Pho Century Fine Vietnamese Cuisine — Restaurant in Burnaby

Okay, it’s been about 7 years since I last visited Pho Century (geez, I feel old now). Located on the corner of Kingsway and Sperling (and next to Mr. Ho’s Wonton House), I had completely forgotten how the food was like here so I thought I should pay them a revisit.

This place seems fairly busy during the lunch hour. The restaurant is divided into a front and back section with tall glass dividers separating the two areas. Unfortunately, this seems to make the back section a bit darker as the divider dims the natural light coming in from the windows.

I figured I’d start my revisit by trying their Bun Bo Hue ($10.50) which included large chunks of Vietnamese ham, thinly-shaved beef flank, and a large chunk of pork hock.

I actually quite enjoyed the ample amount of paper-thin beef flank as well as the Vietnamese ham, however, it was difficult to get any meat off of the unwieldy piece of pork hock. The broth wasn’t the best but it wasn’t too bad (too bad they give you a lemon wedge instead of a lime wedge).

On a subsequent revisit, I opted for the Lemongrass Chicken and Pork Chop on Rice ($11.50) served with a fried egg. The grilled meat arrived with a nice aroma and I was surprised at how thick the piece of chicken was. Both chicken and pork had a nice char to the exterior and the egg had a beautifully runny yolk.

The next week, I came back to try their Combo F ($13.80) which includes a deep-fried spring roll, 2 prawn paste on sugar cane sticks, and 2 grilled chicken skewers all served on a healthy serving of rice vermicelli. I really enjoyed this dish… the chicken was moist and the spring roll (which used a rice paper wrapper) had the perfect crunch when you bit into it. Although the vermicelli was served dry (and consequently clumpy), a bit of fish sauce fixed that issue.

Having decided that Pho Century actually has some decent eats, I returned for a revisit in May and ordered the Pork with Dry Egg Noodles in House Garlic Sauce ($9.99) or Hu Tieu Mi Kho. This dish contained both bbq pork as well as ground pork and, while this is a “dry” noodle dish, there was plenty of dark soy garlic sauce at the bottom of the bowl. Even the umami-filled bowl of broth was a clear winner here.

On a subsequent visit, I ordered their Vietnamese Ham and Pork Sub ($5.25) aka Banh Mi Thit Heo. While there’s not a lot of filling in this banh mi, the bun was crisp and crusty on the outside (something that’s a must for a good banh mi). I wish they used a bit more pickled veggies in this.

The Shrimp Salad Roll ($6.15) or Goi Cuon Tom was quite good and served with a thick peanut sauce for dipping.

I came back to try their Deep-Fried Garlic Chicken Wings ($8.99) and was presented with 7 pieces of wingettes that had been deep-fried to a crisp golden brown on the outside. Biting into these, I realized that they were hot and meaty on the inside but lacked any garlic flavour. I really wish they served a mix of drumettes and wingettes and/or wing tips.

I was in the mood for some noods in late October so I returned and ordered their Pho Dac Biet aka House Special Beef Noodle Soup ($9.76 for large) which comes with rare steak, flank, tripe, and meatballs. Unfortunately, the rare steak was far from rare (usually you can see a bit of pink in the thinly shaved rare beef which you can cook to your desired level of doneness by dipping into the piping hot broth). There were plenty of noodles in this dish but I thought it paled in comparison to their Bun Bo Hue.

Food here usually comes out fairly quick but service isn’t exactly the friendliest. While they do accept credit card (over $10), they prefer...

I ordered two pho soups for takeout today. After picking them up and walking across the street to my car (which was parked right in front of the restaurant), I noticed that the bottom of the bag was leaking — the soup had dripped all the way along the ground and even soaked into my car seat.

I immediately brought it back to the restaurant and handed it to the same guy who had packed my order. He didn’t say a single “sorry,” just turned to speak in Vietnamese with his female coworker. She took the bag, apologized to me several times, and said the guy hadn’t packed it properly — he had placed the soup containers at the middle, which caused the leak.

Throughout the whole time, that same guy just stood there helping other customers as if I wasn’t even there — still not one word of apology. I wasn’t asking for a refund or discount, but I was honestly shocked by the attitude. Basic courtesy and respect should be part of any service.

There are so many pho places in Vancouver, and after living here for 16 years, this was by far the worst experience I’ve had. The food wasn’t even that great — seriously, save your time and go somewhere else. Plenty of other pho spots taste just as good and treat...

I went here for a family lunch on Saturday (March 6th) and our dining experience was fantastic. My whole family loves Pho, and we stopped at Pho Century for lunch. They offer 10% off during lunch.

We ordered 2 bowls of #13 Bun Bo Hue (one size $13.50) and one bowl of #5 Pho Sa Te Tai Nam (rare steak and well done flank in sate soup, one size $13.50) they were good. BBH and Pho Sa Te came in a HUGE bowl of noodles with meat toppings. BBH had pork feet, pork hams and some beef toppings. Pho Sa Te Tai Nam had some beef toppings and some green onions for the toppings.

Soup was on the lighter side. Not too salty or spicy so that was great. There was generous amount of toppings on both noodles we ordered. None of these were spicy as what the description said.

Staff was nice and friendly. The owner was very sweet and welcoming. I was surprised when the owner brought free bowl of spicy soup. It had very different flavours comparing to these 2 noodles (#5 and #13). Moreover, this free soup WAS little spicy and more tasty. We appreciated their friendly service by saying a short phrase in Vietnamese.

I had this urge to give 4 stars because of their kindness. We felt bad not finishing the free...