Pho Anh Vu Don Mills — Restaurant in Toronto

Pho Anh Vu, located at 900 Don Mills Rd. Unit #9 in North York, is a great spot for fresh and flavorful Vietnamese cuisine. Here’s a breakdown of our experience:

Appetizers: Spring Rolls (Chả Giò) Crispy and flaky, these rolls were perfectly seasoned and paired with a balanced fish sauce. Each bite was fresh and flavorful. Fish Sauce Fried Chicken Wings with Sticky Rice (Cánh Gà Chiên Nước Mắm Với Xôi) The wings were excellent, with a duck-like crispy texture and no fatty tissue. The sticky rice, lightly infused with coconut, complemented the sweet and tangy flavors of the veggies. Mango Salad with Grilled Shrimp (Gỏi Xoài Tôm Nướng) The grilled shrimp were tender and flavorful, while the green mango added a spicy, sweet balance. Even for someone who doesn’t usually enjoy mango salad, this dish impressed.

Mains: Rare Beef Rice Noodle Soup (Phở Tái) The pho broth was rich and flavorful without being greasy. The tender beef and wider noodles came together for a comforting, hearty dish. Grilled Pork, Spring Rolls & Shrimp on Sugarcane with Vermicelli Noodles (Bún Thịt Nướng, Chả Giò, Chạo Tôm) This bowl delivered a perfect combination of grilled pork, crispy spring rolls, and sweet shrimp on sugarcane over vermicelli noodles. The textures and flavors blended beautifully.

Drinks: The iced coffee was strong and bold but perfectly balanced—a must-try for coffee lovers.

Atmosphere: The space is modern, Instagram-worthy, and offers plenty of seating and parking. However, the front door draft made the restaurant chilly, with many diners wearing jackets indoors.

Service: The food quality was fantastic, but the service fell short. The mains were served before the appetizers, with one main arriving several minutes before the other. It took 10 minutes for the appetizers to arrive after the mains, disrupting the flow of the meal. Servers didn’t check in after taking our order, which felt out of place in an upscale setting. Additionally, the drink menu was limited, and water wasn’t automatically provided—only tea.

Overall: Despite minor service issues, Pho Anh Vu Don Mills offers fresh, high-quality Vietnamese dishes in a beautiful setting. The flavors, presentation, and ambiance make it worth a visit.

Pros: • Fresh, flavorful dishes • Beautiful, Instagram-friendly interiors • High-quality ingredients

Cons: • Cold draft from the door • Mains served before appetizers • Limited drink options and no water service • Inconsistent server check-ins

Final Verdict: If you’re craving authentic Vietnamese food with a modern twist, Pho Anh Vu is an excellent choice. From the crispy wings to the bold iced coffee, it’s a dining experience you...

Delicious food, great portions and decent prices. Highly recommend the rare beef pho, mango salad with grilled shrimp, fish sauce chicken wings (don’t worry it doesn’t taste fishy), and chicken on broken rice #33 (SO tender and good).

Portions are amazing, the large sized pho was literally enough to fill two 1-litre containers. Broth was flavourful. The sides are great, be sure to add chili oil, pickled garlic and pepper rings.

Fish sauce chicken wings are tasty, sweet, sticky—really good. The rice that comes formed in a rectangle alongside is hard, not sure if it’s supposed to be like that.

The shrimp with mango was really good, refreshing, the shrimp had a unique flavour to it like smoky almost.

Chicken on broken rice…man it was soo good and delicious. even the broken rice was flavourful!!

Lastly, the delicious vietnamese coffee is a coffee lover’s dream. Rich, dark but complemented by condensed milk. Would only suggest getting this if you like black, bitter coffee. For me, it was a great taste. Only downside is they put soo much ice and not enough coffee.

As for the areas for improvement, i think the staff should probably ask patrons if they have any dietary restrictions or preferences, namely because their food has a lot of common allergens like seafood, peanuts, dairy, sesame, etc. So it’s best to just ask the table beforehand if there are any restrictions. For instance, i don’t eat pork, and many people don’t eat pork for religious reasons, but the cha gio (fried spring rolls) have pork in them, but on the menu, pork is not listed as an ingredient! Good thing i searched online to see what’s typically in cha gio (not everyone is super familiar with vietnamese cuisine so they should really list it out on the menu.) i also asked the waiter who confirmed it’s pork.

Other things to note, the tables and chairs are not cleaned well. Chairs still full of crumbs, those should be wiped after a table is used. Bathroom was messy.

Also similar to a review i saw, they kinda were giving us the vibe that they wanted us out of there. Which is understandable because we were there for longer than we anticipated (cause the food was so good!)

The interior is...

We told them our group was running behind, but they sat us anyway. About 10 minutes later, at which point the rest of our party was already in the parking lot, the waitress told us we had to either order something immediately or give up the table if they did not arrive right away. No flexibility, just an ultimatum.

We had already looked through the menu and were ready to order as soon as the others arrived, but we were not comfortable placing the order just yet because we were not sure what the kids would or would not eat.

I understand the need to manage table flow, but this felt unnecessarily rigid. We were already seated and willing to order promptly, yet we were made to feel rushed and unwelcome.

Maybe that is their policy, but good policy should not come at the expense of basic hospitality.

Reply:

Thank you for your response, but I stand by my review. We were told to order immediately or give up the table with no flexibility and no courtesy. Despite informing staff that the rest of our group was just minutes away, we were met with an ultimatum.

Rather than acknowledging how rushed and unwelcome we felt, your response focused on dismissing our experience. Accusing a customer of lying over a negative review is not a good look.

And as for the mention of “internal notes”...frankly, it’s laughable. The fact that a restaurant keeps “documentation” to defend itself against a basic review instead of reflecting on how it treats customers is telling. If only half that effort went into customer service, maybe this review wouldn’t have been necessary in the first...