Pho Canterbury — Restaurant in Canterbury

Daughter loves the food here and brought me for the first time. Food was okay but the service was shambolic, comically disengaged and surly - straight from the school of Basil Fawlty - by all bar one guy, who was rushed off his feat. How we all envied those tables!

Four servers were vying to seat customers before returning to the door and standing at ease crowding it out less than 10 feet away from our section, all chatting/staring into the middle distance or taking turns walking very fast down the middle of the restaurant and back with their own drinks, all the better for all that standing and chatting, I suppose.

Meanwhile one guy worked from the far end of the restaurant and never stopped serving.. up our end It appeared to be a needle match between the four servers hanging out amongst themselves by the door on who can ignore the top end tables the longest. We honestly had no idea who our server was supposed to be and neither did those around us, in no man’s land.

We had plenty of time to take this all in as the tables in our sections were actively ignored…. We checked with our fellow diners. It became a running joke.

After 20 minutes we had to catch one of the speeding drifters on passing who was clearly displeased about having to take an order. Perhaps she lost a bet? Server was impatient, snappish and short. We made sure to be unfailingly polite, in comic stark contrast. We were congratulated on getting someone by our fellow, equally neglected diners. We were now all in this together.

It was the same for trying to order additional drinks and the bill, a game of catch them if you can. Nobody had their tables checked in on, nobody had waited less than 15 mins before ordering, queries were not responded to. Don’t bother with this place if you have allergies, or wish to order more food or drinks. Paying takes nerves of steel.

Finally, after one last hopeful glance and smile to draw one of them in, it took several attempts, we managed to request the bill. To be Rewarded with the card machine slammed onto the table before the server literally turned her back and left without a word, all the better to be further ignored. She did the same to those around us. It wasn’t personal.

We completed the transaction ourselves and had to just… leave the card payment unit on the table…? No receipt opportunity with this self serve vibe but my card was charged so there’s that I suppose. We made sure to mention the card machine was there to one of the fab impassive four on our way out. They did not seem bothered nor made any attempt to fetch it. Definitely some kind of bet going on, we thought as we escaped.

Our order was wrong but it was not worth trying to tell anybody as they hated being distracted from all that standing, drinking and chatting by the door. Do not try this place unless you enjoy a lived in experience of comically bad service. Which you then have to pay for.

In a heavily competitive restaurant scene I don’t see this place lasting long unless someone sorts out the professionalism of its serving staff. None of them were young. This wasn’t immaturity, It’s not cheap and Canterbury is used to better, engaged service even on the most basic level and gets it everywhere else. If you want a chain, go to Wagamama’s instead. There was little point telling anyone on the day, who on earth would...

I was surprised to see that they were still open later in the evening as most restaurants close very early in Canterbury. The food at the restaurant is way better than the take away as well. I don't know why you pay the same. But if you can eat in instead of take away. That said their take away is more sustainably conscious, and I loved that. They are by far one of the few places on Canterbury that offer more vegan and gluten free food. I didn't feel limited to eating something I don't actually fancy. I could feel the excitement of eating out and actually choosing from a menu instead of being forced to eat one dish. The music was very enjoyable as well. The ambience was chill and nice to be in. The food was very tasty and I enjoyed it a lot, my hubby also enjoyed his. The cons are: We found a hard piece of plastic on the ice-cream and we could have choked on it and cut it inside our throat. We told the waitress and she didn't even apologise. I know when we open ice cream tubs a piece of the cover can break and fall inside the ice cream but this is still dangerous. And the staff didn't even bother to apologise. So this showed lack of care from the kitchen staff not even noticing the plastic fell inside the ice-cream and the waitress not even apologising. Let alone something complementary. A good staff would at least apologise. The second con is the waitress,she was aloof and not present at all. She would ask something and even before we got a chance to say something she was going off. So she was just filling in a box she was told to do but didn't care and didn't even try to do it right. Of course she didn't even apologise for the plastic in the ice cream. And several times she was like oh you are talking to me. Because of the cons I am not sure if it is safe to order takeaway. And eating in may be a different experience with a different staff member. I like the brand, the menu, the options,the design, ambience and sustainability approach but the staff...

unfortunately we had a terrible time... We were seated quickly, and the server had taken our order for drinks and food. I had the Curry noodle soup with Beef, and my partner had the Classic Curry with Vegan Chicken, although that's what we thought we ordered. The person who had taken our order came back to us all confused and was asking my partner what she ordered, I said I ordered the Beef curry soup and she ordered the classic vegan chicken curry. However the server was talking over the top of us and then walked away.

the drinks arrived quickly and our starter arrived 15 minutes after that. Our main arrived roughly 30 to 40 minutes after being seated, this wasn't a problem and i completely understand that they were busy. After i received my food the server spilt the food on the table, however the tables outside have holes and poured it over my legs and shoes. She quickly apologised and got blue towel to clean up the spill. When I looked at the food I can see that the order was wrong. I received a Tofu Curry soup and my partner received classic curry with Beef. our food was taken away and a replacement was sent about 20 minutes after.

After we had finished, the manager asked how was the food. We explained what happened and then offered 20% off the bill, although that's what was promised but never received. the server who has been tending to our table gave me the bill and we was charged for an extra 2 meals on top of what we ordered, no discount was added to the meal as we were promised. When we received our final bill and after much discussion, they took off the 2 meals we didn't order but the 20% discount was not added. when we was leaving I spoke to the manager, and he apologised for all what has happened and offered a refund for the 2 main meals.

I'm yet to see a refund, and might avoid from coming again...

The food was delicious but the first time experience is the reason why we won't...