Golden Bell Richmond — Restaurant in Calgary

We've ordered from here before via Uber, but I'm guessing it wasn't this location, cuz the flavors were all off and the quality was nowhere near what we're used to. First off, the atmosphere absolutely sucked. Eating in total silence is a surprisingly uncomfortable experience, and not something I'm used to. The staff were friendly enough, I suppose, but not particularly warm or enthusiastic. We ordered vegan salad rolls, ginger beef and chicken wings for appetizers, and veggie pad thai, rare beef soup and peanut satay soup for dinner. Turnaround was quick, but I was somewhat dismayed that our main course arrived at the same time as the appetizers. The ginger beef was flavorful, but incredibly soggy. I'd have sent it back if I wasn't pretty hungry, but it was a disappointing experience. The chicken wings were flavorful as well, but the batter was really thick and more typical of Cantonese style than Vietnamese. The real disappointment was the soup. The rare beef was acceptable (super weird to have it served with lemon instead of lime) but nowhere near the standard of most local pho. The peanut satay soup was a disgusting, thick mess of broken noodles, a gelatinous sludge that I was literally able to balance my spoon on top of. Flavor was disgusting, and texture was absolutely putrid. My wife gave up after a few spoonfuls, and we asked our server to remove it from the bill, to which she assented, agreeing that the texture seemed totally off. We were surprised when a few minutes later the manager came out with the server to tell us there was nothing wrong with the soup, and its gross texture was our fault because we didn't eat it fast enough. According to her there's a "5-7 minute window" in which to eat this dish before it becomes inedible sludge. Seems like a sane thing to claim. For what it's worth, we've had the same soup as leftovers from several other Vietnamese places before with absolutely zero issues, and as someone who cooks, I can't really think of many dishes that come with a time limit (for what it's worth, my wife started eating her soup well within the five minute limit). Either way, the soup should either come with a warning in that case, or, ya know, not be served at the exact same time as the appetizer course. The manager offered us 50% off the item, which we accepted, because it was honestly pretty mortifying to be sitting there arguing with someone over a stupid bowl of soup. I honestly can't imagine having to work for someone who thinks going over a server's head to argue with customers over a bowl of soup is any way to run a business, and I hope the staff finds better employment, because that manager seems totally nuts. Long story short, this place is mediocrity incarnate, and there's way better Vietnamese places in the area, with decent food, good service and pleasant atmosphere....

I have eaten a lot of Viet subs, pho and bubble tea in Calgary so my review of this place is compared to my past experiences of other places I've eaten. I was craving for a Vietnamese sub and bubble tea and I was in the area so I tried out Golden Bell Richmond because of the high reviews. I ordered a Vietnamese sub and bubble tea to go. The guy taking my order was friendly and nice so I tipped him when paying for my order and waited for my take out order. The restaurant wasn't busy and a dine in guy ordered after me. Something came out for the dine in guy which I thought was strange since I ordered before him and about 15 minutes later my sub came. So ok, 15 minutes isn't too bad but for a sub in a non busy restaurant, it could come out quicker. When I left and finally opened it up to eat a few minutes later, I can see that the bread of the sub is about 40% soggy. I thought maybe it's their sauce and it's suppose to be this way. I took a bite and realize that the satay beef in my sub was either heated up in pho broth and then put in the sub OR they made satay beef pho soup and realized their mistake and took out the beef to put in the sub. Either way, I could taste the soup broth in my beef and it's probably why my sub was soggy. Did not enjoy the sub at all this way as the soggy bread reminds me of a beef dip sandwich. Not what I wanted as usually Vietnamese subs have a crispy bread but maybe that's how this restaurant does their subs. As for the bubble tea, it tasted ok. Just the boba was really soft and mushy. So either it was overcooked or it was just soaked for too long. This was at about 7:30pm which I guess everything was made earlier in the day. Hope my review provides some insight on what to expect. Again, I don't know if this is how they usually make things but this was my experience compared to how other places make a Viet sub...

I went to Golden Bell in Richmond with my son. I asked if it would be possible to get a half of #62 for my son (because he doesn't eat very much) the lady said yes. So I ordered one full size for myself and one half size for my son. My only specifications were no bean sprouts on his. When I went to pay, and unfortunately didn't realize it until my transaction was in process, I noticed I payed for two full size meals. But only got the one and a half. I was about to cancel my payment when the lady quickly took the machine from my hand. So I wasn't able to press cancel and the payment plus gratuity went through. I asked why I had been charged the same amount for both when one was only half size. She said it was because his had an extra spring roll, which a) I never ordered b) not true. Then she said it's because his shouldn't have come with all the same veggies as the full size. None of this was explained to me when I ordered. It would be best if they said they couldn't do half sizes, then I would have just shared mine with him because in the end he only eats three bites and every dollar matters to me. I am stressed about money and that is partly why I asked to have a half size. And I got a half size, but paid full price!

I will never again go eat there and I will tell everyone I know about my very frustrating experience. And I never do this, but some places don't deserve good reviews. You have lost...