Pho Bang New York — Restaurant in Montreal

This is the first time we are in Montreal, the food was ok passable taste for Pho - rice noodle soup with raw beef but dry vermicelli that top up with choice of protein like grilled chicken/pork/beef/ shrimp has no taste as all. We were given 1 sauce with no instruction or whatsoever what is that sauce for.

Service was TERRIBLE besides, we were not informed that they accept “CASH ONLY”upon our arrival, we finds out when we have to pay, luckily we have some cash with us, we don’t have to withdraw any cash from their in-shop ATM machine which we assumed that might be owned by them and they also get benefit from withdrawal fees somehow.

The ajumma at the cashier has some attitude while pointing us to the bill, she didn’t speak to us at all. We feel fed up by all of that, and decided not to leave any tip due to poor service and poor communication, so we pay for the food and then left the shop.

As we walked away from the shop like 10-15m, this server open the door and yelled at us on the street “you guys need to pay for service fee” we were like oh we don’t know, as in like we don’t know that we still need to pay tip if we are not satisfied for your rude manner, but we didn’t get any chance to say that. As we say “oh, we don’t know...” then that server suddenly yelled back at us “Now you know” then he went back inside the shop. We thought thats all he wanted to say so we turned back and started to walk away as well. But that guy open that door again and yelled at us again on the street “HEY!!” — “you need to pay $5 service fee!!” At that point we don’t want any trouble, so we just give him what he wants.

So, run guys, RUN This place own...

First, I am (I was*) a long-time customer of this restaurant. I don't live in MTL anymore, but I come here every year when I visit. I usually bring people too. I will now look somewhere else for my next Pho in Montreal.

Portions are smaller than before, quality has decreased and lemonade was 90% ice + arrived as we were almost done eating. However, that's not why I'm writing this review.

For 3 people, we ordered this : 1 large Pho, 1 XL pho (that my friends wanted to share), 1 side of rolls to share, 3 lemonades for the 3 of us. I was also going to get coffee + a dessert, but changed my mind after this interaction.

Waiter tells us this ''isn't enough'', we need to order 1 soup per person, otherwise they're ''losing money''. He said no one could sit there without ordering a main dish for themselves. Funny thing is that the couple next to us was indeed sharing 1 soup for both of them. His excuse was : ''Times are hard, man! '' (funny thing to say when your restaurant is almost full on a Wednesday evening)

After arguing with him a bit (very rude attitude BTW), he said they were going to make an exception, but that next time we wouldn't be able to. We were about to just stand up and leave (should have done that), but we stayed.

This is a VERY BAD way to do business. For a few dollars difference on the bill, around $5, you are willing to lose loyal customers? You won't have to make an exception next, I simply won't go back.

I have never come this close to give $0 tip... But I gave him his 15% anyway. Because, although ''TIMES ARE HARD'', I'm not going to be a d**k about it.

Also, cash only? We're...

My family and I have been regulars at this restaurant for years, always leaving a decent tip and never encountering any issues.

However, today it was bad. We were seated by a bearded waiter, as usual, and ordered both dine-in and take-out meals. After enjoying our food, we headed to the counter only to realize we were $1 short, + tip. Since the ATM was broken during our last visit, we assumed it still was. The lady at the cash register didn’t speak to us, just stared rudely and pointed at the total. We tried to explain that we were short by a dollar, she only uttered a few incomprehensible words and gave us a cold look.

Then, a waiter from our table approached us and bluntly said, “Total and plus tip" in a rude manner. It seemed like he didn’t understand that we were already trying to figure that out. To make matters worse, I heard him talking about us to the other waiters, which was embarrassing given how frequently we dine there and how polite we always are.

Fortunately, the ATM wasn’t broken this time, so we withdrew $20 and got change for the tip. Despite this, one of the waiters continued to glare at us angrily. Initially, we left a $4 tip but decided to reduce it to $2 due to the poor customer service and lack of communication. At this point, the waiter told me, “Next time, $2 more tip or don’t come back,” in an aggressive tone. I asked him to calm down, but he kept following us toward the exit.

It was an uncomfortable and strange experience. While this restaurant was once a favorite, the unprofessional and rude behavior from the staff means we won’t...