Pho Sam Lane Cove — Restaurant in Sydney

2025 March update - 5 years since last visit in person. We've had a few take-aways over those years and lets face it, you don't expect to have a good a feed from takeaway. But almost a carbon copy of my previous review. We had the vermicelli salad again BUT with 2 differences, 1 the salad is smaller than before BUT 2, comes with spring rolls. It's still not a bun cha gio because there are no bean sprouts and no grilled lemongrass pork. Other little annoyances that would turn me off going back to dine in, you have to order and pay at the cashier before being served and the notices to instruct you are printed on white paper and stuck up above eye level give it a cold and unfriendly feel. And if you want green tea, that's an extra $5 for a tiny pot . Left me wondering if Pho Sam means Tight Wad in Vietnamese. 2020 - In Lane Cove the other day and fancied a Bun so we spied this and thought perfect. Confusion starts with having to press the green button to open the door and that's before you get to the menu. Here they over cater for the Westerners, it's called Vermicelli Salad. And no, they don't serve it with 2 spring rolls like 99% of other Vietnamese restaurants. We selected beef which in hindsight was a bad choice. Tasted like satay beef with lemongrass overtones. The salad was tiny and the meat just ruined what was there. We ordered spring rolls on the side which were really tasty but so hot the first bite burned all the way down my oesophagus. You might have to be rich to live in Lane Cove but that doesn't mean restaurants should charge a premium just to keep up. 2 buns & 4 spring rolls $34 which is excessive given the size of the serves....

1.8 - Came here on a Thursday arvo - Was greeted with the words "Take Away?" which made me feel unwelcome, even though they were open for more than 1 hour more. Crumbs all over Chairs, Tiny Tables. I ordered a Combination Beef Noodle Soup and was surprised at how bad it was. The soup tasted old, the beef was fatty and gamey, and there was hardly any noodles (which were falling apart). Generous amount of Bean sprouts which was double the amount of noodle (so you can understand how little noodles there were!). Did not come to eat bowl of bean sprouts! Even though there was enough soup. Also ordered a drink of Grass Jelly and Coconut Milk, which also tasted wrong. Not Fresh. I grew suspicious of it after a few sips and stopped drinking it in case I got sick. Would never ever come back again. Seemed like there were a lot of regulars and single customers, so enough clientele hence I was very surprised at the poor quality. Family-run business, which I would...

I went to Pho Sam in Lane Cove today for lunch with my client. My client ordered for both of us, and I had the chicken laksa and tea.

Within minutes of finishing my meal, I started to feel stomach ache and discomfort. Since I was with my client, I tried to ignore it, but soon after I began feeling dizzy, disoriented, and lost control. Not long after, my body reacted by vomiting everything I had eaten there. Strangely enough, I started feeling better immediately after throwing up.

This was a very alarming experience and clearly points to severe food poisoning. Thankfully, my body rejected the food quickly, otherwise it could have been much worse.

For a restaurant, this is unacceptable — food safety and hygiene should be the top priority. It’s extremely disappointing and unsafe to serve food that makes customers...