Chopsticks On Pho

I have been here about 7 times in the past 6 months, one time being take out (which was actually my best experience to date). The restaurant is clean but the food every time has been a little off. I have ordered the chick phở, rare beef phở, veggie Phở, wonton soup, salad rolls (veggie and chicken), spring rolls, and the spicy prawn pad thai. I keep going back because its down the road from me, thinking its what I ordered but the flavor just isn’t there. Every time I have been I have had horrendous service, once I place my order I never see staff again and every time have had to bring my leftover food to the counter to be packaged to go and ask for the bill. The last time i went was a week ago we took our two kids and waited 25 minutes for water. There was only one server on a Saturday afternoon but there were only about 5 tables seated as she had piled dirty dishes from what looked like the entire day that they were open onto every other empty table. I so badly want this place to be good, if you could figure it out you’d have an unreal regular in me! I love Vietnamese (although this place is not traditional) but I think it’s time to give up on the idea. The reviews from a couple years ago were unreal, I have a feeling they are just losing it over time.

Pros: Super friendly staff, amazing service, and stunning environment for a phở restaurant. Definitely looks high end. Even the washroom is super clean and freshly scented.
Cons: But would I come back if I ever craved phở? Probably not. The price is a lot more than average compared regular phở places, while the portions are smaller. I usually like to order a salad roll with my phở but WOW. The half order (1 roll, 2 pieces) here is even more expensive than the full order (2 rolls, 4 pieces) in other places. I had to swallow my cravings back in because seriously I will not spend that money when I could get a full order for the same price.
I give props to the owner for taking great care of the fine details, such as the restaurant’s interior. (I am a sucker for beautiful interiors.) However until you fix your pricing, I probably won’t come back unless I am in the area and I am DYING for some phở that I could care less for the price & portion.

This place is both delicious and friendly. I’ve eaten in my share of Phở joints and Chopsticks has proven my old theory on that the shadier the restaurant, the better the phở. It’s bright and friendly and clean… and the food is amazing. The staff are all to happy to accommodate menu modifiers (not always the case in Phở joints) and I got the feeling that they staff are genuinely happy and invested in making sure your meal is great. This is local family business that is very involved in the community and they proudly display this by the front counter. It’s really awesome to see this because it shows everyone who goes up to pay at the counter that just by enjoying a meal at Chopsticks they themselves are getting involved in the community.

Consistent and delicious every time. You can tell they don’t use msg. Friendly service compared to your average Phở restaurant. Not sure if it’s the culture but most Phở restaurants give you the feeling that they are not attentive or caring to the customers. However here at chopsticks on Phở you get a feeling you just want to keep coming back. The owners are a family and they know what customers want. They also listen to ideas. As it was my idea to add the broth to the sandwich as a side ;)
I’m here twice a week before work, I love it.

Love this place! It’s bright and airy and not flooded with tables so good spacing. I order The Works and it’s fantastic every time I’m here. Fresh is best! The Vietnamese coffee is worth trying too!

i ordered «the works» medium sized with the Crispy Spring Roll. such a great combination and portion’s plenty for one hungry individual.
the soup is tasty, noodle is fresh, the meat to noodle to soup ratio is perfect!
the deep fried spring roll dipped in the sauce that it comes with adds another level of satisfaction.

One week later, I visited the place again and fortunately it’s open.
The place is very well decorated and looked fresh. It looked smaller than I imagined but that’s fine. One thing, however, is that I don’t know if it’s because it’s past lunch hour when I arrived but this place is kind of… dead; there were only 3 other customers here. Must be because of the location’s remoteness.
I ordered «The Works» Phở (medium sized) and the traditional Vietnamese drip-​style coffee, on ice. Service was surprisingly fast; my coffee came and then a couple of minutes later my phở arrived.
The iced coffee tasted just like what I had in other Vietnamese restaurants: mildly strong but creamy and rich sugary flavour. Only caveat is that it looked like they pre-​made the coffee so the customer doesn’t have to wait for the coffee to drip down the filter. I actually wanted to do that. Seriously, it’s fun.
For the phở, the broth was clear as water and that got me concerned a bit. However, looks are deceiving as the broth tasted fine. The beef balls were kind of chewy but otherwise passed my taste test. The tendon brisket and rare steak slices were all cooked to perfection. After I ate a portion, I then sriracha-​bombed my phở afterwards and it still tasted great with that extra firepower. For the other condiments, the salt shaker on my table had the entire salt pile stuck and bunched together inside the vial and won’t come out. Tried other ones from other tables and they were all the same, but no big deal, I lived without it and maybe prevented myself from getting high blood pressure. (noodle soup broths can sometimes have an unreasonably high amount of sodium)
Overall, fine-​tasting phở for a reasonable price. Staff were very friendly. I just wished the place was somewhere more closer to a town centre though, but I won’t complain since the 375 bus runs daily.
I also like to thank Food With Thought magazine for introducing me, in their 2015 issue, to this wonderful place. I’d probably had never even heard of Chopsticks On Phở without reading the magazine.

Ordered the vermicelli bowl. Flavors were not the best nor the worst. However the portion size was ridiculous paid $ 12 for the bowl to go and it barely filled half my container (what’s it cost 5 cents for a full order of noodles), on top of that the chicken skewer was reheated and very dry, smothering it in sauce did nothing to help. When called in to complain just excuses, Will not return

Read the reviews, got hyped!, tried it, … hype was unfortunately not met :(
Our bill came to $ 60 for 3 people (3 phos, 3 spring rolls) — very far from the frugal meal that phở is meant to be!
Waaaayy wayyyyy over-​priced spring rolls. Their «half order» = 1 spring roll (halved) for $ 7 and a full order = 2 spring rolls (halved) for $ 12. $ 7 for a spring roll?! They’re usually like $ 3 at other places. Who you trying to fool?! Well, us, I guess, cuz my dad must’ve had some mad cravings to still order them regardless of price.
Their phở is also on the pricier side. Their medium (same size as a small at any other place) is $ 9.95 and large (their large is smaller than the average large at other places) is $ 10.75. My dad ordered «The Works» phở which included rare steak, brisket and beef balls. They forgot the beef balls (good thing he noticed) and they promptly brought them out to him on the side. The flavour of the broth is uncommonly sweet. I made the mistake of doing my usual «phở prep» by adding all the essentials plus hoisin sauce. It wasn’t until after I added the hoisin sauce that I realized the broth was already sweet and adding the hoisin sent it over the edge to no return.
Great location, service and very modern and clean environment. But the lack of value and lack-​luster broth will have me skipping this place next time.

The phở here is good but needs more flavour. We eat a lot a lot of Vietnamese cuisine and phở is my favourite and this place is so lovely because it is a family owned but I wished they concentrated less on decoration & design of the restaurant and more of flavours and adding seasoning into their food especially their phở. We come here weekly and I hate adding to my food, if they can season the broth and beef, it could taste soooooooooo much better!
We love this place & we do a lot of carry out but wished they seasoned a bit more, especially for what your paying for.

Great service!!! The restaurant is very nice and clean.
Food is ok. If you are looking for authentic Vietnamese food. This might not be the place for you.

Mediocre food for an excessive price.
Had the classic salad roll and their take on «pad Thai» and everything was flavorless. I looked at the reviews and was very exited to try this restaurant. To my surprise I was not pleased. I spent way to much money for basically food court food.
The service however was pretty decent. Would not go back.

I went out of my way to come here! I arrive and immediately told you want it to go we close in 15 minutes… Not the greatest way to greet someone especially someone who’s never been to your establishment… Because of that I left and won’t be back

Really good food! Little light on quantity, but makes up for it in quality. The service was excellent, and the selection was superb. The place is very clean, calm, and welcoming. I was greeted with a hot ℅ of tea with nice little flowers in it, followed by prompt, attentive, and courteous service.
This is a great spot for those looking for a nice meal in North Vancouver.

This restaurant is amazing! Not only is the food fresh & delicious, but the owners and staff are so warm, friendly and kind to each customer. The environment is relaxing & clean.
I have been here more than once, and I’ve tried many things. I have always had a fabulous experience and thoroughly enjoyed my food every single time. (I’m very particular about food as well)
I highly recommend this place to try!

My absolute favourite place to eat phở. One of the best I’ve been to. Love the option of a spicy soup (Bun bo hue) which gives it a lot of individuality. The staff are nice and the food here is presented beautifully — not to mention it tastes great. The chicken phở is made special with ginger and so on top of authenticity there is a stand-​out quality this place has that most don’t.
I took a long bus ride just to get here and it’s worth it. Every time I’ve gone I’ve had the bun bo hue but I’ve tried other dishes on the side. The coconut rice is very yummy and sweet and the chicken skewers are delicious. Although the rice and vermicelli dishes are not that large the flavour is delicious. I can’t wait to go again :-)

When you hear the staff talking Cantonese to each other you know you won’t get authentic Vietnamese Phở. Regardless, the Phở is ok. I’ve tasted better. The staff is very friendly.

Super fresh phở, tasty broth, highly recommended. The beef stew on coconut rice is excellent. The chef’s special roll (a spring roll inside of a salad roll) is delicious! Nice décor, clean interior (not your typical Viet joint) and super friendly owners! We love this place!

Writing reviews on Unilocal should always be this easy.
How good can a Phở place actually get? Visit here to find out.
Clean, modern décor. The restroom even rivals Cactus Club?! (Am I in a Phở place?).
Super friendly owners/​servers with just right attention level… awesome.
We met here for a business lunch and tried the sampler platter to start. A nice mix of satay, salad, salad rolls. Geared for two or three as a starter. Fresh and tasty — like everything.
The prices — which some have complained about — are in the high end… at least for what you might expect for Phở. But so was this place. Are you really complaining about a buck or two?
From the very tasty and not-​at-​all greasy — Phở broth in my, «The Works» Phở, to the fried-​just-​right Spring Roll, I am hooked.
$ 10.99 for a nicely loaded, Medium meaty Phở and Spring Roll Combo. If that is too pricey you need to put away that nugget 10 pack and get your ass in here to try some real food!
+licensed.
Sidenote: It is a cellular signal dead zone here — Telus at least. Luckily they have ShawGoWifi. Or leave the device and talk to your guests face to face for some actual FaceTime. :)
Enjoy — I will be back soon!

This is one of the nicest Phở places I have been to. The restaurant is brightly lit, the inside clean and you can see into the kitchen behind the cash counter. The owner was very nice and considerate and brought out a pair of scissors for me to cut my son’s noodles.
I loved reading their story on the wall which made the owner and his wife more personable and relatable. Now onto the food.
The broth was clear and mild tasting. The noodles cooked just right. The salad rolls had picked veggies inside which I really liked. It also had a piece of rolled up crispy wonton. It added nice texture to the salad roll. The peanut sauce was more watery than I am used to. I’ve liked a chunkier, thicker sauce but their peanut sauce sufficed.
The prices are little more than other phở places in Surrey by couple dollars. But the phở was satisfying and the atmosphere was welcoming which are the reasons I will come back.