" Hygine Issues "

Value for money		Suitable for...
The food		.. a date
The service		.. business dinner
The decor		.. with friends

The manager (Managers wear blue denim colored shirts, wait staff wear green), picks his nose in the dining area. He'll then use those same hands to handle bowls, plates and utensils.

That sort of occurrence is not one off, it is habitual. If the managers behave this way in the dining area in plain view of the customers, this indicates no understanding of basic hygiene, I didn't even get halfway through my noodles before the sight of him digging away became too much and I left without finishing.

" Bland And Unremarkable, Two "

Value for money		Suitable for...
The food		.. a date
The service		.. business dinner
The decor		.. with friends

I can pretty much confirm what kale said. Was there early last week and had forgotten about it. Have been there a couple of times due to location, but probably won't be back again with the new place in town now being in my neighbourhood.

They always start you off with a half basket of stale shrimp chips and both times I went, I had very inattentive wait staff whom I had to flag down to order/add items/pay. Their faces also showed they really couldn't care less if you got served or not.

The pho was served with an overly salty broth which hinted of instant pho soup cubes which i've tried before to get a point of reference. Don't know if they boost their soup with a touch of it, but I would not be shocked. Meat slices were skimpy (had the steak and brisket) and the brisket was not like at other places where the meat is uniformly grained with maybe a chunk of fat at one end or along one edge. This looked like a sliced piece of scrap something with fat/vessels/meat/all intertwined. Almost enough to make someone go vegan. Almost. Aromatics were were not generous at all, and in poor shape with a token sprig of basil having some darkened, softened leaves indicating rot.

Plus side was the vietnamese chicken salad which was generous with shredded chicken, and had a strong pleasantly sour/sweet mix of veggies underneath, including pickled daikon. Had remembered not to order the usual stuff I like, such as salad rolls, as I didn't like them the previous visit. So I took a shot in the dark and came up with one winning dish at least. However, too little too late as I will likely not return again unless stranded at Nanjing Xi Lu for some reason, and everything else is closed.

" Bland And Unremarkable "

Value for money		Suitable for...
The food		.. a date
The service		.. business dinner
The decor		.. with friends

Am not an expert on vietnamese food but i've had it enough time to know how they ought to be so ended up very disappointed with their pho and rice rolls.

i had heard very good things about this place from friends and was excited especially seeing the size of the noodle bowls. however, the noodles were quite chewy and hard; soup tasteless; super stingy on the beef; garnishes were non-existent; rice rolls bland and a rip-off considering you only get 2 for rmb 18! the waitress actually said you get 4 when asked before ordering but that's because two of the rolls are chopped in half! the pho itself was rmb 28 but a bowl of rmb 7 lanzhou la mian would be a far better choice.

overall, the food may look a bit like Vietnamese but that's about it. i wish i had stayed at home and made myself instant noodles instead.

" Disappointing "

Value for money		Suitable for...
The food		.. a date
The service		.. business dinner
The decor		.. with friends

I went here because of the article I read, hoping to satisfy a badly needed Pho craving. While I can't complain about the serving size I was disappointed with the Pho itself. I ordered the Pho with Beef Brisket. What I got was some chunks of beef (not sure it was brisket) and a mysterious helping of some white meat. I am assuming it was sliced chicken (it helps me to sleep better thinking that way). The broth which is the heart and soul of a good bowl of Pho was lacking in flavor and depth. The noodles were of the wider variety than I am accustomed to having in my Pho. The traditional condiments of bean sprouts, chilies, basil and lime were there but they were kind of sad. My pitifully small portion of bean sprouts were the freshest of the indgredients followed by wilted basil, a couple of really small chili slices and some dry lime chunks. As a result I left feeling like my Pho craving never got satisfied. We did order some pre-meal appetizers. The satay chicken was ok, a bit skimpy however. Fried eggrolls were greasy and lacking in any discernable flavor other than grease. The shrimp rolls were soggy and very small.
Will I go back? Not likely, unless someone volunteers to buy me a lot of beer and chicken satay.