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Pho Tau Bay
Category: Restaurants Vietnamese Vietnamese [Edit]
10660 98 St NWEdmonton, AB T5H 2N7
(780) 421-0807
- Price Range:
-
$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- No
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Takes Reservations:
- No
- Delivery:
- No
- Take Away:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Wi-Fi:
- No
- Alcohol:
- No
- Noise Level:
- Average
- Has TV:
- No
- Caters:
- No
7 reviews for Pho Tau Bay
7 reviews in English
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Review from Lea A.
I'm biased. I run the "infamous" http://istaubayopen.com/ and have been patronizing this establishment for years. So, it's no surprise I give it 5 stars because it has yet to disappoint me. I've occasionally strayed to try other pho in the city, but I always feel like I'm cheating on a lover when I do. The grass isn't greener, people! When you have the best, you should stick around.
The broth is very savory, unlike some places where there's a strange sweet aftertaste. Not here: piled high with noodles and generous servings of meat, the best part is that the experience is very consistent day after day. There's just something about that broth...
Service is swift and nice. Not an upscale restaurant by any means, but stop being a snob already and visit this pho-only establishment.Listed in: Asian Sensations, The Ugly Ducklings, One-Hit Wonders
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Review from Tim T.
Edmonton, AB
2/6/2012
Great value, consistent with quality and taste, and hands-down, best Pho broth in the city!
Most pho places, to my understanding, use flavour enhancing powders (that you can purchase from most Asian supermarkets) in the broth. Tau Bay, according to one of the owner's friends, creates the savoury, rich taste from scratch with raw materials: beef bones and briskets.
Having been to more than 30 different Pho places between Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton and Toronto, Tau Bay definitely has the best Vietnamese noodle soup. If you like your soup a bit spicy, their home-made chill oil is also to die for. It adds to the flavour of the broth very well.
You might be wondering why I've only rated 4 stars if i LOVE it so much. This is a good time for me to clarify my position on all my reviews. Aside from the food, I tend to rate my overall dining experience in every place I visit, and the only drawback for me with Tau Bay is the payment option. I like, and have always preferred, to pay with cards rather than cash. There have been times when lack of cash deterred me from enjoying a nice bowl of Tau Bay pho. -
Review from Karlie M.
I was very excited to try out Pho Tau Bay after posting the question here on Yelp - where is the best pho in the city? - and more than a few people suggesting this place, combined with their very good reviews.
The restaurant was bigger than I expected for some reason, with quite a few tables. It wasn't busy when we got there, so we had our pick of where to sit. Decor is sparse, but the place seems clean.
The menu has a whole page of pho to choose from, and another page with drinks. Sizes are M ($6.70) and XL... what happened to L? I got a medium flank and brisket and Dave got a medium flank, steak and brisket. As usual, our soup came out pretty quickly. I noticed that the broth tasted a little clearer... maybe less oily than other places. I like a lot of noodles in my pho, and it didn't seem like there were as many in my bowl. I definitely noticed there was much less meat than the pho I've had elsewhere. I also noticed the cubed brisket - strange.
Service was standard for the type of place. I did find something strange. I decided to be adventurous and order a drink called a salty lemonade. I've never had one before, so I thought why not! When the guy brought it out from the back, he started to walk towards us, kind of pause, and then brought it over. He went on to ask if that's what we actually ordered and if we were sure we wanted it, if we'd ever had it before, etc. He said he wouldn't recommend it, so we got something else instead. I get that maybe this drink tastes different from anything I've had before, but I made the choice to order it, and the way he approached it was a little condescending. "Maybe just get a regular lemonade instead"
They don't bring you a bill - you just go up to the counter and pay when you're done. Pretty sure the menu said $2.25 for the drink and he charged me $3.00. Whatever.
This place was alright, but I prefer Pho King, and there are still a few more pho places in the city that I want to try.
Cash only. -
Review from Melanie L.
Edmonton, AB
6/21/2011
After a long hiatus, I visited Tau Bay recently and was happy to taste their return to flavourful glory!
I was a loyal customer for about six years before I began noticing (two and a half years ago) a drop in quality in their soup stock and beef. I continued visiting for a while longer, thinking it was just "off" days but realized that the quality was just not the same. The stock tasted saltier rather than "meaty" (less beef taste) and the beef itself was just not of the same caliber of my original experiences.
I stopped eating pho altogether but happily overhead some friends talking about their return to former glory about a month ago. I've visited three times since and have had tasty Pho Tai each time (I only order this dish, as I'm not a fan of the other ingredients).
I'm not sure if it's the best in town but it's certainly the best I've had in town. -
Review from Edda O.
4/1/2011
Best pho to date. I think it says a lot when a restaurant only serves pho! It is always a challenge tryin to figure out if Tau Bay is open but when it is, this was our to go place. If Tau Bay is not open, King noodle is a close second
I love the soup here because it has so much flavour but is not "herby" or "oily". I always get a extra large w extra noodle n extra brisket. The brisket comes in little beef cubes and is just awesome.
Their noodles are always nice n a little chewy (never soft or soggy). The hubs love love pho and this is his all time favourite even after eating pho at 6 different cities all over Canada n the States
cheap, quick and very good. -
Review from Jenn C.
2/5/2011
Love Tau Bay. My other favorite is King Noodle, but there is something about Tau Bay's broth that is just better. Tau Bay only has pho - no spring rolls or bun here. Apparently the owners often go on vacation for long periods of time, so if you Google it, there is actually a website on "is Tau Bay open?" :) Anyway, a XL bowl of pho costs about $7, a heaping bowl of noodles and meat/meat cuts :) Note that it is a cash-only establishment. The service is really good here - you get seated right away (assuming there is space - when I went mid-week for lunch, it ended up being about half full), and after you order, you get your bowl of noodle soup in about 10 minutes. Can't beat that. If you like pho, you gotta go!
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Review from Paula K.
3/4/2009
Pho Tau Bay came highly recommended by other lovers of pho (Vietnamese noodle soup) in Edmonton. After all, this is truly a pho house - there is nothing else on the menu, other than beverages. The dining area looks like a cafeteria out of the 70s, complete with a tiled floor, and the seating is very basic - only tables, no booths. The place fills quickly during lunch hour.
There are around 20 different kinds of pho served here, with two size options. The pricing is lower than other Vietnamese places in the area. My medium bowl cost only a little more than $6 while my companion's large bowl was a mere $7. I added an iced Vietnamese coffee to my meal for $3.50.
I ordered steak and well done brisket. Well done steak was my friend's choice. As is typical, our soups were served steaming hot a few minutes later, with a generous portion of bean sprouts and herbs to the side.
My soup had plenty of noodles, but could have had more meat. There were only a few pieces of brisket, served as one centimeter cubes, most of which sunk to the bottom of the bowl to be retrieved towards the end of my meal. Usually, the meat in pho is served sliced (with the exception of beef balls) so I found this to be unusual, but tasty nonetheless. The steak was served medium, and cooked quickly in the hot broth. Again, there could have been more, but what was there was lean and tender. The broth was seasoned slightly differently than past pho experiences, but it was definitely flavourful.
As far as my friend was concerned, he had no complaints. I did notice that a piece or two of his well-done steak was actually still pink when it arrived at our table. However, it darkened very quickly.
The coffee was a great way to end the meal, and wasn't too strong, as it sometimes can be. Inexpensive, fast, and reasonably good, I am not surprised Pho Tau Bay is such a popular destination for soup lovers.
