La Pho Vietnamese Restaurant — Restaurant in Newmarket

I had a thoroughly disappointing experience at La Pho.

Firstly, we came as a party of 8. They seated us at a table for 6 when the rest of the restaurant was empty. We had to grab extra chairs our selves. There were only 6 place settings and food started arrived and still we did not have enough place settings after asking for more. We had to get up and take from empty tables around us.

Secondly, their bbq grill dish was a debacle. They brought out the grill, only to present us with cooked meat, then had the audacity to argue with us when we raised the issue. To make matters worse, the owner yelled at my niece for attempting to touch the food after the incorrect dish was already placed on our table.

The mishaps continued with our rice wraps, as vermicelli noodles are meant to be served with the beef and other sides to make the rice wraps, it was absent until after we had finished all the other sides on the plate. Similarly, with our pho orders, the bean sprouts, basil and lime, crucial components, were not provided at all. It's simply unacceptable to serve incomplete dishes.

To make it even worse, basic condiments like fish sauce, hoisin sauce and hot sauce were not provided unless requested, showcasing a lack of attention to detail. And as if their incompetence wasn't evident enough, they failed to even supply soup spoons for their noodle soup dishes.

Overall, La Pho's service and execution left much to be desired, and I certainly won't be returning ever. If you’re looking for Vietnamese food then...

Old Lars BBQ sign is still up facing Leslie Street, you wouldn't know this is La Pho unless you were inside the plaza. The decor and environment was very nice, modern and clean. Service was average. Now to the main point, the food was not great. I'm basing this on the countless of pho I've eaten over the last couple decades. I ordered the beef slices and brisket pho. The broth was mediocre at best, and it's the most important part in my opinion. The beef slices were actually very good, but the brisket was not appetizing. Chewy, hard gelatinized pieces, and had a off-putting stench to it. Killed my appetite. I asked for fresh red chili on the side and it was moldy. I will say that the noodles were pretty good. However, a couple hours after the meal, I had a major runny washroom trip and was bloated for the rest of the day. I'm not impressed with the quality, there are much better pho choices in...

Not sure why they haven't replaced their sign yet — storefront still says "LAR'S BBQ". Our experience was mediocre. Came here with the intention of having "pho hot pot". Waitress was super friendly but couldn't speak English well enough to understand our questions. We ordered a Golden Soup Vietnamese Hot Pot, but when I asked her whether it came with pho, she couldn't understand, so we ordered a serving of "noodle" just in case. The noodle that arrived was not pho but another type of round rice noodle. We were so disappointed. As for the "golden soup", it tasted more like Chinese flavours than Vietnamese herbs & spices. Definitely not authentic, and we won't...