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Pho House
Category: Restaurants Vietnamese Vietnamese [Edit]
610 Gerrard StreetToronto, ON M4M 1Y3
Neighbourhood: Riverdale
(416) 778-7888
- Hours:
Mon-Sun 10 am - 11 pm
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Price Range:
-
$
- Takes Reservations:
- No
- Delivery:
- No
- Take Away:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Wi-Fi:
- No
- Alcohol:
- No
- Has TV:
- No
6 reviews for Pho House
6 reviews in English
-
Review from Ivan Y.
Corktown, Toronto, ON
1/4/2012
I eat at this place at least once maybe twice a week.
The pho broth is just perfect and not as salty as you find at Pho Pasteur or the Cow Heads place on Spadina (the name escapes me right now). I know this is a personal preference, but I find their clear and un-salty broth to be some of the best I've had.
The meat is decent, but as others says the rare beef cooks very quickly (so eat it up quick!). Tendon and Tripe are also tasty options.
Service is efficient and friendly, and quality is consistent.
The go to Pho Place downtown in my books. They'd get five stars if they dropped an additional piece of beef/tripe/tendon in there (though this is a minor quibble... my tripe intake is probably already too high). -
Review from Lisa S.
Toronto, ON
8/5/2011
The management has changed and not for the better. Came here for lunch and there are only 4 tables, the rest of the place was empty. They had three people working the front and not one of them bothered to greet or seat us. So we picked a table ourselves. Took another 5 minutes for them to bring the tea and menus. Ordered some spring rolls to start and each of us order a bowl of pho. The order took forever! The bowls of noodles came before the spring rolls, which they actually forgot about. I reminded them and the rolls finally came they were the size of my pinky and I have tiny hands. Those 6 pieces cost us $6! WTF!?
I will never come to this place again. Unless you want to get robbed of your money, I suggest you stay away. -
Review from Kaila W.
Toronto, ON
10/27/2011
When I want to get good Pho, I always head straight for the Pho House. The family who run it are very friendly and are good at remembering faces and orders. I often ask them what I got the last time I came and they always seem to know. My staple is the Spicy rare beef pho, and I usually get the smallest size; portions here are enormous. The shrimp and pork fresh rolls are always made to order and come with the best peanut sauce I've ever had. I wouldn't suggest the avocado shake (it is fairly small) however the green tea they have at every table is very good. My favs here also include the mango salad, and the pork skin and spring roll vermicelli.
-
Review from sarah l.
6/15/2010 11 Check-ins Here
Pho House is my go-to pho place in old chinatown (or chinatown east if you prefer). I am going on a family vacation in 3 days and I have suddenly come down with a cough and cold combination that I needed to take care of, stat. So off I went. I've been eating a lot of pho this year and I have gotten to know a good bowl from a bad one.
The good:
- the broth here is clear and has lots of green onions in it. I prefer its flavour to some of the neighbouring pho offerings (in descending order; xe lua, kims and stay far far away from mi mi). It isn't salty or heavy handed on the MSG and you can taste the beefyness in the broth.
- The table setup is perfect - they have chopsticks, spoons, hoisin and hot sauce along with the dishes to mix them and other assorted condiments at the table. I never have to flag anyone down to ask for something else, it's always there.
- Easy communication
- Debit (!)
- Super bright and clean
The bad:
- Like Neil said, the rare beef comes clumped together and cooks too fast. I am also not a fan of the actual cut of beef they use here for this. It is definitely budget beef. (for $5-$7 a bowl though, I guess I shouldn't complain). It can be stringy.
- The noodles are not fresh, which doesn't really bother me but it is worth noting.
The weird:
The drink menu is confusing. I always order something different just to see what I end up with. Once I ordered 'lychee with ice' and it was exactly that... lychee fruits (whole) in a glass, with ice, and some water.
Overall, this is the place I bring people who have never had pho (just like Susan C did for me several months ago) because its reliably good and easy to order. -
Review from susan c.
2/7/2010 1 photo
This place in East Chinatown is formerly known as Pho 88. I came here with sarah l. during our series of non-sexual dates[1] and I am declaring Pho House my front-runner for Pho-bruary in Toronto.[2]
The Pho-ndamentals
Pho Tai Gan (rare beef and beef tendon); large = $6.50
Broth: so far, my favorite broth in the (416); rich and hearty with fatty pools of delicious oil and nicely spiced
Beef: thicker, more flavorful slices of beef
Tendon: thick slices but they are not as tender as at Pho Pasteur
Noodles: dried, i.e., not fresh noodles but steeped just right in the tasty broth but they did need some swishing around to separate the clumps
Garnishes: the mung bean sprouts and basil were fresh; they did not include saw leaf but brought it out upon request (I think sarah l. diminished my Asian cred!)
Service: Friendly and efficient; the waitresses wear hairnets so no hair in your soup, Neil T! The good-looking dude (probably the owner's son) speaks perfect English and is ever so easy on the eyes...swoon...
Other: They were actually playing decent music on our visit and the fresh iced lemonade ($2.00) was tart and refreshing.
Almost perfect but I'm deducting points for the sub-par tendon and lack of fresh noodles.
4 and 1/4 stars
===================
[1] Eat your heart out Tara G!
[2] Vietnam Noodle Star in Scarborough is still #1 for the GTA. http://www.yelp.ca/biz...
I'm not sure why the address is coming up weird but it's located at 610 Gerrard St. East (just east of Broadview) -
Review from Neil T.
Toronto, ON
2/9/2010
Well, my experience at the Pho House was right on the money; 3-stars and "A-OK". Not "Yay! I'm a fan." or "Woohoo! As good as it gets!".
The verdict:
+++GOOD+++
1. Beautiful clear broth (wow!)
2. Nice tender pieces of tendon
3. Lots of fresh bean sprouts and basil
4. Great ass on the female server
5. Potent hoisin sauce that hasn't been cut by copious amounts of water
---BAD---
1. Raw beef was sort of clumped together (cooked before I had a chance to untangle the beef mass)
2. Although the broth was nice and clear, it was a couple tablespoons away from being near flavorless. They are playing Russian roulette with their broth recipe!
3. Dry noodles, not fresh
Overall, I would eat here again but won't make a habit of it. I prefer Xe Lua across the street because of the fresh noodles, but wouldn't complain if I was forced to eat here.
