Pho 68 Richmond — Restaurant in Richmond

[Update: Dec 9, 2024]

It's been maybe 5 months since the inception of the "15% off every Monday and Tuesday" and we have not missed a single Monday or Tuesday. We have tried almost every soup-based Pho available in its menu and now we simply stick to the following each time we come here:

$19.95 "Beef Rib Pho" only when we are starving. Not much changed since Day 1, which is good.

$15.95 Small "Special #1. Wife's favorite

$16.95 Large "#11 Noodle Soup with Steak and Tendon." My favourite, although I sometimes switch to $17.55 Large #20 Noodle....Brisket, Pork Ham and Chicken Balls." #20 has improved quite a bit, Bun Bo Hue-like taste and no need to manually add jalapeño or fresh chili.

The thing we don't like about this place is that you don't get many bean sprouts. In fact, we noticed you get the same amount whether you are at a table of four or a table of one. That is so fcuked up. However, we never  bothered to complain—too minor. A few times we specified "No basil, no pepper, more bean sprouts," but it always fell on deaf ears. We gave up.

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[Around May, 2024]

IT'S ABOUT TIME!!

For the last 6-9 months (we lost count), each time we went to Superstore, we passed by Pho 68 and noticed it was still undergoing renovation. We anxiously waited for it to be opened to the public. We joked Pho 68 and Capstan Station must be using the same builder. 🤣 We thought rent must be really cheap in GVA that one could afford to pay rent while renovating for this long. Consequently, we anticipated menu prices would have to be premium as well and that we had little faith Pho 68 could be our go-to pho restaurant. HOW WRONG WE WERE!

We ordered the most expensive pho on its menu, the Large $19.95 "Beef Rib Pho 牛肋骨越式河粉" and the Large $16.95 "House Special Noodle Soup 特色麵湯." Both phos are huge. Full of ingredients. Lots of noodles. The soup was clear and delicious. The Beef Rib Pho has something to write home about. $20 for a pho seems expensive, but it comes with two and a half big and meaty ribs. It was amazing, not to mention tender and delicious. Considering how much a slab of beef spare rib costs at Costco, the Beef Rib Pho is a bargain. Highly recommended!!

We also ordered two $8.95 each Banh Mi "Vietnamese Submarines" for takeout. We microwave-reheated them and they tasted very nice. Wife really liked the mayonaise but hated the jalapeno embedded within, which she had forgotten about. 😆Nonetheless, it wasn't that spicy anyway.

One thing remains to be seen is if they can maintain this amount of ingredients and price in the long run or is this just a Grand Opening "Golden Sample" so that early patrons like ourselves can write good reviews and spread the good word? We'll see.

takes credit cards 👍

[Update: June 14, 2024]

Went there today and tried their $17.55 "#20 Spicy Thick Vermicelli Noodle..." It tasted somewhat like Bun Bo Hue but not quite BBH. It didn't have blood curds or pig knuckles but has "chicken balls." What the...!! Chicken meatballs!?! 😆 It was alright although I would stick to Thai Son, my favorite go-to pho restaurants for BBH that I go every 10% off Tuesdays or even Pho 37's 10% off Mondays.

also ordered two more Banh Mi "Vietnamese Submarines" for takeout. The "Grilled Lemongrass Pork 烤檸檬草豬肉" and "Grilled Lemongrass Chicken 烤檸檬草雞肉" were very similar in taste, both very good. The "Vietnamese Coldcut 越南冷盤" we had last time, however, was not. The 1 kilogram "The Big Sandwich" at Superstore tasted just the same, if not better, but 5 or 6 times bigger and for just a measely 11 buckaroos! I'll go with that any day over the $8.95...

Long story short, food was not that great but the service was good.

Upon entering we were seated immediately and a server took our order in a timely fashion. We even saw a manager go out of her way to walk a customer in a wheelchair to the door and hold it open for them.

The only things that we enjoyed eating were the salad rolls. Though the lemongrass chicken seemed to be prepared differently than other Vietnamese restaurants (it was red in colour) it was quite tasty. Everything else either a problem with the quality or the portion.

First the pho. Noodles were clumped as if they were cooked separately then left out to cool too long before the broth was added. The taste of the broth did not infuse with the noodles making them taste bland. The beef brisket even though was sliced thinly was chewy and unpleasing to eat.

At the end of the meal, my fiancée ordered an iced coffee to go and it was a pitiful amount that you get for almost $7. When the cup arrived there was about a centimeter of air at the top of the cup, that is quite a lot considering there was ice in it as well. At the end of the drink we also saw how much ice was in there. If I were to estimate, around 2/3 of the cup at the end was ice and it was cubes with a lot of space around it, we're talking ice chips (so smaller pieces with smaller gaps around them). So we basically paid $7 for a cup...

PHO 68 (Richmond)

NEW RESTAURANT ALERT!!!! Right now they are doing 15% off until the end of the month. But if you mention "Sophie of Instagram" then you get 20%!!!!!

Restaurant is big and bright, service was excellent. Loved that each table had their own garlic chilies and fish sauce. Also I looked at the menu of Pho 68 Edmonds, I think it's a completely different restaurant, the menu is different!!!

In order of preference: ♥BEEF RIB PHO $19.95 Broth was superb. Had like 3-4 beef ribs in it! Not as 'fall off the bone' as I would like, but not bad! This was pretty good, I would get this again.

♥SPRING ROLL $3.55 This was great. It's not Pho Lan level good, but still tasty!

🖤LEMONGRASS CHICKEN ON RICE (I forgot the price...) This was good, but I honestly prefer Pho 37's version of it. I also like Thai Son's version because you can get it shredded pork on top!

🖤STICKY WINGS $17.95 This was kind of misleading. It looks NOTHING like the photo they had on the menu. It was tasty but I would not order this again. I was hoping for something similar to the wings they have at Com, or Phnom Penh, or Sen Pad Thai.

I'll probably come back soon to take advantage of the discount, and I'll try the Bahn...