Wow Banh Mi — Restaurant in Manchester

Went there for lunch for a couple times, and I am happy to share that the food is really good! I got cheese & corn dog, Pho Bo - Beef Pho, roast chicken Vietnamese Baguette. It exceeded my expectations of what I was thinking before I walked into the restaurant, as it was a new place i haven't tried before. The Beef Pho tastes fantastic, the fresh and delicious beef and big bowl of soup along with veggies. Cheese and corn dog is of a great portion that I enjoyed, of course, it's very satisfying to have a lot of stretchy cheese after a small bite, the stringiness is very mouthwatering indeed, not to forget about the potato on top and surrounding the corndog. Last but not least, the roast chicken baguette, I love the flavour of the sauce spread on the crispy baguette, and the roasted chicken is very tender. Much appreciated the quality of the three items I've gotten from the menu. They were all very appealing and had given me plenty of appetite throughout the meal. Truthfully said, Wow Banh Mi offers great food, and I am grateful to be one of the many customers to come on a regular basis. We later also tried some other dishes from the menu: Com Tam Suon Cha Op La - Wow Saigon Rice, Goi Cuon - Summer Rolls, Cha Gio - Spring Rolls 3 pieces, Banh Cuon - Vietnamese Steamed Rice Rolls. Overall, we love each of them and had a lot of joy at the meal. Totally would recommend if anyone is looking for a new Vietnamese place...

I was lured to the place as I saw lots of recent reviews saying it's the best Vietnamese in MCR and wish I had gone to my regular go-to spot down the road instead.

Service was excellent, but what I've ordered was just okay. Pho lacked depth of flavour, meat was too chewy, no bowl of salad and herbs served with it - just a handful of bean sprouts. Also, no classic condiments on the table: chilli oil, fish sauce, marinated garlic and others.

Papaya salad was also okay, it lacked heat and there wasn't enough lime juice on it to balance the sweetness and no dried shrimps to elevate the dish.

I'm assuming most of reviews are coming from people new to the cousine/never had a really authentic Vietnamese (very hard to find in Manchester though). If I wasn't a connoisseur I'd have probably given a 5* as well. Worth noting is that I didn't see any Vietnamese folks and the restaurant was full, which is never a case in my favourite spots.

I must return to try out signature banh mi and non-soup dishes, perhaps that's what drives everyone crazy. Curry bratwurst section of the menu worries me as well for a place the owner calls authentic.

If you fancy a great bowl of pho there are well better establishments...

Extremely disappointing experience.

We arrived 10 minutes late for our reservation, well within the 15-minute grace period stated clearly in the confirmation email. Despite this, we were told our table had been given away. The staff member (a male with glasses) was unfriendly and dismissive. I calmly explained that we followed the email’s instructions, which state only to call if more than 15 minutes late. He didn’t seem to care.

He said we could wait 15 minutes for another table, which was fair, and I appreciated that. But as I was walking into the restaurant to be seated, he followed behind me and repeated, in a stern tone, that next time I “must call” if I’m going to be late, despite the fact that I was clearly within the allowed time. It felt like I was being told off in public—for doing nothing wrong.

That ruined my mood immediately.

On top of that, we ordered two different drinks—one matcha latte with boba and one matcha with boba—but received two identical drinks and were still charged extra for the latte. When we questioned it, we were told they’re the same. Then why the extra charge?

The whole experience felt disrespectful, poorly handled, and not worth the time or money....