Pho Star in Vancouver — Restaurant in Vancouver

If you want fresh ingredients in your Pho, this would be the place.

However... that is the only thing going for this place. I do appreciate the renovations compared to the old setup, but service was lacking, the food in general was subpar, and literally everything in our order was wrong. I really wanted to give this place a chance because we loved Lucky Garden, but to get literally everything wrong on our order is inexcusable.

For our 3 year Anniversary, my fiance and I along with our baby, decided to try out the new place. When we first entered, the ambiance was inviting and we were greeted. The host was then interrupted mid-greet by another patron, which he then took care of first, before we even got seated. The host ran off, took care of the patron then seated us. We noticed that he was the only one on the floor, but the place is small, and there were only 4 tables, two which were just waiting on their meals. Upon taking our order he seemed pretty on top of it and diligent so we gave him the benefit of the doubt. We ordered pot stickers steamed and vegetarian egg rolls for appetizers, the Pho special #1 no tripe or tendon large, and a small chicken Pho. Pretty easy right?

Our first appetizer came out. Salad rolls... not ours obviously. We tried to flag him down, but he never came back. We figured he was too busy, and we were too hungry, that we'd just chalk it up to him being overwhelmed. We ate the salad rolls, but then our actual appetizers come out, but the lady only gave us the vegetarian rolls crispy, then walks off with our pot stickers. She ends up almost giving the pot stickers to another table, but then we finally get her to come back and explain to her what happened. She apologizes and says it's fine and gives us the right appetizers. The pot stickers were under-steamed and doughy, and the egg rolls were burnt... From here on out we're just hoping that our Pho is on point.

The Pho comes, they give her a large instead of a small, and my #1 special ended up having both Tendon and Tripe in it... I don't normally get upset, but being that this was our 3 year anniversary, I try to keep things to myself as to not embarrass us. I was silent the rest of the meal. The only "good part" of the entire meal was that the lady that came to check on us interacted with our baby and got her to laugh. To top it off, when she drops off the ticket, they tried to charge us for everything. The wrong appetizer, and the size large on her chicken pho. I calmly asked that this be changed and she quickly apologizes and asks the host for the change. He comes to our table and apologizes for the "one" mistake that was made. By now I just wanted to leave, we had barely eaten half of what was brought to the table and were still hungry, so I paid the bill after adjusted , and left.

Here's the kick, both my fiance and I have worked, served, and ran restaurants. We were patient, we even looked past him being overwhelmed even though it wasn't busy. Even if they had just one more person, it probably would have been a better experience. But then the food was either burnt (egg rolls) or the pot stickers were under-steamed and doughy. Then the Pho was wrong, both of them. So it wasn't just "one" mistake. And if it wasn't our Anniversary, I probably wouldn't even be taking the time to write this post.

We wanted to give this place a shot and we did. Lesson learned. I think they have the right formula, right ambiance, but are short staffed, and the lacking attention to detail is definitely showing through the service given and food brought to the table. Should have just gone to...

So this is a mixed review... loved it but can never eat there again!

After a life long peanut eating habit I ended up in ER with severe anaphylactic shock. It's no fault of the restaurant!! My body just said NOPE! randomly one day...

I ordered Pho- eye of round, Chiken potstickers, chicken pad thai extra spice.

Pho- rating of 3/5. I love my PHO and will make from scratch at home... TIME CONSUMING!! While mine can be knock your socks off good, I prefer the easy route.

While I can no longer dine in any Asian establishment ( good contamination is to risky with allergy) I still very much enjoyed it!

There are better PHo spots! Their Pad Thai was OK. I'd eat it again if I could- so sad, my fav dish!

Pho was 4th/5th ish ranking for Vancouver. Not lacking of too much flavor but not bad.

Chicken potstickers were LOVELY! hard to find where old chicken flavor is not forefront, they were fresh and tasty!

Service was a 10! Very happy and friendly and gave my midget (kiddo) a free beverage. Was a nice mommy & me date experience!

I'd return if I could! Damn...

Not our first trip, and for good reason. The food is excellent. On this trip, we had turmeric noodles and bun bo hue. The turmeric noodle dishes was cooked perfectly and they were more than generous with the chicken. The bun bo hue had a generous amount of beef and the spice level was just right. Salad rolls were wrapped tightly and tasted super good. Very fresh! The young man who served us was kind and made sure to ask about the quality of the food and if we needed anything else. Atmosphere is rather nice, as the high ceiling and decore really makes it feel warm and homey. Will continue to support this Vancouver gem. Update: Feb 22nd, 2025. Wanted to mention upon this return, the great beef salad. We also had turmeric noodles and salad rolls. Just fabulous! Quality is exceptional. Always...