Pho Lien — Restaurant in Montreal

rating: 3.8 / 5 ☆

Prior to 2020, I used to have lunch here fairly often with my family. Out of the many pho restaurants located in Montreal, we preferred Pho Lien because of their appetizers, three-coloured drink and obviously, their pho.

Over the past 3 years, we hadn’t dined here due to multiple reasons, the main ones being the implementation of restrictions associated with covid (lockdowns) and the 45 minutes drive it takes (used to come here after tutoring lessons back in high-school).

On Friday, October 6th at around 11:15am, my family and I decided to come for lunch, as we had plans in the vicinity.

We (4) were seated immediately and ordered the following: pho (beef) spring rolls papaya salad rice cakes and eggs three-coloured drink (+ more pho for takeout)

For starters, overall, the quality and the taste of the dishes are what I remember them to be. Although I have noticed that the broth contained slightly less MSG than before (based on its taste alone), which i personally prefer. Also, the three-coloured drink was extremely sugary and the taste of coconut was much less prominent, which sadly altered the taste.

On a positive note, the spring rolls I grew up loving taste just the same and the peanut sauce is still to my liking. (I’m quite picky when it comes to the consistency and the taste of peanut dipping sauce, truthfully I’d give theirs an 8.5/10)

However, the portion of some dishes are significantly smaller than what my family and I remember them to be- which is rather disappointing, considering that the price has increased as well.

I understand that the rise of food costs leaves businesses no choice but to increase the prices on their menu, however diminishing the dishes’ portions on top of that is simply a bad business move.

For instance: the amount of noodles in the pho was nowhere near enough when taking into account the size of the bowl ordered (the amount of beef was fine though) the rice cakes and eggs dish has shrunk by a lot (this is my mom’s favourite dish, therefore she noticed right away) the glass used to serve the three-coloured drink is shorter and smaller, as the handle of the spoon used to be barely visible when inserted in the glass and while mixing the drink before taking a sip

I sincerely hope this review reaches the business well and serves as constructive criticism, as I truly wish to continue supporting this restaurant whose food takes me back to my childhood and other memories that I’m fond of.

Service: Waiter was polite and the dishes were served fairly quickly, though we went before...

Honestly shocked that this restaurant has such a high overall rating.

My family and I visited Montreal for a weekend (we’re from Toronto). We heard good reviews about this restaurant, so despite having many activities and food options planned out, we decided to make time to stick this into our itinerary.

We visited around 3pm that day. Majority of their tables were empty when we arrived, with only 2-3 tables occupied during the time we were there, both for outdoor patio/indoor seating combined. Since we had a very filling brunch earlier in the day, and made reservations at a restaurant for their 10-course menu for dinner, we were fully aware that it was unlikely for each one of us to finish a bowl of noodles/plate of rice ourselves. For this reason, we decided to share 3 Large bowls of noodles between 6 people, and also ordered a coffee on the side.

When the owner came to take our order, we told him what we were hoping to order and he already gave us attitude and replied in a very impolite manner.

Later on, the waiter came back with 4 sets of utensils and we were confused. When our food arrived, we asked for extra utensils, and he said that he could only give us 3 bowls, which we were fine with.

Shortly after that, the owner came over and announced that there will be sharing fee in a very rude tone. At that point, we already started splitting our food from the large bowls, so we felt that we couldn’t even do anything. Later on, I asked him politely if it was stated on their menu that there was a sharing fee or minimum charge per person - I was thinking perhaps we missed it? He replied, again rudely, “no, but I informed you.” I replied back, “you informed us AFTER we ordered and started eating...”. He just turned away and ignored me.

We didn’t actually mind paying for a splitting fee, it was more so that I felt that I had the right to know about it before ordering maybe? Or at least I don’t believe we deserved the attitude we received.

In terms of the quality of the food items we’ve tried, it was honestly average at most. Combined with the attitude we received during our entire experience there, I am certain that we will never...

I have had my fair share of Vietnamese food and I don't think there's ever been a place where I don't think I'll ever go back to until now. We came all the way from Toronto to try it out because we've heard good things. Truly disappointed. We went around 3 on Sunday. It wasn't super busy, couple tables here and there. We were just looking to try it out so we ordered three large noodle soups to share between 6 ppl. For some reason they only gave us 4 sets of utensils and when our food arrived we asked for bowls to share and for whatever reason the waiter said he can only give us three bowls, which was fine. And then another person, who seemed like the owner, came over and rudely told us apparently there's a sharing fee? At that point we just wanted to try it so whatever. But I don't understand why you wouldn't clearly state on your menu that there's a sharing fee or if there's a minimum charge per person. I can't even tell if he just decided that on the spot or if it's a norm in Montreal that we weren't aware off, but I would definitely feel more comfortable if he was upfront about it when we ordered, since he took our order, or just had that listed on the menu. Anyway on to the actual food/price. Price wise I don't even think it was worth it. Our large noodle soup seemed like a small at any other restaurant but in a bigger bowl and with more soup. Taste wise, nothing amazing, at most average. I don't know if the selection for Vietnamese food is limited in Montreal but any place in Toronto is on par or better than this. Definitely not coming back and would not reccomend either. We're not here for long so extremely disappointed that we went out of our way to try this place. What did surprise me though was the rating of this place on Google because if I could not give any stars, I would! I would like to point out however that the waiter that seated us was extremely polite and nice, but sadly that does not change my mind about this place since I value the...