Pho Thin Chatswood — Restaurant in Sydney

Interested to try this new restaurant given the road-facing billboard and recent opening (or soft opening?). Was also impressed by the history and apparent authenticity. Ate late lunch around 2pm as a family of 3.

Not busy by this time of the day. Ordered the nem, original stir-fried rare beef, special beef, children's noodle, Vietnamese iced milk coffee, and avocado smoothie. Pho was ok, albeit the broth itself was not as fragrant as expected and needed the spring onion and coriander. Portions of meat quite small. Plenty of broth.

Payment option given of table at ordering or counter after. Decided at table. Unfortunately nem ended up being sold out and told by a staff member working in the kitchen. Was refunded the cost of this, and when we asked whether spring rolls were available (as we wanted to eat more), we were told we would have them "complimentary". No spring rolls were forthcoming, and when we followed-up with another staff member they told us they were sold out, and didn't follow-up (i.e. with the original staff member) or offer any other explanation.

Only a minimal hint of sweetness in the Vietnamese iced milk coffee (more a plain iced coffee with milk) and although the avocado smoothie was fresh and tasty with chunks of avocado, the crushed iced was quite coarse with whole ice cubes remaining.

At around $75 (excluding the refunded item - although as it was a refund on card, it's not reflected in the transaction history yet) better value to be had around. Communication and service needs to match the price to be considered competition. Perhaps just reflective of the recent opening, but not a good first impression for us.

Note as with some other restaurants, they request 5-star Google reviews for discounts, so consider reading...

🥢🇻🇳 Lunch at Pho Thin Chatswood — Honest Review 🍜

As a true Vietnamese food lover, I always search for authentic flavors. Today, I visited Pho Thin Australia in Chatswood for their Happy Hour set — $25 for a pho bowl, drink, and Vietnamese donut sticks.

✨ The Good: I ordered the Oxtail Rare Beef Pho — a comforting balance, not too light, not too heavy. The broth had depth, the beef was tender, and the oxtail added that rich collagen goodness I love.

The female manager greeted everyone with a generous smile — her warm and friendly vibe definitely added to the experience.

💳 Membership Perks: They offer free membership with 5% discount rewards for frequent diners — a nice bonus if you plan to return often!

😕 The Not-So-Good: Unfortunately, my mixed juice was a disappointment. After removing 7 large ice cubes, the glass was only half full. I would expect a freshly squeezed juice to be served with more generosity, especially for a $25 set.

The male waiter was polite but seemed limited to simply delivering dishes. A little more product knowledge or engagement would have elevated the service.

📸 Swipe to see my meal, including the generous oxtail pho, the juicy donut sticks, and… the leftover ice cubes.

🔎 Verdict: ✅ Decent pho ✅ Friendly manager ✅ Fair membership rewards ❌ Juice portion disappointing ❌ Service could be better trained

Would I come back? Possibly for the pho — but I hope next time they rethink how much ice they add to fresh juice. 🧊🥤

#PhoThinChatswood #VietnameseFoodLover #AuthenticPho #FoodieReview #ChatswoodEats #HappyHourLunch #HonestFoodReview #SydneyFoodie...

Not even worth 1 star , we come in as a group of 9 customers asking for a table inside just because the weather too cold. Staff just need to merge table but they refuse . They would rather miss 9 customers then do a simply merging table. Terrible man doing the reception. Will never return.

Reply to the owner response below: I believe you should check the dignity of the staff. We were never being offered merging 2 table inside The reason they said to us that the table were numbered and can''t be merged which is the most ridiculous reason i have heard in any restaurant and hospitality industry. It can easily be solved if we were being offered both inside and outside option like you said but that never happened. The story you stated in your comment is not even logical.

Among many restaurants in Chatswood, we choose your store and did a polite booking despite we actually didn't have to . The restaurant at the time we arrived have plenty of empty table - proving that we arrive late is not the matter. The matter here is the terrible customer service we received . We came late but we did came- still choosing your place . That shouldn't be the reason to be treated like that or being used as an excuse for inflexibility of your staff.

Your response did nothing but strongly confirm that my bad impression of your...