Ruby Pho & Deli — Restaurant in Washington

Okay so this is the BEST tasting Vietnamese joint in Vancouver. While I only have two small critiques, know that everything about this place is pretty positive.

Sometimes I order and pick up the food, and sometimes I do Uber Eats. When I order through Uber Eats, I can’t seem to order the coffee without being forced to add rainbow jellies to it. 💀 Let me tell you, the rainbow jellies make the otherwise INSANELY DELICIOUS coffee taste awful. If you order through UE, you HAVE to call the restaurant to tell them not to add the jellies. I hope they fix this on the UE app soon!

More on the coffee — The cup is never full. It’s an almost $6 drink that is frequently $4 - $5 everywhere else. It’s okay, because it’s my favorite. But one day I went into the shop to order the coffee with no ice so that I could save it for the next morning. They poured me a cup that was genuinely less than 1/4th of a cup full. 💀 I was like DAAAANNNG, I’m paying $6 for just this?! Needless to say, I won’t be doing that again.

The food is delicious. The apps, the entrees, EVERYTHING. The only dish I’ve had that was just “OK” was the Korean Short Rib dish… I had to try it with the Vietnamese spin. Well, for almost $19, I got five short ribs and a huge pile of jasmine rice, some shredded carrot, sliced cucumber, lettuce, a bunch of cilantro and a bunch of green onion. The meat was tender, but scarce — for this price at Young’s Kitchen or even Ichi Teriyaki, you get a lot more short rib. Five pieces was very surprising!

The flavor was okay — nothing like you’d expect. Or maybe I should have expected it, since this is not a Korean restaurant! But it was not bad. Just too expensive for a pile of plain rice with, essentially, a side of short rib and veggies. I suggest sticking to the Vietnamese dishes on the menu!

But this will not stop me from going to Ruby Pho and Deli. No, not at all.

The restaurant smells incredible as soon as you open the door. I swear I order more food just because it smells so good in there. Their pho is delicious, their rice plates are divine, and their apps are awesome. The staff works hard. They’re punctual and polite. The chefs are obviously talented in their craft. I highly, HIGHLY recommend this restaurant to everyone, all the time, always.

I wrote this review to encourage people to dine here. If you get the coffee or the short rib and you’re not satisfied with the quantity, please be kind in how you approach the staff.

Anyways, can’t wait for next week’s...

In my eternal search for the perfect broth, I have searched near and Pho. I have started to run out of places in central Vancouver and find myself wandering further afield. Ruby Pho is pretty new and it seems like a lot of the buzz is based on their sandwiches. My first impressions of the decor was that it was just a touch on the generic side, clean, but not a lot of character. The waiter was pleasant, but not as friendly or welcoming as so many of their competitors... Not bad, but not particularly enthusiastic. None of that is particularly important if the Pho is amazing. I start out with the Coconut Shrimp and it's great! Succulent and crunchy, piping hot and tender. And then comes the Beef Pho and it's similar to the atmosphere, Clean, simple, unassuming, but to my taste lacking the depth and complexity that I have come to love. To be clear, not bad, but just not great. Luckily they have well stocked condiment tray so I can dial things up a bit myself. There is so much potential in these places. Potential to make the customer feel cared for and satiated with layers of decor and flavor. Vancouver has a lot of really amazing Pho places, not to mention Tom Yums and Ramens. Places where you feel like you are visiting another country and the the staff are taking you on a journey, but not Ruby Pho. It's just a pretty good place that I would visit often if I lived in the neighborhood, but wouldn't go out of my way for. Dare I say it, I think the owners would benefit from some visits to their competitors. All that said, Maybe the place they shine is their sandwiches, but before I will delve into a restaurant's deeper possibilities, I need to be baptized in broth. I need to be dipped three times and come up satiated and limp. Ruby Pho gets 4 stars because I liked the shrimp and because the broth noodle was plentiful and because the broth, although a touch on the bland side, was still honest and ample. If I find my way back, I'll try the sandwiches and maybe that will fire me up like a bonfire...

Service without a smile should be this restaurant's motto! And the food? Gordon would have walked out -- I bet money on that! This experience is not one that I will ever repeat because I will not be returning to this restaurant.

The pho soup did not taste fresh. It also tasted diluted and lacked the desired pho flavor. The salad rolls were tough. The food upset my stomach, and that's rare -- I usually absolutely love Vietnamese dishes!

And the SERVICE. Oh my -- the service. It takes some very poor service to catch my attention! "To go?" and "Are you ready to order?" and "Ok" were the only words uttered from the waitress the entire experience. I wasn't checked on once after receiving the food. Water glass empty. I went up to the counter to pay and received total silence. She flipped the screen and walked away! I tapped with my credit card and I guess that was the end? Yes, why yes it was, because I'll never be returning to this restaurant.

NO, the pho is not that great here! It tasted watered down and lacked flavor. This restaurant might suffice for this part of Vancouver,...