Saigon Lotus — Restaurant in Toronto

The soups are usually good and I had no complaints until my most recent visit. In fact I had a 5 star review in the past which I deleted today after the terrible experience i had today. I have been a regular at Saigon with my husband, but most recently I had the worst experience and this was today, Dec 2, 2023 evening. My husband and I were here after a reservation and we ordered 19 (Pho) and 23 (Tom Yum/Spicy Tamarind soup) which is what we get normally. However, the server got us 19 and 20, 19 was correct but 20 was incorrect and was a very oily spicy broth and not the Tom Yum that I had ordered. As soon as I realized that with the first sip, I reported it to the server. But to my disappointment when I brought it up with the server, he said that he heard 20 when I clearly remember saying 23. Instead of acknowledging the misunderstanding and offering us to correct the mistake by replacing the soup, he seemed to suggest that I was wrong which was just an utter disappointment to me, I come here all the time and always get the same thing and didn't even know what 20 was. I only knew that I get 23 which I requested again today. Even after realizing the misunderstanding, he (the server) did not even offer a replacement and forced us to put up with the broth we did not even order. The spicy 20 broth (not Tom Yum which I requested) was way too spicy for me and I could not get past a couple of sips on it. My husband who kindly offered to switch his 19 with what I got (that I did not order), couldn't have the spicy broth either, and we pretty much had to leave the broth there and just eat the noodles and vegan meat in it. Overall this experience was very disappointing for us, this was THE WORST customer service ever I've seen at Saigon. Whoever the server was on this day should be trained to better handle customer experiences. I am never coming here on a Saturday evening to be served by the same server again who served us today if they don't fix this issue and that is, if I decide to come here again.

Also, in the beginning we had requested both water and tea and the server misheard us on this also, and only got us tea without serving us water throughout our dine in experience here.

To top it all off, the server informed us at the end that they the billing machines are new and a 3% additional fee will be added on credit card payments which also added in some way to the disappointing experience.

But I was most disappointed with the service I received at Saigon today. Improvement suggestion: Please inform and train staff to verbally repeat any order that they take from the customer to avoid misunderstandings like what happened today (the server noting 20 instead of 23 that I requested) ruining our...

How this place has such great reviews is beyond me. The food looks and taste the way the pictures in the menu look so at least there's some honesty 🙄 (sarcasm) I ordered a vegan crab and avocado rice roll. There were literally 2 shreds of crab and 1 slice of avocado. $3.75

I also had the large vegan pho. It literally had no taste, so I asked for extra extra mint and lime to give it some taste. It had a bunch of tofu and tempeh looking things but I don't even know what they were because the menu simply said "vegan pho". I tried them all, but I couldn't eat them due to the taste. $10

And the cherry on top of it all is the dessert (see picture) No, the picture is not my leftover desert. It is a takeout mango sticky rice. It has 5 pieces of mango (cut in half so basically 2.5 actual pieces of mango) and 2 spoonfuls of rice. It doesn't look small because of the container it is in - it literally is 2 spoons of rice and 2.5 pieces of mango. $5

I looked around to see what people were eating- maybe I got the wrong things? But no...the portions are very small and look very unappealing. I don't mean to be rude but dog food looks better.

I also want to add that there was a family that ordered the mango sticky rice. It looked good, just like in the menu (a mountain of rice and big pieces of mango). Was my takeout a joke or something? Because it wasn't funny.

I definitely don't recommend this place. I have absolutely no idea how people can praise it. There are plenty other Asian food places around that taste a billion times better, where the food actually looks decent and there are decent portions.

Stay away. Save your stomach the trouble of...

I am in LOVE with this place and spend way too much here 🙈 I order from here multiple times a week and absolutely love their super affordable and scrumptious vegan versions of authentic Asian dishes!

Some of my faves are - the BBQ vegan meat Bahn mi combo, the BBQ vegan meat vermicelli, vegan butter chicken fries and yam tempura fresh rolls - to name a few 🤤

My fave vegan Asian spot in the city, highly recommend!

Update July 2025: Unfortunately I had to dock a few points due to some changes they made through the UberEats app. When ordering you are forced to use the Suppli reusable containers which they charge you 75¢ for (no more option for one-time use disposable container) so I thought ok and went for it.

Received an email today from Suppli saying if I didn't return the container I'd be charged $15. I understand the resto is trying to reduce waste but it should be up to consumer, NOT charged extra for AND informed beforehand that a fee will be applied if not returned.

Love this resto but I will have to pass on giving them my business going forward due to this forced Suppli use. When ordering delivery, the last thing you want to be responsible for is rinsing and returning a container they force you to use AND upcharge for.

EDIT: September 2025

Back to 5 stars! They removed the reusable Suppli container option and I couldn't be happier. Thank you Saigon Lotus for once again being my go-to for delicious,...