Pho Lien

Carmen

4.0

rating: 3.8 / 5 ☆ Prior to 2020, I used to have lunch here fairly often with my family. Out of the many pho restaurants located in Montreal, we preferred Pho Lien because of their appetizers, three-coloured drink & obviously, their pho. Over the past 3 years, we hadn't dined here due to multiple reasons, the main ones being the implementation of restrictions associated with covid (lockdowns) & the 45 minutes drive it takes (used to come here after tutoring lessons back in high-school). On Friday, October 6th at around 11:15am, my family & I decided to come for lunch, as we had plans in the vicinity. We (4) were seated immediately & ordered the following: - pho (beef) - spring rolls - papaya salad - rice cakes & eggs - three-coloured drink (+ more pho for takeout) For starters, overall, the quality & the taste of the dishes are what I remember them to be. Although I have noticed that the broth contained slightly less MSG than before (based on its taste alone), which i personally prefer. Also, the three-coloured drink was extremely sugary & the taste of coconut was much less prominent, which sadly altered the taste. On a positive note, the spring rolls I grew up loving taste just the same & the peanut sauce is still to my liking. (I'm quite picky when it comes to the consistency & the taste of peanut dipping sauce, truthfully I'd give theirs an 8.5/10) However, the portion of some dishes are significantly smaller than what my family & I remember them to be- which is rather disappointing, considering that the price has increased as well. I understand that the rise of food costs leaves businesses no choice but to increase the prices on their menu, however diminishing the dishes' portions on top of that is simply a bad business move. For instance: - the amount of noodles in the pho was nowhere near enough when taking into account the size of the bowl ordered (the amount of beef was fine though) - the rice cakes & eggs dish has shrunk by a lot (this is my mom's favourite dish, therefore she noticed right away) - the glass used to serve the three-coloured drink is shorter & smaller, as the handle of the spoon used to be barely visible when inserted in the glass & while mixing the drink before taking a sip I sincerely hope this review reaches the business well & serves as constructive criticism, as I truly wish to continue supporting this restaurant whose food takes me back to my childhood & other memories that I'm fond of. Service: Waiter was polite & the dishes were served fairly quickly, though we went before rush-hour took place.