Roll'V - Vietnamese Cuisine — Restaurant in Montreal

Update: Went 2 days ago after seeing that they are now open.

I'll start with the pros: With the entire wall being glass lined with tropical plants, it was pleasantly bright and cheery with natural lights. Tables were sparse but comfortable.

The service was top-notch in hospitality. Despite being counter service, they brought my food to my table. As a promo, they even offered shrimp chips. When I tried to pay by credit card, there was no option to offer a tip; they should definitely receive tips and earned an extra star in this review.

The pho I ordered seemed more northern style rather than a southern one that Montrealers have come to know. Broth was cloudy and full of beef residue with a lot of grease, meaning it wasn't sieved through or skimmed. The taste was beefier but blander than most places in Montreal, and could've used a dash of fish sauce before serving. The raw beef was completely cooked through, and the overcooked flank was tough and dry.

Overall portions were on the small size compared to average. The imperial rolls were meatier but definitely pricier: two rolls at 4" each (or do they serve a different size/portions when ordered à la carte for $8?). They came with mayo and smidgen of sweetened chili sauce, which didn't do much for the rolls.

There's potential for the place to thrive, especially given it's also the only Vietnamese joint on Parc Ave along six blocks. But Montrealers are notoriously picky with pho -- especially if choices of beef are limited to raw round and flank. Moreover, Plateau is treacherous for high turnovers in the resto business, and there may be upcoming competition across the street if Google Maps is correct. I'm willing to return to try their banh mi (and definitely order their coffee, as it's cheapest in town and pleasantly potent!), but I don't think I'd go back for pho unless they enhance their broth and expand...

I stopped in for a late lunch as it was just across the street from where I'm staying and had good reviews. I ordered the bun cha gio/vermicelli bowl and a diet coke. The bowl comes with vermicelli as a base, your choice of protein (chicken, pork, beef, mushroom, etc), a spring roll,  greens, cucumbers, pickled carrot and daikon, sprouts, cabbage, some peanuts, fried shallots and some mint/herbs. They asked if I wanted fish sauce with it (yes please!) or soy sauce and I also asked for some Sriracha.

They went above and beyond in the service department as they had run out of diet coke, but ran out to the shop next door to buy some for me.

The food was fresh and delicious, the meat tender and flavorful and the sauces were on point. No notes.

I'll definitely be going back while I'm in town. The only question is what I try next. Perhaps the banh mi, maybe some pho - who knows! There were lots of good options on the menu.

In nicer weather, I could see this being a great place to pick up some food for a picnic in the park...

Delicious food and super nice staff. We ordered bahn mi, pho and imperial rolls which were all divine.My girlfriend and I went an hour before the close without knowing the place didn’t do their grand opening yet (01/17th!🥳) so it took a while to get our food since they were understaffed. Even though we were really hungry and quite impatient we peacefully waited at a table with some nice bossa nova playing in the background. When we got our food they gave us an extra bahn mi for the unexpected wait time. Made us super happy! The cashier is amazing, she was super kind to us even though she was clearly under pressure🫶 Thank you so much and we can’t wait to come back for the big day!

**also as a personal preference, I’d rather have the pho slightly more lemon...