

He seemed to be the type that would get all angry and huffy at your request but in the end, he accommodated what we needed, but it wasn't easy to get there. His angriness towards us was really uncomfortable and is a bad effect on his business. Overall it was a bizarre experience, at one point the table next to us laughed at our group because the owner got so angry at us.

However it made for some good banter for my friends, as we were bemused at his treatment of customers, to be honest, it's an experience I would never like to repeat. The food was not at all at any Pho standard, I struggle to read reviews where the Pho was amazing, as it tasted like you it was just poured store-bought chicken stock out of a box and warmed it up with the meat, noodles, and garnishing. The Pho didn't have any wonderful aromatics that Pho noodles have. My friends had the Bon Bo Hue beef noodles and it was the same tasted like stock from a box, really not worth eating or worth the money, close to $20 per bowl.

I am well aware the owner will read this and berate me and he will do so quite aggressively, but I felt I really had to tell the truth as he was so mean and scary. It was like he had no passion left for the job, especially customer service.

Feel like he should just end his misery and do something else with his life. He created a very unfriendly and weird restaurant overall and we all go out for a nice meal with good service not subpar food with very unfriendly unprofessional service. The experience was woeful and not worth the money or time. Its one of those places that you make a spectacle out of and you go there to see if its really that...

I actually despise this pho restaurant. Especially the owner and how they speak to everyone. I have had many relatives and friends who have come to this restaurant and all have had similar experiences. Once you get to the door, you will have to knock since the door is locked, which I’m pretty sure is illegal, then you’ll have to wait for a child who looks like their parents are holding him for ransom and he asks how many people there are, and if you have a pram or luggage you will be told to leave them on the streets of Southbank. Once I got in, I was greeted by a dirty look from the owner and sat down. He came up to me To take my order and scoffed when he left. Later on A little girl dropped some water on the floor and The owner proceeded to yell at the little girl who ended up leaving, crying. The food was disgusting, and I found hair on certain plates of food. In the middle of eating, I heard people Yell coming from the kitchen, I then heard someone slapping another person on the face. I then left relieved that I was out of that place. And my experience there was the worst. But it’s not only inside of the shop that is bad, It’s also the Google reviews and the way the owner replies to them. And yes, I already know that the owner is going to come for me But that’s none of my concerns. First of all, the five star reviews are obviously fake. They all follow the same structure and experiences. And I should know that because I’m very well at English. Second of all, The way the owner replies to bad comments, makes him seem so pressed as he is. His grammar is just as bad as the restaurant, like who replies to a review as a business owner using ‘u’ instead of ‘you’ ?? And he goes into such detail, like no one cares. I hope he reads this review and thinks “this girl is so rude..” and doesn’t bother to reply, he doesn’t even need to put effort into a reply to this review, because I won’t read it, unless he wants to show everyone how rude he actually is and just proves my point. He should spend his time becoming a nicer person instead of replying to reviews. Overall this business is just as bad as the owners and I strongly believe that cooking is not the way this family should be going in life. Clearly, it doesn’t suit them. Thanks...