Anh Dao Restaurant — Restaurant in Toronto

Had a bit of an unexpected experience here. Came in with high expectations considering the reviews and overall fame Anh Dao has in Chinatown. Left disappointed.

To start with, personally our experience with the service was lacking. It took a long time to be seated and for our order to be taken despite the restaurant being pretty empty. I noticed that we were served food later than the other customers that had arrived after we had already given our order, despite us having uncomplicated orders (two bowls of pho). I also felt like I was being ignored when I tried to flag down the server for the bill at the end of our dinner. Being from the neighbourhood, I don’t expect the same sort of persistent attention western style restaurants give, but the overall experience here felt a bit hostile.

A smaller, but second thing I thought was strange was that they didn’t give a little bowl for the sriracha and hoisin. Our table was also not given the sauces and we had to borrow from the empty table next to us. Halfway through our meal a server took the sauce bottles away to refill them as it was getting close to closing time, but we were still going to use them.

I had the rare beef and beef ball pho. The pho broth was tasty and fragrant. The star anise taste was stronger than my personal preference. The noodles were overcooked and got a bit mushy towards the end. The beef slices were so grey that my friend asked if I had gotten pork. Even though the portion size of the pho was bigger than most other pho restaurants nearby, I didn’t feel that the price of it was justified.

And then at the end we were charged more than the price given on the menu.

I was really looking forward to eating here but based on my experience I will not...

AMAZING!!! From the outside the store looks like a hole in the wall, but then again you’re on Spadina eating at an Asian restaurant, so it’s kind of expected. Once you step inside though, it’s actually clean and clearly a hip and trendy-decorated spot.

Ordered Rare Beef and Beef Ball Pho, fried spring rolls, and the specialty wrap dish with the bbq/lemon grass pork.

Pho broth was one of the best I’ve had in the city! Deep, complex flavour without being overly greasy or fatty. Beef balls looked house-made versus the frozen supermarket ones in virtually all Pho places in TO.

Spring rolls were a bit different, but were good and came with lettuce to wrap with.

That rice paper wrap-it-yourself dish was excellent. An abundance of fresh herbs and greens, with an appropriate amount of well seasoned and quality pork.

In the restaurant, all the tables come with pickled jalapeños/garlic jars that were fresh and clean. Plenty of places come with these condiments but the jars look old and dirty often, but not here. Everything tasted super fresh and made with care.

Servers were super nice, helpful, and genuinely appreciative of your business.

Price was, it was about the same as most places, but with clearly superior and higher quality food.

Will dine here...

Wow this spot wowed me as an NYC Asian food enthusiast visiting Toronto. I love love love the main waiter there he is so kind. I came in solo and told him I need to have a beefy bbq dish and self made rice paper rolls which is their speciality. At first we talked about a thin beef dish and I agreed on it. He came back a few minutes later and pointed out another dish that was much chunkier steak like pieces of beef. Bò Nuong Bánh Hỏi! Wow. This was the best Viet beef dish I’ve ever had. Two huge skewers of beef served with tons of herbs, cucumber, lettuce, noodles, pickled daikon and carrot. It comes with a sweet soy but I asked for nuac Cham instead. They brought me exactly what I wanted and even some extra daikon when I asked. This huge portion was so fun to eat. You dip the rice paper in the water and make your own roll. I left so satisfied and happy. I came back two days later with a friend who wanted chicken pho but spicy. The same amazing waiter offered her to use Bun Bo hue broth which is known to be more flavorful and spicy. It was perfect because the broth is 10x more flavorful than pho broth but she got the protein she wanted- chicken (she doesn’t love beef). Honestly this place is a gem in Toronto and I will always come back when...