Vina Vietnamese

This is the worst bowl of phở I’ve ever had… and I really like phở.
It was expensive for the size and has 0 flavour.
Just awful.

Vina is decent, especially considering that it’s in a food court. The ladies were surprisingly understanding of dietary restrictions, gladly making me a fresh dish when they made the mistake of pouring fish sauce over my salad.
#6, the tomato/​tofu dish, comes with sauce over noodles, one fried veggie roll, and a simple salad. #5 and 6 are vegan without the fish vinegar, which can be substituted with peanut sauce.

Obviously you can’t expect much from a food court Vietnamese restaurant but it’s edible. I had the wonton soup because I have a cold and wanted something warm. The soup base is super oily but what I liked is that it wasn’t too salty and I didn’t feel super thirsty after eating it. The wontons are small and are somewhat flavourful, the soup is plain but it’s served super hot which is nice. It was very busy when I ate here but they are well coordinated and got through the orders fairly quickly.

Usually I really enjoy eating at Vina, but my most recent experience here was less than satisfactory. I always order #3; vermicelli, roll dip, lady finger, and salad. The lady taking orders had no concept of the english language, to the point where she didn’t even understand what I wanted to order when I held up 3 fingers. We needed another employee to translate. I paid, and they started to prepare my order. But then, halfway through they just stopped and began chatting with each other in what I assume was vietnamese. I waited for 5 minutes having no idea what was going on. Then another employee pulled the rest of my meal out of a microwave (never knew they cooked their meat by microwave). I would have appreciated some sort of «It’ll be a few minutes, we’re just preparing your meal» heads up that it’ll be a little while.
When I sat down to eat, I realized that the lady finger (the part they cooked in the microwave) was hard and chewy, something I’ve never experienced before from this dish. Overall, I wasn’t impressed.
I’m not sure what, but this Vina location is doing something differently than all the other locations, and it’s not working. I won’t be back to this location.

Their best noodles and soup on the menu is their beef noodle on soup. I tried the rest of their menu, and they under serve you. For the price you pay, the portion size are below average. Not the best Vietnamese crusine, but the only one in metrotown mall. Sanitation is possibly an issue with their sauce and forks sitting out in the open at the front of the cashier.

I decided to try Vina at the Metrotown Food court because other items didnt catch my attention. I got #2, which was noodles, eggroll, bbq chicken on a stick and some peanut sauce. it was super good and filling.
Price was higher, but I dont know if that is because of the exchange rate.
Fast and friendly service. This is a big food court with alot of places to sit. but it can get hella busy!!!

I did like the curry chicken and spring rolls at Vina. These are the 2 things I order almost every time. However, I decided to try their Chicken baguette for the first time the other day. I waited for a very time for them to prep the sandwich. But as I was waiting, a lady came up and asked for vinegar for her wonton soup. They claimed they only had white vinegar and the lady said ok. The woman went into the kitchen and pulled out a huge jug that said ‘vinegar flavoured seasoning’. That kind of turned me off since I didn’t even know fake vinegar existed. When I got my sandwich it was DISGUSTING! The chicken was rock hard and dry that I gagged and spat out the first bite. I think it must have been leftover unused brochette chicken from days past. I ended up pulling all the chicken out and just eating the baguette with pickles and sliced deli ham. But after a few bites, I got to thinking about the fake vinegar the veggies were pickled in and I lost my appetite. I will go back for the curry chicken they scoop out of a big plastic pail. But I don’t think I can even look at the fish sauce/​vinegar for the springrolls the same again :(

When I eat at the Metrotown food court, my pick for cold food is Cultures (salads) and hot food Vina! Their lemongrass chicken, basil chicken, and that deep fried meat roll are delish. That little drizzle of onion oil is just the cherry on top. Also had my first ever Banh Mi there today — what a wonderful discovery. :)
Stick with the solid food though. I remember having phở there once and it was a bowl of MSG awfulness.