Ok folks, most people have said that the service sucks. And it does. So if you go there, try not to care too much and just focus on the food and the awesome panoramic view of Chinatown that you can see from the south-facing side of the restaurant. Neat right? Just relax. People watch through the window and maybe eavesdrop on your neighbours 9the place is packed). Give in and accept that your server might be surly or inattentive or basically hustling you but whatever.. go on, order the pork cold rolls and wonton soup to start. That's it.
The cold rolls are fresh and tasty.. nothing too great. There's some alright peanut sauce to dip them in. The pork inside is chewy in a good way. Nice contrast of texture and flavour to the mint and beansprouts. The soup is salty but the small size comes with about eight fat little shrimp and pork wontons. They're delicious and sumptuously addictive in a junk food kinda way. Fantastic! The broth is good and although its quite salty the cold rolls detract from that. Not bad.
Sometimes I have the pho and I find it satisfying but overall kinda salty and homogenous after I've had a few bites. The meat can be nice, depending which one you order. The rare beef pho is nice because the beef cooks in the broth. The curry chicken pho is surprisingly tasty, its worth a try.
I like the bun, but I also find it to be a bit bland and the meat of lower quality. Pork tends to be the best.. the one with three kinds of pork in particular. I wish that the buns that come with eggs were served with runny eggs so the yolk could blend into the dish but unfortunately they come with hard fried eggs that are haphazardly cooked.
The portions are huge and the price is alright. If you sit by the window it can be pleasant. Overall the vegetables are fresh and the meat can be nice tasting, if a little low quality, but sometimes the broth tastes a bit.. like there are processed ingredients used in it.
I love the lemongrass tofu over rice off the vegetarian menu. It consists of just tofu and onion but the spice paste its cooked in is really delicious. The menu offers a variety of fruit smoothies and I enjoy the mango one although sometimes the mangoes used are unripe and its kinda bitter.
One thing's for certain: if you like using a lot of condiments and garnishes, this is the place for you :D
I go here often because my white, yuppie parents really love it. That probably says something.