Bowl O'Pho — Restaurant in London

I was looking forward to some time alone before seeing my friend in a local theatre show. I was recommended this place by another local friend. I ordered summer rolls, which were nice, (and they did heat up some extra peanut dip for me). I got a replacement for the Bánh mì, which had mayonnaise in it, and that would have been fine, but what really upset me was the staff.

After replacing the food, they told me I should tell them of any dietary requirements beforehand... so, I was meant to guess that they would put mayonnaise on it despite having listed the six other ingredients? I found the staff passive aggressive and any efforts to please me were just fake. I worked and lived in Vietnam for some months and so always searching for some of my favourite foods from that time, but yet this place has failed to deliver, the food not good enough (and even gave me some upset stomach) to make up for the service.

The hostility I felt with this conflict was really upsetting. I'm neurodivergent, so perhaps it wouldn't impact on others in the same way, but I was tearful after the staff said this to me, basically blaming me for their error. I would have requested no mayonnaise if it was on the menu, but it wasn't, and it made me very frustrated to have to point this out and I couldn't really believe that they would say this. I felt like walking out and going somewhere else.

The place was also completely dead except for one woman and her children. They took over the whole place, talking loudly with the staff with no regard for the fact that I was there and wanted some peace and quiet. Classic FM is also a weird choice. It was also really cold. Why the staff were friendly to this person and not to me, I don't know. Simply for asking not to have mayonnaise on a dish? Something that happens sometimes even when I've requested it, and usually staff are apologetic for. If the staff were more friendly and genuine, maybe I would have been able to talk about having lived in Vietnam, but I was clearly of very little importance to this place and was not made to feel comfortable or welcome at all.

Maybe with more people, it has a better vibe and you can relax alone with chatter as background noise, but next time I will not be asking if every dish has mayonnaise on it, because I will not be...

We visited this place on a Sunday in the afternoon at 2pm where it was not busy.

It was our first time visiting this restaurant and we are not locals to Bromley.

We ordered the following items: Meat Spring rolls - Cha nem thit (Pork, Prawns, carrot, cabbage, vermicelli, black fungi & onions) Special Bun bo Hue - spicy noodles (we only had pork and beef in ours) A Pot of Vietnamese tea Coca Cola

We did have to wait a bit to be served so I had to wave for a waiter to get their attention as one of the female staff were looking at their phone. However I could see the gentleman behind the counter dealing with a few takeaway drivers.

The meat spring rolls were tasty but were a bit on the salty side. They were freshly fried though, very hot and were crispy!

Our Special Bun Bo Hue did not seem too special as we only had pork and beef in our ones. We were expecting more types of meat but then again it does not specify what types of meat is in the special.

The broth was tasty but not that spicy. Perhaps they cater for the spice levels of their locals.

The staff were friendly when it came to taking our order, serving our food and taking our payment.

Overall the food was decent, and the price was relative based on their location.

Only dropping it to 1 star as the special bun bo hue could have been more ‘special’ as in another type of meat or to ensure that the special mentions what type of meat is to be expected on the menu. Also the drop of 1 star is just due to staff attentiveness where they lacked this at the beginning.

Thank you for a...

One of my worst restaurant experiences. Went in on a Sunday afternoon after having a reservation. After being seated for atleast 10 mins no one came to take our order. We finally called the girl and asked for recommendations and portion sizes and placed an order for the BBQ platter (sliced raw meats)that she said was good for 4 people and we shouldn't order anything else to cook at our table 20 mins nothing came out when we asked the staff they said they were busy and it would take another 10 minutes. 15 minutes later nothing and we asked again to be told they are short staffed in the kitchen and would be another 10 minutes. After asking a few more time the tray of sliced raw meat came out 1 hour after taking our order with a bowl of rice. On asking for another bowl of rice the girl said it would take time. Funny for an Asian restaurant to not have rice cooked and ready to serve also the portion was not good for 4 person we were 2 adults and a child and it wasn't enough. It seemed like they were just slow as delivery drivers came in and waited for atleast 20 mins to pick an order other tables were also waiting...