Pho Anni

Avy-Loren

2.0

Food. Seemed fresh. Cooked properly. Poorly seasoned - lacked flavour on every dish eater except the won ton soup.
Service. Casual & young servers. Limited English & French. Knowledgeable on their product selection.
Atmosphere. Casual cosy. Beautiful ambient music was the highlight of this restaurant. The music made this place feel relaxing & calming. Big credit to management to select this style of music. Seating is table & banquets & menus are plasticized table mats.

I was eager to try this place as I've passed by here dozens of times at all hours & days & nights where they are typically busy. So I bright a group of foodies & some asians to delight in what I hoped would be authentic & a flavourful experience.

First off, this is not a traditional Vietnamese restaurant. This is somewhat of a fusion as well as (the waiter called it) a North American reinterpretation of Vietnamese cuisine.

The pricing is reasonable as well as the portions for the most part, with the exception of small appetizer wonton soup at $7.00.

Overall the food was exceptionally bland. When I say exceptionally & bland, I am not overstating this I am actually trying to heavily emphasize these this point as it was a serious bone of contention. The food is cooked without any passion, it's all mechanical like a processing line & when I peaked in the kitchen to observe how they function it too looked as if it was just a processing of dished being pushed out.
Basic cooking 101 is the chef must taste the food before serving to a customer. I can't imagine a Vietnamese person enjoying the food let alone recognize that this was a Vietnamese recipe as there was essentially no flavour - & don't get me started on the lack of an appetizing aroma. This was only a meal for two senses - your eyes & texture.

In addition to this point, the chicken with the noodles dish lacked sufficient sauce to blend the fried noodles & as such had to order additional sauce to moderately cover the noodles to soften then to an eatable status. Moreover, the portion of chicken was beyond small, when compared to the grilled chicken dish it was less than a third of the portion of chicken. It was also poorly cooked or the chicken was off because its texture was a bit stringy & a bit rubbery.

I sadly have to declare that this is not a proper Vietnamese restaurant as it's (lack of) seasoning & reinterpretation of dishes as well as adding dishes that are not Vietnamese (pad Thai as one example, wonton soup as another) do not fit the bill. Even in terms of the wonton soup, it's seasoning (the only dish that had some flavour), was nothing like a wonton nor were the wontons & as such, should not be named wonton soup. It was a bit of a letdown as I was expecting wonton soup. One can state that their dishes & recipes are reinvented or jacked up - sure, but if you're not communicating this on the menu & instead offering a dish with a recognized name & therefore taste profile, then a customer can be misguided & thus let down as I was.

So, I will not return nor recommend this place as I don't see its value proposition, its food satisfying, its expertise worth while having again.

There are too many competitors on & off the island of Montreal & I would prefer to risk trying a new place & hope to find a goodie than come back again & be let down terribly. The thought of even eating the food again makes me somewhat nausea.

I do not see how the rating of this place is above a 4 star as it does not posses the qualities of 4 star restaurants & struggles to achieve a 3 star rating.

I get this place is trying to make its mark in a somewhat unique manner, but idea & execution are two different things. As to explaining why this place seems so busy I expect it has to do with its location & lack of competition nearby. & the other likely due to people not knowing the food or having low expectations. I humbly suggest.

Edgar

5.0

One of the best Pho restaurants in Montreal. The food is always good & fresh. Often go there by myself hehe that's how good it is, 100% would recommend😋

Valérie

5.0

La soupe tonkinoise au poulet grillé ph? gá nu?ng est un régale. Le service, la propreté ainsi que l'ambiance est super. Je recommande !

User

5.0

Le menu végétarien était excellent. Je recommande la soupe végétarienne & le tofu à la citronnelle.

Ambiance très calme & confortable.
Chaleureux & bien organisé.

Talisa

5.0

The food is authentic & really good!!!

I'm very happy this place opened in the neighborhood!

Everything I ate so far was delicious & the people working there are very kind!

I totally recommend! 🙂❤?

Ben

5.0

Fast & courteous service. The food is delicious. We had an extra large Pho & their lunch special with a small soup, drink & a bahn-mi. Very reasonably priced. I will be back & I highly recommend you try this place❤?

Camille

5.0

Amazing Pho. The ambiance is very peaceful, there is lots of seating & seating is comfortable. Very nice service, highly recommend for an authentic Pho. We had the combo A chicken spring roll & beouf. & also tried the shrimp tempura. Also very affordable prices!

Sylvie

5.0

Nourriture de qualité avec
humami vietnamien, portion généreuse, personnel courtois,endroit propre & très convivial. Je vous le recommande & je ne suis pas payé pour vous dire ça.L'essayer c'est l'adopter.

Sab

5.0

Tout était parfait, en passant du service à la nourriture. Très abordable. L'ambiance est décontracter. Je recommande la soupe tonkinoise. Le bouillon est excellent. J'ai pris le combo C, le ban mi au tofu & c'était excellent

Alexandre

5.0

Pho Anni is wonderful! Amazing food & service! I highly recommend! The Lunar New Year/Tet special for lunch was perfect & delicious!