Pho Vinh — Restaurant in Richmond Hill

Just had a Sunday afternoon lunch with a group of 20 split into 3 tables. We were warned right away that it was fully booked so no moving or trying to get more tables even we have more friends coming. So unwelcoming!!! We were not there to beg for food! Then, probably the owner or one in charge, the middle aged Asian woman with a loose hair bun, rudely told everyone the machine could not handle separate bills, so one bill for one group. Ridiculous- what about the solo diners or table for 2? Why can't my group of 4 and the couples can't pay each of our own bills, as we were at separate small tables? At this point of time, what system still can't handle billings accordingly if the orders were placed separately at the beginning?

And throughout our 90 mins there, never a second of full house, 3 tables (1/4 of total) were empty till we left at 3ish.

Food-wise - Mediocre and average, really average, but portion is below average. A small size pho at others is medium at this place charging medium price. Inflation is the model reason or excuse I bet. One regular plate of few basil twigs and 2 quarters of lime for 4 phos to share. And this is the only Vietnamese eatery I ate at that the vermicelli bowls don't come with the sauce that we needed to ask for each and every bowl we ordered.

Service - huh, none at all. Bad attitude, impolite, arrogant. No hi no thank you, blank long face throughout and on every female server.

Now I know why there was little patronage during prime time, and telling having a full house and no split bills at the beginning is pathetic. I felt like spending our time and money there on a Sunday was totally not worth it. We couldn't enjoy ourselves as a group, there was no service and we needed to suck up bad attitude, and we had to ask for basic condiment several times, There are many good...

‘ Pho Vinh - 16B Vogell Road, Richmond Hill ‘ - Giving a neighborhood eatery a try based on other people’s reviews!

Due to inclement weather and being too lazy to cook. For tonight’s dinner, my visiting kids from downtown and I decided to give this neighborhood Vietnamese joint a try. The ‘unexpectedly queer‘ tasting profile of some of our dishes resulted in one of the most challenging reviews I have tasked myself with writing!

Beside the regular Pho, with a well seasoned and delicately flavourful broth. The rest of our order, including even the iced-coffee, all featured some unfamiliar and even weird flavor components…..albeit quite tasty and enjoyable.

The Vietnamese Curry Chicken was fragrant and exotic tasting. However, a heavy handed ‘celery’ component rendered the dish foreign tasting and un-curry like. The supposedly familiar tasting Butter fried Chicken wings were wonderfully crispy but somehow totally void of butter aroma. Instead, a savory but foreign tasting coating managed to save the dish. Both the Tomato and Carrot based Beef Stew and Crab soup rice noodles ( Bun Rieu ) were all quite enjoyable tasting, but again both dishes contained some unacquainted taste components. Even the Vietnamese iced coffee tasted like a cross between coffee and cocoa?!

Overall, a fairly enjoyable meal featuring some acceptable but ‘Weird‘...

This review is based on 1 visit. Would I go again? Yes. It’s a nice and clean, with very simple decor restaurant. Not much service (barely a “hi” when we walked in on a Tuesday afternoon). Menus and order sheet, spoons, chopsticks, condiments and sauce plates are on every table. I ordered a large house special with spring rolls. On the menu, it states that dry and fresh noodle are available. When I ordered, I didn’t specify what kind of noodles and I was served dry noodle, which is was I prefer anyway. The bean sprouts were in the broth already (I prefer it like that cause the bean sprouts is cooked better this way). Because the bean spouts are in the bowl already, it makes the portion seem bigger. Standard amount of toppings. The spring rolls were okay. I’ve had better at other Vietnamese restaurants. 8.25 for 2 fairly big spring rolls. They were generous with the basil on the side for the pho and fish sauce for the spring rolls. Total was under $25 after taxes. They take credit cards.

I wasn’t extremely thirsty after having the food there, which is usually a good indicator for the amount of salt or MSG used. I’d go again to try...