Thanh Binh Restaurant — Restaurant in Cambridge

Had an extremely frustrating experience with making a reservation at this restaurant and dealing with the staff (particularly the owner upon confrontation).

Firstly, it is crucial to note that reservations made through their website are not considered valid. The owner consistently claimed ignorance about these reservations, despite the fact that this issue has been well documented in Google Reviews dating back two years. It is disappointing to see a lack of effort on their part to rectify this ongoing problem.

Furthermore, the limited availability for phone reservations adds another layer of inconvenience. The restaurant only accepts calls during their specified serving hours, leaving customers in a bind if they need to reach them outside of that timeframe. This lack of accessibility only serves to compound the frustration associated with making a reservation.

Even during their designated serving hours, communication with the staff proved to be a daunting task. They rarely pick up, and in times when they do, they appeared perpetually busy and were quick to hang up when difficulties arose, also conveniently shifting blame onto the customer. I personally experienced this dismissive behaviour when I confronted them about a promised return call that never materialised. Upon visiting the restaurant in person, I was met with rejection and accusations of aggression. The owner of the business stated it had only been 10 mins since she said she would call me back, when it had already been 30 mins. While I understand that waitressing is a busy job and lunch is a busy time, my urgency stemmed from my point 2 above, where it is impossible to call them up outside of serving hours. Their shift for lunch was ending soon, but my reservation for that night had still not been confirmed, and the owner failed to show any understanding or sympathy for the situation. Sadly, a quick glance at previous Google reviews confirms that I am not alone in encountering similar situations of such unprofessionalism and poor customer service.

In light of my experience, I feel obliged to caution others when considering making reservations at this restaurant. The conduct of the staff is deeply frustrating and characterised by unsatisfactory responses, a consistent evasion of responsibility, and a strong inclination to shift blame back onto the customer, only serving to spoil what could have been an enjoyable dining experience. What is particularly disheartening is the owner's inability to differentiate between an unhappy customer and a rude one, something which I believe is at the base of working in the service industry. My conversation with the owner ended with her telling me that she did not want to see my face and to find somewhere else to eat, even refusing me for takeout despite making the effort to visit the restaurant in person to clarify their own reservation system issues. It's safe to say I will not be attempting to give business to this establishment any time soon (something probably of relief to the owner as well). Unfortunate as their Pho is one of the more authentic ones in Cambridge...

I have visited this authentic Vietnamese Restaurant in Cambridge many times: meals have been enjoyed with different combinations of family and friends and over the decade since this family-run establishment opened.

Unfortunately, for reasons beyond our control, the visit last for dinner on 14th August 2015 was the first for many months - but my wife and I can only comment in the best possible terms: the food choices are pleasantly varied and very tasty - certainly served in perfectly adequate portions; the staff were, as always in our experience, attentive, discreet and courteous and although unrushed, they were attentive; the ambience was pleasant in the tastefully decorated high-ceilinged (upstairs) room.

While there isn't a licence for alcohol, the proximity of wine merchants - a couple of hundred yards away down Bridge Street in one useful instance - this detracts little and in our view corkage was perfectly reasonable. After all, the mark-up on wine listed in most UK restaurants is usually several-fold. We thought that this aspect gives a feeling of easy informality to the evening - especially since wine matches for most Asian foods are not usually so challenging.

Cambridge, is in reality still a rather small place and naturally the quality and diversity of its restaurants are limited: it seems not only good to be able sample excellent Vietnamese cuisine from time to time but to do so in a relaxed way in a mediaeval street right in the town's heart!

Let's get real - such are the costs and exploitative rental charges for businesses, many small family-run concerns are fast giving way to chains and familiar High Street generics of mediocre quality. Given what one can so easily pay to eat at inferior places, the charges at Thanh Binh again seemed perfectly reasonable: £40 per head for a pleasantly satiating three courses, including Jasmine tea, bottled water - and corkage.

We did not recognise the experiences of a few critical reviews. This little institution was well patronized last night and clearly we are not alone in wishing to support the efforts of its owners to provide fragrant and gently spicy food from a different cuisine. To us they seem to be making a real difference to the dining choices in the centre of this town - in pleasant surroundings and at a...

A lovely little spot to have dinner in, small, cosy and secluded from the din of the street despite being quite central (in a little nook just off of Magdalene Bridge). The dishes are all Vietnamese specialities, all prepared fresh, with care, and quite perfectly sized (despite what some of the other reviews have stated, my colleagues and I actually found them to be more than large enough to feed a range of adults, although of course nowhere near as enormous as the sorts of plates one might expect to find in one of the innumerable local pubs). The drinks are limited to non-alcoholic options, as the restaurant doesn't hold a liquor licence, but the restaurant does offer per-person corkage for those who'd like to bring their own (which is especially convenient given that The Cambridge Wine Merchants is just off to the other side of the bridge, and open as long as Thanh Binh itself); the only way it could possibly be any more convenient is if the restaurant also offered ice buckets to store wine in (although, in our case, the staff were incredibly kind and simply offered to keep it stored in their fridge before our plates came out instead). The prices are fair for Cambridge (about £20 for a main, £10 for a starter or a dessert, £4 for a drink, and £3 for corkage), especially given the freshness, range, and sorts of ingredients used (of which I would especially recommend the fresh juices, particularly the passion fruit, which I thought was one of the absolute best I've ever had; as well as the quail with garlic on a bed of lettuce, prawn curry, and...