Pho 88 — Restaurant in Toronto

Hate to say this but this place need to have hospitality training specially their owner! Very greedy service!

Been coming here for years and just recently visited after all the covid commotion. We were seated outside and it was not busy when we came. Wee ordered our regular Pho Noodles and when it was time to pay- I went inside to pay for the bill. They only accept debit or cash (No credit card).

The owner was watching me with my payment and noticed I pressed zero on the tip. Mind you, my friend and I were planning to leave tips on the table (outside) because we want to make sure it goes directly to the server. Then lady goes, "How about tip?"

Told her we plan to leave it on the table for our server. Then she continued, "you can put here."

I left the cash $$ and said thank you to her then walk away- but man, did I heard the appreciation, the service, the gratitude from her? Nada!

Honestly, I felt I was forced to pay for tips even though I have the right to decline. This place is just lacking of hospitality service (very typical Asian restaurant). Listen folks, I always offer tips esp when the service is good or beyond amazing. But again, having this experienced, I felt I was forced with their greediness. They don't deserved to have business in the community!

Food may taste good here and I totally agree. They have flavoury soup based but after this experienced I don't think I'll be coming back here again and I will stop supporting them. There are a lot of Vietnamese restaurants in the GTA that offers flavoury soup based for pho noodles also (esp the one at Mccowan & Buroak, called Kim Dinh Vietnamese Restaurant: 9570 McCowan Rd or at Midland &...

It has been a long time since I came back here. It was always good before. However, I think in the future, this is a place I will not be visiting anytime anymore.

I had ordered the large chicken noodle soup. The taste of the soup has changed and there is no long any flavour to the soup, just the taste of salt. The garnish dish of bean sprouts, basil leaves, green chilies and lime was gross, especially since the lime had already been used by someone else as it showed signs of being squeezed! I think DineSafeTO needs to look into this place.

Then when I went to pay with debit, their machine takes TAP, Swipe, and Chip insert. My card does not have the TAP function and so, the machine recognized this and requested me to Chip insert or Swipe to which I choose the former. On the receipt print out - merchant copy, it said that TAP failed and Chip insert was paid. My Customer copy also noted that it was a successful transaction and that I had paid. Then the lady at the counter and the owner indicated that I had not paid. I then proceeded to show them that I had paid as the Customer Copy indicated that I did. They both then proceeded to ask me to see if there was a way I could show them on my bank statement I had paid. This is ridiculous as it is personal information, and if I didn't have access to technology to show that I paid, I would have to pay again. Luckily for me, I had access to technology to show that I had paid and proceeded to show them. Much to their chagrin as I think they didn't even understand what I had shown them was that I had paid.

Needless to say, I was not happy with...

Pho connoisseur here. Last time I visited was about ~15 years ago. From what I recall back then to what I experienced tonight, unfortunately I need to report a decrease in value. I ordered a small rare beef and tendon pho. The portion size was on the smaller size of small. They served green chillies, bean sprouts, lime and basil on the side, no sawtooth cilantro. The service was fairly quick - I ordered, went to the bathroom to wash my hands, and came back - no less than 30 seconds later my order was brought to my table. At the table side are tissues, chopsticks, spoons, sriracha, hoisin, and chili oil. No sauce dishes. The sriracha was in a generic bottle that they refill, but it tasted like authentic Huy Fong. Now on to the pho itself: the portion size was small. Toppings were minimal as was the amount of noodles. I purposely ordered a small to satisfy my craving but was left looking for a little bit more. The pho was also dressed with a minimal amount of onions and green onions - looking at the photos from other reviews, my bowl had obviously less garnish. The rare beef appeared to have been flash cooked in the kitchen as opposed to rare/red and allowing the broth to cook. The tendon was nice and soft, but only about 5 small pieces in my bowl. The soup base was good - hot and tasty. Rating of 3 stars - average but deducted a star for poor value. My small pho costed $15 plus tip, $17.25 total - simply not good value for money. I heard the staff speaking Cantonese instead...