Pho B & T Viet Thai Restaurant — Restaurant in Hamilton

Jack of all trades, master of none. Apparently a decent Vietnamese population, yet surprisingly low Thai population. I can see how they rely heavily on the Vietnamese influence and merely tack on the Thai offerings, but as I always say quality suffers when you do too much. Cheesecake Factory effect.

I’m sure some will call it fusion and they’d be right because not only do they serve Vietnamese food, they have thai dishes, Shanghainese dishes, Chinese dishes. That’s like half all the major cuisines (sans Japanese, Filipino, Korean, Indo). It’s a monsterous menu and undertaking.

Corner location with like 3 parking spaces, relying heavily on foot traffic. The windows remind me of a Chinese restaurant in NYC. Décor confirms this. The bathroom wasn’t the worst. I didn’t see a fish tank, but we sat in from in the sort of café area, the back was more traditional main dining room sort of Chinese set up. Being up front and a party of 11 would get us better service, nope, we were ignored on all drinks (I think the table got 3 waters and no refill), couldn’t even get a drink they make money on. Prices here seem reasonable. Come here if you don’t know what you want and don’t care. If you know you want pho go elsewhere.

Me and the kids got pho (theirs with meatballs only), mine the works (BT Special). Now I’m not sure if they gave the kids a milder version and grouped mine in with it, but the broth was well skimmed, on the clear side, on the bland side. Just because everyone else ordered non pho doesn’t mean you dial back on mine. Either way I was disappointed by the broth. Jacked it up with hoisin and chili paste (sririacha is for hosers). Brisket, tendon, tripe, meatballs all good, noodles were a little bricked, but the lean beef was not steak, hence the beef designation. Accoutrements were aplenty. Spring rolls were decent, but the peanut dipping sauce had no fish sauce flavor or roasted peanuts, pretty meh. I liked the crispy wontons, the satay skewer was pleasant the mango salad some brightness and refreshing. Shrimp roll was a bust, totally bland and rubbery shrimp. Green papaya salad was terrible, little to no green papaya, straight up got jacked, like beyond everything else this was a jack. With every dish I tried my impression was getting worse and worse. XLB skin was too think and soup had no flavor, meat was chewy. Siu Lung Pao, come on man. I should have known better, but I figured proximity to NYC and Toronto. Yellow goat curry was gamey. Pad Si Ew barely had any dark sweet soy sauce necessary to make this. Noodles overcooked. Ramen is more like Vietnamese ramen, Asian spaghetti teriyaki is pretty much made up with leftovers, something a 12 year old would think up and it tastes that way too.

How does this place have 7 locations, musta got in early on all the other newer, smaller Vietnamese places popping up. Honestly this place brings shame to good Vietnamese, Chinese, Thai and Malay cuisines by hall ass mashing them together. Master of no trades, jack...

I have never felt so personally disrespected, undervalued and profiled in a dining establishment. To begin, I have been coming to this restaurant since I was a child and have brought a number of family and friends, and have never experienced this quality of service. I came tonight with my partner to celebrate her graduation and left feeling despondent and discriminated against. I ordered my regular, beef crispy noodles and chicken wings, meals I have enjoyed countless times before. Prior to tonight, the noodles were always well cooked and the beef was tender and flavourful. I was disappointed to see that my noodles were burnt and somehow undercooked at the same time. The beef was chewy, flavourless and grey. I really tried to overlook the inconsistencies of my meal, I even dressed the noodles and tried to stomach a couple bites, only to conclude that the food was inedible. I went on with my meal feeling torn as to how I should proceed. Towards the end of my meal, I spoke up and told my waitress that I was unable to eat, much less enjoy my meal, expecting to be met with courteous customer service and understanding. Instead, she asked if I wanted a to go container. I reiterated that my meal was inedible and I could not in good conscience pay for it. I told her many times that I would pay for the rest of the meal and tip her, but I could not justify paying for the crispy beef noodles as they did not meet the quality of food I have had here many times before. She offered a ten percent discount which I found incredibly dismissive and invalidating. I showed her the food, reinforcing the fact that this was not food that you could serve to customers and she proceeded to offer a fifty percent discount off the noodles. She then took me to the owner, who was unable to communicate with me and therefore did not rectify the situation, taking us back where we started. I told her I totally understood where she was coming from, working in customer service myself, and that I empathized with her but I had to advocate for myself and my partner. Eventually she handed me a receipt that did not include the cost of the noodles, I paid, tipped and left. I used to be able to confidently recommend this restaurant to friends, family and even strangers no matter their social standings but after tonight, I have lost this confidence. If subpar food and negligent service are your standards, you’ll feel right...

Today Sep 2nd 2025 at about 4:30pm I brought my mom (91 yrs old lady) came here again and there wasn't any customer at the restaurant. We waited for about 7-8 minutes since nobody was at the restaurant counter too. Nobody came to our attention, as such I press the bell which they had on the counter and waited again. A Lady then came out, probably from the kitchen with some ready packed food for the only delivery person who was also wanting (with us) to pick up. It is understandable that she sound busy. But she then asked me, very loud with an attitude, "are you wanting to sit or what you want". As such very politely I said you sound extremely busy, we come here all the time, it's all good, we can come back some other time, its not an issue, we can also wait, what ever is convenient for you. Believe me, as I was almost sitting down she then rudely approached and said "don't talk so much, you want to sit or not". Well, I said I'll come back some other time, when you are not busy at all, maybe. And I grabbed mom, who has already sat down and we left. Since we had a choice, and she was so busy we thought we shouldn't give her the business. Maybe she has too much business 🤷 and NEVER mind about us, just two people businesses. Thought I should share this above, just to keep everyone who is reviewing know such attitude and behavior. We left and went to another restaurant, to relax and enjoy an early dinner. Trust me, this will be my last time hete. I DON'T think I will EVER come here AGAIN!! Wish everyone the best!! and hopefully enjoy 😉

Obviously the below was some few years ago reviews, which I think should leave it just the way it is..

The food in terms of taste and flavour wise is reasonably good. But dim sum is way over priced. Seating is quite comfortable and...