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| - After Reading all of these reviews, I visited this Hanoi 3 Seasons locations to see what the buzz was about. I live *right* by the location on Queen, so I had not bothered to walk up to Gerrard, but last night we gave it a try. Hanoi 3 Seasons is what my Asian SO teasingly refers to as "No Tea White Pho" - and we knew this was the Siddhartha of East Chinatown before we arrived.
I was SUPER disappointed. The staff seemed nice, and I feel bad, but the entire experience was pretty sub-par to tell the truth. They were full, but there were 5 staff on and the restaurant likely seats 20 at most. They should have been able to handle it. The crowd was mostly Caucasian, Some families, some college students a few couples. Only one Asian family.
Came in, sat down and ordered beverages. Avocado Milkshake for me, Beer for the SO. We give our food order at the same time. Beef with Rice for him, Pho Chay for me. Within a few minutes our drinks arrive. 25 min later our drinks are done and no food. We are obviously restless and order some fresh spring rolls to tie us over. 10 min later one of the girls walks buy and drops the spring rolls on the table without dipping sauce. We are ravenous and pour Hoisin on the plate to dip in. At this point I swear the two women (who are looking right at me) are having a conversation about forgetting the sauce and decide just not to bring any.
10 min after that (this has been a RIDICULOUSLY long wait for our food) our mains arrive. My soup is scalding hot, and my SO has a plate of cold, soggy beef and rice. I tell him to send it back but he is starving and its now almost 9pm.
I eat my soup, and (the owner?) comes by noticing that we look agitated and asks if he can do anything. Tea perhaps? On the House? Sure. We would both love some tea. 10 min later I finish my soup, my SO pays the bill and no tea ever materializes.
And to be honest the Pho Chay is kinda lacking. It definitely has a half portion of noodle. Ginger does it better and its around $4 something there. Broth with some tofu and a few floaters of broccoli should not be expensive., especially if tea isn't included.
Anyways, its sad as I expected more.. and I was happy to have vegetarian Pho options, but this neighborhood has MUCH better options. We will not be going back.
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