Pho Kim — Restaurant in Dublin

I have been looking forward to eating Pho after coming back from Turkiye. Pho is my comfort food as Ramen to others. This would have been my first one here in Dublin and I really really wanted to like the place. My Pho tasted excellent. The food to price ratio was also totally fine for me, considering all that meat I got. As I used to work for a Vietnamese Restaurant in Germany as well as I have been in both Hanoi and Hồ Chí Minh, my Pho dac Biet almost reminded me of that trip of mine. Now, of course I can't compare the prices neither to Germany most especially not to Vietnam but I was really disappointed of the treatment we've received today. First, I thought we should book a table because I've heard that the restaurant is almost always full and sure enough, we've been seated between 4 friendly looking but for my partner a bit too loud Filipinas that kinda reminded me of home and an Irish woman to our right/left. The waitress took her time to serve us. Even had time to serve the food of the 4 Filipinas as well as for the Irish Woman. And when we finished eating, it also took time for the waitresses to check up on us. The Irish Woman, had her coffee and her dessert, she was able to pay already as well as two german women came in and sit on where she was sitting, we still haven't gotten our table cleaned nor we have been asked if we wanted desserts. I would have loved to but I really felt like we were invisible for both the Manager and the waitress. The two german women was able to order, got their drinks and even got their meals before I could get a hold of the Manager to tell her that we would like to pay and even that, did not prompt her to give us the bill nor clean our table. New guests came in and she'd totally forgotten our bill. My partner got up and went to the cashier to pay.

I don't know what happened there but the waitress already looked very pissed and was almost throwing the dishes from the tables to the trays. I mean, yes, we were sitting in between of a 4 seater table as well as a two seater one but that doesn't mean that we were totally invisible as we literally were just in front of them... The Manager was friendly at first but she didn't even smile nor organized properly. As someone who used to work as a waitress as well as a food service Manager, I was taught to give the bill to the guests that are about to go first. You shouldn't be caring so much of the people that are just arriving or you can perhaps just gesture that you'd attend to them as soon as you are done with your guests, whilst you mentally count how many persons they will be and how many tables you will need. This is supposed to be universal. My partner did not like his food so much, perhaps it was the way it was marinated but he is not as fond as me of Pho either, if we have been treated more like they have treated western looking people in front of us, he would probably looked past that and would have gotten something else next time but I doubt we'll ever...

Terrible service, rude staff!:

We ordered 2 dishes. One was a Vietnamese soup with steak in it. The steak came pink colour, although we knew it was a mild steak, this time the steak was not prepared like previous times, We have been there. We asked the male waiter if he could please change the steak to be a bit better done. He argued that : "the steak is meant to be this way, that next time we should be more clear to save time and hassle" while he took the soup to change it,  another female waiter, behind the counter, made an ugly face of being bothered because she heard, we asked to change it and get it more well done ( they made us feel guilty to ask for this change, like we were the one to blame).

The female waiter came back , and dropped the bowl of soup on our table (this time the steak was done) but she did it loudly in a very rude manner and left without even looking at us. Both waiters, male and female, made the dining experience very unpleasant.

At the till, before the payment, I told them both how disappointed I was with the service, despite me having tried their food previous times, the food was not up to the standards we had previously had it.. The male waiter apologised for the poor  service. But the Asian female waiter laughed at our faces, and did not even say sorry for having slammed the bowl of soup on our table. I've never encountered a waiter so eager not to apologise for her bad manners . Even if she hadn't meant it, she should have said, sorry. But instead, she laughed and walked away. She was rude and unprofessional. Nothing like the owner that he has always been kind and caring with their customers.

If you care about your business, be careful who you hire to deliver a service for a business you believe in.

You both ruined the whole experience. Pity, because we like your food, but from today you lost 2...

The fact that I have walked past this place numerous times without even considering a visit is a shame. The restaurant quaint. A bit bare-bones as far as decor is concerned, but the giant, gaudy carving of the Vietnamese countryside on one wall, and the faux painting of a young Vietnamese woman on the other was sufficient. The food more than makes up for it. We had quite possibly the loveliest stir-fry with chicken and pineapple, and marinated pork with rice noodles we've had in some time. The place is a bit on the higher end for lunchtime as far as the price is concerned, but the quality more than justifies the price. The staff are also non-obtrusive, friendly, and helpful. We were also able to just get up and pay when we wanted to leave. The best thing about Asian restaurants is that they're all that way, just leave when you want to. No faffing about with the service, no waiting for the bill, etc. Second best Vietnamese in Dublin, imo. Go. Eat some friggin summer rolls, you ding dongs. ...