Pho Tan

Probably one of the best phở restaurants in Vancouver that Ive been to, only one other place I know of that beats this place. The phở broth and noodles are on point, however I feel they can add a bit more meat. They have this one noodle soup that’s very similar to Laksa and its super tasty (I recommend it if you can handle a bit of heat). Their lemongrass chicken on rice/​vermicelli is also on point. Service is a bit better than your average phở restaurant.
Convenient location off Main and 30^th, lots of street parking in the area.
I would recommend this place!

Needed comfort food on a cold wet Friday night so we headed here for phở. Plenty of options on the menu and I went for the rare beef with vermicelli noodles. The portion size is quite large and was very happy with the taste and flavours. The service was quite good and fast and the staff were very pleasant. The room itself is quite dated and the establishment has obviously seen many years of service.
With the price, food and service, I can see why Phở Tan is one of the best phở restaurants in Vancouver. I can recommend it and yes I will be returning.

I don’t love the phở here… but it’s not bad. We frequent this restaurant because we live close by. Spring rolls and grilled chicken are pretty good. They only take cash or debit.

This place is usually busy whether it’s at lunch or dinner but having said that, we never actually have to wait for a table! Service is usually ok, just remember to speak loud and clear to the ladies. Food and quality is good, just like any other authentic Phở places, although the boss here is a Chinese guy. I noticed their prices have increased since I don’t know when: 8 $ for a small, and 9 $ for a large. To me i still can’t accept the fact that a small bowl of Phở costs me 8 $ because I’m still back in the 90’s where a large costs you 5.75 $ but I guess I do have to accept the fact that the cost of living in Vancouver has gone up to the point of no return. This place is considered to be moderately decorated vs the usual ghetto-​style. Limited parking at back and street parking available.

Went to Phở Tan for the first time today.
The atmosphere was rather comfortable, and passes my initial test of: NEON LIGHTS? YES /​NO?
I can’t describe how much I hate neon lights at phở restaurants. So this place was a pass! Thank God.
Service was really fast and I was impressed by the size of the spring rolls. AND they were extra crispy! No complaints here. We had 1 order of spring rolls to share (2 rolls). The phở itself was decent, a little oilier than other places that I’ve been to. Also, they give you lemons instead of limes… not THAT big of a deal but I do prefer limes. All in all, a generally good experience!

Family dinner, reviews are under photo descriptions.
Thumbs up for the special ordered ‘secret menu’!

–Spring rolls are done very well here. Crispy and cooked at the right amount of time.
–The dry noodles tasted adequately enjoyable. Very high on the sodium content and the noodles were not thoroughly cooked through, but it gets a bare «pass» for the flavor.
–The Phở was awful — tough beef, weak broth, bland flavors. I can name 10 other places in Metro Vancouver immediately off the top of my head with better broth flavor and I’m not a paid professional food writer, just a guy who happens to eat out often.
–Service is atrocious, even for an Asian restaurant. They served us one of their drinks, which tasted fine, but had copious amounts of small pieces of plastic blended right into it (perhaps from a straw wrapper), something we noticed only halfway into it when we began spitting some of the tiny bits of plastic out. They did not apologize, nor did they take responsibility for what could probably be a serious health hazard (plastics are of course known carcinogens). To add insult to injury, when we remarked upon it they treated it as if we were simply being annoying and dismissed our issue entirely, when it’s a legitimate concern in every single dining establishment in this city given our health and service standards.
Want to know why I think tips should be upheld at a 15−20% rate by the general public? Because you can choose to not give them should the restaurant not properly take matters into its own hands. At the minimum, that drink should have been taken off the bill, or a new one should be made. Without even an apology and by slapping it onto the bill, I’ve never felt it to be more appropriate to leave a flat $ 0.00 tip in my years of dining out — and by omitting the standard tip, the drink became effectively complimentary as it should have been done from the start. This place made no additional money than if they just did the right thing and took it off the bill and apologized for their mistake, and instead gets a brand new 1 star review to brandish its Unilocal profile.
Congrats guys. I’m sure the far superior Phở Tan in Kerrisdale are embarrassed to be sharing their namesake with you.

I used to come here all the time for family dinners because of their special dishes. They have pretty good phở in general but we come for their crab hot pot, ox tail and giant prawns which are only available if you preorder. They have generally quick service and are polite enough that I don’t feel offended. I quite like their dry noodle (when coming for lunch) and although it is expensive, their stuffed chicken wings are good, like spring rolls but inside a chicken wing!

This is a neighbourhood joint serving some of the most authentic Vietnamese food around. We’ve been here twice and the first time we got a but experimental and asked the staff to choose our dishes. On that trip we left feeling satisfied and like we’d gone on an adventure.
This time the staff was stressed and yelling at eachother, and not one of them smiled while we were there and it actually impacted me meal. We had the uncooked steak Phở and the meat was delicious. We also had spring rolls (roll dips) and they were some of the best I’ve had. A 4 for sure on a day when the staff is happier, and way better than most Phở chains.

Fairly disappointed with Phở Tan this time. Been here several times their food and cleanliness has been above average compare to other Phở places.
This time around, came here with my new addition in our family during lunch hour, I asked for a table of three and requested for the table by the window because we had a stroller. The server said she can’t do that and directed me to a table for 2 with the 3^rd chair on the walkway basically. I told her I have a baby and requested the window table again. She said she has to ask the manager (the owner I bet). The man came out with a highchair saying no it’s lunch hour I can only sit there and they cannot have stroller here. My husband came in with the baby at the same time I basically said, «We are not welcome here. Let’s go»
I understand they might have limited space. But if they have a better attitude and the restaurant wasn’t only half full with other 4 people tables empty, they wouldn’t lose me as their regular customer.

Yesterday was the second time we ate at Phở Tan as a family. We ordered several of their signature dishes, including «clay pot crab cooked in beer», and BBQ lamb chops. The crab was excellent, sweet and favourful. The broth was exceptional. This is a «2 in 1» dish. After the pieces of crab have been consumed, they cooked some plain noodles in the remaining broth. Both were wonderful.
The lamb chops were done to perfection, just slightly charred but so tender. We also had curry beef with rice, fried shrimp cake, BBQ tiger pawns and a vegetable dish. All good.
For the 4 of us, with 4 beers, the total bill was $ 220 with tips. The crab was $ 60, same as the lamb chops.
One final observation, they only take cash.

When sunbathing nude on the beach, it’s often difficult to achieve a beautiFUL TAN without first eating at «PHO TAN»… Well, that made absolutely no sense. What does make sense though is my decision to try out this outstanding Vietnamese restaurant. As a fellow Vancouverite, I know that the words «outstanding» and «Vietnamese restaurant» don’t fit together 87% of the time but I can confidently say that Phở Tan truly is the best Vietnamese restaurant in town.
I mean sure, they serve your typical «number-​19-​large» phở but that’s probably the last thing you’d wanna order here. I was feeling adventurous and ordered their Beer Crab dish which, eponymous to its name, is a dunguness crab slow cooked in cheap beer and Asian herbs. With the bitter alcoholic content evaporated/​cooked away, what’s left is the succulent malty flavor of the beer infused into the crab meat. That’s not even the end of it; after we finished our crab, the waitress took our pot and added phở stock and vermicelli to the remaining beer sauce reduction. On paper, it seems like an odd concoction of flavors but on my tongue, it tasted like heaven.
It was rather squishy with respect to seating but for food this good, I’d be willing to eat sitting on their toilet.
*****/​5-​mother-​effing-​ninja-​stars!

This is the Vietnamese restaurant with the most comfortable ambiance that I’ve been to in Vancouver.
Their dry vermicelli dishes are my go-​to here. I particular like the ones with the grilled mince pork (slightly sweet grilled sausage patty). Their grilled meats are good in general, and their fried spring rolls are delicious.
They have an extensive selection of phở, rice dishes, appies, desserts, and drinks (including durian shakes), as well!

I hate to date myself but I’ve been to Phở Tan when it first opened! It’s been around for what 12 — 15 years? Anyways… It has been open for awhile…
In the ‘good old days’ there were a lot less Vietnamese restaurants around and Phở Tan was bright and new! The lustre is off the pig now and Phở Tan is not what it use to be. The dishes taste about the same. Just a bit more expensive. I’m sure ownership has changed hands many times by now.
I mean it’s alright. Not terrible. Cleaner than your average Vietnamese restaurant… but still certainly nutung special… Ho hum. Same old, same old, same old…
Maybe it’s time to doing a bit of culling on these old time restaurants!
Well I guess I would come back to Phở Tan when I’m totally devoid of restaurant choice creativity… but that’s not likely to happen too often! Haha

My favourite phở restaurant in this area of Vancouver. Food always come promptly and the taste of the phở has always been consistent. Easy 5 stars.

So man PHO-​KING Phở places in Vancouver and almost everyone has their own personal favorite place but I am the type to enjoy many more than just one ;) Hey now variety is the spice of light right? PHO-​KING RIGHTS! This spot is right across the street from my gf’s place so it was easily a must try after her long work day before getting her home to sleep. Phở Tan looks a little sketchy from the outside but it’s not at all, in fact this seems to be highly popular as the place is almost always busy at night. The fact that they have their own 6 spot parking lot is a HUGE positive as it’s highly convenient.
The menu is pretty typical with prices that reflect the going market but one thing that stood out to me is that they have a spicy coconut milk base soup and it’s AMAZING! My lord, I can’t rave about this dish enough, it’s perfectly spicy and absolutely delicious. You can also choose between regular vermicelli or egg noodles, which is pretty sweet! They spring rolls here are also pretty good, double deep fried goodness which you can never go wrong with.
Something I noticed here is that their small sizes are really generous and their large sizes are really big. The value of Phở Tan can’t be denied and neither can the politeness of the service. The older man that takes payment is one of the most positive and happy guys I have come across in any Asian restaurant. It’s almost infectious and is one of many reasons I will be back.

Phở Tan has become my go-​to Vietnamese restaurant in Vancouver. Highly recommended.
Pros:
— Generous portions
— Quality of food is consistently excellent
— The wait for the food to be served is never longer than 10 min
Cons:
— Short haired waitress always looks grumpy and impatient
— Menu prices have gone up over the years
— Cash only
Reviewed Dish:
#75 — Grill Chicken & Spring Rolls on Vermicelli Noodles (take-​out)
Notes:
— Cost was $ 9
— Very generous portions (even for a hungry male)
— Best part of the dish was the grilled chicken

Five stars for the Banh Hui… what an awesome combo… the pork was incredible, i loved the thin sheet of noodles… came with spring rolls and prawns wrapped around sugar cane. I have never seen Banh Hui on a menu… so if you’re reading this and know of another place to try, please send me a message!
Five stars for service. It was super busy at lunch and yet the service was awesome, fast, and had us in an out in a timely manner. The kitchen must have been bumping.
Five stars for atmosphere too… it was busy at lunch with people moving around, chatter happening. It’s kinda a cramped room, but that actually made it feel like you were in «the spot.» They managed to keep it tidy too, so I don’t think anyone had to wait too long (we’d gone for an early lunch to avoid the rush).

Craving phở, this place did the job well. The broth was tasty and noodles tender.
I’m really picky when it comes to spring rolls, but thoroughly enjoyed theirs. Super crispy with lots of veggies flowing out, it had a good bite.
Don’t expect much for service though. Our waitress was rude at best and rolled her eyes at my dining companion when they didn’t understand her mumbles. It took forever to get our bill because she forgot or maybe didn’t care to get paid.
Aside from the poor service, I’d love to come back and check out more of the menu.

This was my first time at Phở Tan. I’ve passed by it many times but never thought to stop and give it a try till my friends wanted to come here for dinner.
I’ve been to many different Phở restaurants and I have to say that this was ok. I generally get the same thing wherever I go, so my opinion is based solely on the soup base. I found the soup could have used more flavour. It felt a little bland in comparison to other restaurants that I’ve been to. But that’s just my opinion.