Ben Thanh — Restaurant in Guelph

Overall good experience. I'll start with the minor gripes though. It could be a little more refined and this place would be tops as the food that we had was very delicious and service was quick. So to start, the long bench had damage to the seat which cheapens the experience. Overall, servers are nice but don't seem very experienced in hospitality but they def get the job done. We booked a large table and when we got there no place settings were set. We were given a big plate of chopsticks and cutlery with napkins that we had to distribute to our group of 12. Not impressed but not that uncommon for a Viet restaurant. However, compare this to the location we went to visiting St Jacob's, they had all the settings done and water for each person set by the time our group showed up. That was impressive. Next, the lady that looked like the manager/owner seemed a bit dressed down. For the decor I think it would be far better for the entire outlook of the location if ALL staff were dressed the part. I mean one thing if you're staying behind the counter and kitchen, entirely a different story to be walking the floor often. I mean she was very helpful, not the warmest personality but still helpful and let's say attractive which makes it all the more a loss in potential for the overall look and feel of the place. No one offered to refill our drinks, water and tea which there is a charge for the tea (so you're not surprised and some places do) but no doubt if we asked they would have been quick to refill. Washroom counter was soaked. The water pressure is far too high. Do not lean on the counter. Rest of washroom seemed clean though but obvious not maintained often.

So the good: -Friendly servers and though not preemptive in service they were friendly, hekpful and quick especially the young man. -The food was excellent in quality and taste and it came out very quickly. This was Canada Day at lunch and it was at least 25% full which we were surprised. In Toronto this place would be full all the time I would think. My family had seafood curry with rice, chicken chow mein but with Ramen noodle which was actually much better than regular Ramen instant noodle and I had the Korean Japchae with chicken rounding our dishes off with a chicken udon noodle soup for my kid. Everyone was very happy and satisfied with leftovers to take home for the fried noodle dishes -Menu options, we love the different types of dishes they offer. Something for almost every Asian food craving except Japanaese. Btw the fried noodles are a good size but the chicken chow mein I saw was a small mountain! Lol

Would I come again and recommend? Most definitely. It's an easy, casual atmosphere with a big menu and the three times we have been to a Ben Thanh we had a great time including this one. From kids to grandparents we enjoyed the food and speedy service. Just a little tweak on a few minor things and this would be a 5 stars all around location.

We were so excited to eat we forgot to take photos. Sorry. Here's one of my last visit at a different location but it looked and tasted exactly the same. ...

By far the worst customer service experience I’ve ever encountered. I had been here a few times before and had gotten pho which was decent. I was interested in trying other options they had.

We had ordered food for 6 people and easily spent over $100. Part of our order was 2 chicken pad thais and 2 green curry bowls with rice. The pad thai looked like it had been made with just ketchup and way too much hot sauce making it too spicy to eat. The green curry was literally water which is not how curry should be if you’ve ever had really good curry. Seeing that we had been customers there before and were not satisfied with our food we had it sent back to get something else. The manager Manny reluctantly decided to give us a credit for the food and was not at all apologetic for this experience we had. Instead she was quite rude about the entire interaction. When she agreed to give us the credit I asked her for proof of this and said she was not able to give me proof and ensured me in front of our party of 6 that we’d be able to use the credit later on.

We then came back to use this credit and she completely refused to honour this for us. On top of that she had an attitude and was denying everything she has said to us before about the credit which we had 6 witnesses for. When I asked to speak to her superior, she relied with, « he doesn’t have time for people like you »

Because she was so focused on the financial aspect of $60 worth of food, Manny overlooked what good customer experience looks like and has cost the company what could have been a customer for life. I had just moved to Guelph and in one month I had been there 3 times before. This was my 4th visit and very well will be my last!

I DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS...

I went to this restaurant with my family on Saturday around 9pm. Upon arrival, it was very clean, impressive decor, had the appeal of class. There were a few tables seated but not terribly busy.

The ordering process was wonderful; waitress even heeded caution to one of their menu items that she thought was the biggest “miss”. Food arrived quite fast.

HOWEVER, food tasted mediocre at best. We ordered the specialty pho, pad thai, ramen, and one of the rice paper roll plates. The pho had (at most) three slices of beef, there were very few pieces of chicken in the pad thai, and the bowl of ramen had more noodles than this dish should warrant. This restaurant seems to want to fill you to the brim in noodles, to make up for what it lacks in any other topping.

As well, the waitress did not ONCE come over and see how we were doing. Never offered to fill up our waters, and my dad even had to cross the restaurant himself to get our table napkins. The waitress spent the whole hour we were there chatting up a single man sitting across the way. The only time she came up to our table was when this man had left and we were done eating. Her behavior was unprofessional and I am left with nothing but negative feelings about our experience there.

Management needs to look into re-training staff on appropriate behaviour in the work-force as well as general attentiveness to the customer (or rather, multiple customers at one time). Will not be returning...