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WonderPho
Category: Restaurants Vietnamese Vietnamese [Edit]
865 York Mills RdToronto, ON M3B 1Y6
(647) 352-5777
- Hours:
Mon-Sun 11 am - 10 pm
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Private Lot
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- No
- Take Away:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Wi-Fi:
- Free
- Alcohol:
- Full Bar
- Noise Level:
- Average
- Has TV:
- No
- Caters:
- No
23 reviews for WonderPho
23 reviews in English
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Review from Jon W.
North York, ON
12/9/2011
This has become our "go-to" place when we want something tasty and simple without spending too much. The pho is tasty, and the broth is always hot (which is not always the case elsewhere).
We are always happy with the service we get as well and this is big since it is rare to find good service at Vietnamese joints. I heartily recommend this if you're ever in the neighbourhood! -
Review from Julia H.
East York, ON
5/10/2012
Food is very bland - not authentic at all.
meant to cater to the customers who have never eaten Vietnamese food before.
Definitely will not be returning! -
Review from Dave A.
Toronto, ON
2/11/2012
My meal was good, but the staff mixed up an order at our table, and the response was "I know." And that was after requesting it be corrected. My dish was right, but the service standards I saw were poor at best. Can't comment on the pho, I had the com.
Also fix your website, it says it's open until 10:30pm an Saturday. Closed at 10. -
Review from Jonathan C.
Oakville, ON
11/22/2011
Summary: Overpriced pho with decent noodles and ok broth. But the Seafood Pho was terrible. Definitely do not get that. I'd stick with the Beef broth based Pho, or a curry base.
The review:
Any Pho place with nice decor is automatically suspect in my books. The better pho I've had has usually been at dives and places where you make sure you wipe down your utensils before using them. So walking into WonderPho alarms immediately went off.
I came here without reading any Yelp reviews, and after reading them now, my experience was similar.
More expensive than other places, and cruddy service (we were the ONLY table there, yet the waiter didn't come by once during our meal to check up on us. I had to call him over i.e. yell, to get more water).
I ordered the Seafood Pho. DO NOT GET IT. It's one of the more expensive items on the menu, but you get two mussels, two pieces of fake crab, two tiny shrimps, and two tiny pieces of overcooked squid. Definitely get one the beef base Pho or Curry dishes.
The positives are that the noodles themselves were actually decent, and from what I could tell of my friend's beef broth and curry broths, those were ok as well. The base isn't quite as oily as other Pho places, which is good or bad, depending how you look at it.
Based on the seafood Pho alone, there's much better Pho to be had. And with plenty of options in that area (Dragon Pearl, a thai and japanese buffet next door, kelseys, coras, pizza, wings, freshi, etc.) unless you're craving Pho, I'd go somewhere else.
If I do end up coming again, I'll be sure to try a Rare Beef Pho (i.e. a 101 at most places) to compare the staple and report back. -
Review from Matt H.
Toronto, ON
11/25/2011 1 Check-in Here
This place has stepped up it's Pho ability since I came here when it first opened. The broth is pretty nice and lots of meat/noodle ratio. The service was weird, we ordered some fresh and deep fried rolls to start and they didn't all come out at once and were were given one peanut sauce between 3 guys.
The side plate was weak, lacking basil and a few other staple veggies. Overall they definitely improved on their meal and I would come back since it is close to my work. -
Review from Clara T.
North York, ON
2/20/2012
I had pho with brisket, beef, and meat balls. The soup and the quality of the meat was very good. I found the portion size very reasonable too.
Service was alright - they mixed up an order but didn't make a fuss about switching it for the correct one.
The only thing I didn't like was that they do not serve any hot tea unless you buy it - basically forcing you to buy a drink. -
Review from Tony C.
Richmond Hill, ON
1/16/2012 1 Check-in Here
I should've read my fellow yelper's reviews before coming here. I was quite disappointed with their pho. I don't want to pile on the hate for their pho but unless they make changes and improve on it, they won't find me coming back. The atmosphere is nice, decor makes you feel comfortable and the wait staff was excellent. Just their staple dish needs some major work.
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Review from Lon W.
NORTH YORK, ON
10/7/2011
Food is ok, not disgusting, though I've had plenty better. In just writing this review because we fought through traffic to make it for their before 6pm half price specials - we had a couple minutes to spare and asked to order soon as we got in the door and they said we couldn't get it. And so they lost our business.
I was really rooting for them because they're relatively local to me and the area could use the renewal, but o won't be back for a while -
Review from Eleni L.
North York, ON
2/10/2012
This is actually a review from my boyfriend who has only a few asks when it comes to pho:
1. Decent qualify beef and;
2. Broth that is broth, not just salty water.
He went out to eat here with a friend and was immediately unimpressed with the interior decor. While it's a beautiful restaurant, he has the theory that the more the chef can't cook a decent pho, the more the restaurant compensates with the interior design.
Totally true. The bowl of pho he had had meat that was riddled with fat, so much so that he felt the need to stick his fingers into his bowl, fish out the meat, and discard half of it.
The noodles were obviously cooked and left int he bowl way before any broth was added, and had congealed into a solid, carby lump.
He even swears the garnishings were stingy.
This is coming from a guy who's not a picky eater.
He did complain to the staff about his meal, and then when asked to pay for the full price of his pho with more than half of it hardly even touched, he asked to see the manager. He suggested ways to FIX the soup, because if this is what they're serving to others, they're obviously going to run out of business.
I agree when I would expect even a slight discount, or a re-make of the dish if it was so obviously bad, but the manager refused to even listen to the complaints.
My boyfriend now refuses to come to this place, as do all his friends who live in the area. -
Review from Tony F.
It's been a long time since you left me
I didn't mean to, make you cry
I didn't mean to, disappoint you
I didn't mean to, tell you lies
And after all that, we have been through
Won't you let me, tell you why
One more try
I didn't know how much, I loved you
One more try
Let me put my, arms around you
Living all these lonely nights without you
Oh baby can we give it, one more try
Since Wonderpho has decided to "relaunch" today and offer free Pho, I thought I'd give it one more try. We ordered some pork summer rolls and a mango salad. We counted several slivers on the mango salad (see picture yourself) but the pork roll was pretty good.
The Pho on the other hand, lots of msg and is not the traditional Pho you would get at a Viet Pho place.
They gave us a plate full of old bean sprouts and a small sprig of mint for 3 to share. Overall way below what I get at Pho dives. At least the service was 10X better than last, but that's not saying very much (see previous review) I really really want to like you WonderPho, but maybe it's just me not you.. Aww heck.. it's you baby not me.
No more tries.Listed in: Lyrical Miracals, Ridonckulousness! (Oh no you…
1 Previous Review: Show all »
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2/1/2011 First to Review
Live update:
12:20 Waited 5 min for a host when I first walked in. ordered right away.
12:35 Still… Read more »
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Review from Jennifer K.
Markham, ON
I decide to give WonderPho a try.. can a Pho joint be that bad??
Post Lunch hour at 3 pm.. the place was quite empty.
They have now the Happy Hour Special that you can get 50% off coffee, smoothies and starters.. and if you are into beer drinking $12 for 4 beers. Since I am not INTO beer drinking today, I opt for the 50% off smoothies specials.
Papaya Smoothies ($2)
- Smallish... but for $2 is A-OK.. I don't think I would have pay full price for it
- Papaya taste was really light.. and tasted more like a slush more than a smoothies.. but maybe good calorie wise?
Pho Bo with Rare Beef and Beef Brisket ($6.89)
- The bean sprouts and the basil leaf were kind of withering... a sad sign to see...
- The broth did has this strong taste of anise... some might like it...
- Rare Beef was well done...
- Size wise is quite good for a small... no complaint here
- Not fresh noodle but cooked well..
Services is A+. Polite, attentive and fast.... but since there were 3 staffs and 3 occupied tables, I do expect good services!
Deco is nice and chic... not your usual cheap Pho Joint. Dare I say is a good place for a date? But with Free WIFI.. they might be busy playing with their toys or the Yelp Apps trying to check in! I am guilty of that!Listed in: Vietnamese Food in the GTA!
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Review from Raymond W.
Toronto, ON
6/20/2011 5 photos
Wonderpho...ahh haa, I get it...
If this restaurant fails, it's the complete fault of the owner. Why the hell would anyone open a Vietnamese noodle eatery here? The business solely depends on the few urban sprawl offices and one business building at the corner. Did I just answer my own question?
Cleanest Pho restaurant in Toronto (front of house anyway), it better be because the place looked like a section of Sunnybrook Hospital. It's got hospital colours, and even tin pottery. They totally sell those at Sunnybrook.
So we got bamboo, vases. This feel more like a gift shop than a restaurant. It does have a patio, but who eats pho on a patio?
You know that zesty flavour in the soup? Well, the pho here has too much of that. Tastes unnatural, tastes like packaged spices rather than fresh ones. Either that or too much MSG. I can definitely taste the taste of cutting corners.
The lemongrass chicken breast wasn't outstanding either, not tender enough. I think it was called the Chicken Com. Frozen meat that's been in the freezer for too long, not enough flavour, that's what it tasted like.
I would like to see the chef and inspect the kitchen. But really I don't.
The waitresses here are quite nice, one of them has a blonde streak at the ponytail. Not that's it's important, or any way relevant, but it's what I've noticed so I thought I write this down.
I'm so bored, and there's nothing to do here. The place was nearly empty, and the food here isn't fresh. The plate of sprouts was old, and they only gave me one plate, despite that there were two of us and we both ordered pho. You kidding me? It's bean sprouts! Should we share napkins too?
I did notice that they had a bunch of selection in the pho area, different kinds of soup base with different noodles. Perhaps this was their selling point. I'm still bored.
I'm being hard on this place because the borderline theme-park of a restaurant is just around the corner (Dragon Pearl). This place needs to offer some kind of niche.
I just can't imagine why I would want to come back here.
Spend some time in getting fresh ingredients, not so much time in coming up with the clever name.
Oh, and I ordered the apple juice.
It was from concentrate.... -
Review from Winnie Y.
2/13/2011
I don't understand why the reviews are so harsh. I came here the first week it opened, and yes they had some issues getting the flow of the restaurant under control. But they just opened, so cut them some slack and just focus on reviewing the food.
The second time I went the service was so much better.
I got:
1) The beef brisket curry - this is amazing! A little too spicy for my taste but the flavours are all there and they give you a give bowl of curry for the rice.
2) Beef Pho - tastes very home-style. It's not as salty as other pho restaurants and the sprouts/chillis/lime are really fresh.
3) Shrimp Spring Rolls - yummy! The texture is great, I like the clear crispy wrap compared to the yellow ones you get at other pho restaurants. Doesn't feel like you are eating fried frozen pre-made ones these taste fresh.
I'll definitely go again! -
Review from Kevin C.
2/4/2011
Wonderpho is truly wonderful! I live literally 5 mins from the restaurant and am really excited to have this pop up in our community.
I came here on a Thursday night. We ordered a pho and a curry beef dish - both were amazing! The food was fresh and the taste was spot-on.
The decor was pleasant and the service was attentive - nothing too fancy but way better than your typical pho house. The place is also quite reasonably priced. I remember the regular pho being around $6-$7. I'll definitely be back again very soon... -
Review from Thom H.
3/30/2011 1 photo
Noodles were stuck in a knot that could not be untangled by chop sticks.
Rare beef was well done and also balled up it's own sticky knot.
Basil was skimpy. No other greens served.
Broth was bland.
Room was very echo filled .
Pork spring rolls were okay but a bit bland.
Service was very fast and friendly. -
Review from Herman S.
Markham, ON
3/16/2011
Definitely PittyPho
I've been have crazy cravings for Pho for lunch for a few weeks at work and there are none to be found close by.
All of a sudden all these restaurants popped up. After try this place. It should have been the last of the new places we tried.. haha
Nothing really exciting about the food here & I can't believe you have to ask for tripe to be added to your Pho for an extra $2.00 for 3 small strips of tripe. DAMN, at Dimsum for $2.00 I get a steamed dish of 8-10 pieces LoL.
...and trust me on this one, Fresh fruit shakes cannot be "their famous fan favorites" haha
The crappy Pho restaurants in RIchmond Hill taste better than this joint boys and girls.
I did not give this place a 1 star because it did satisfy my pho craving, but next time I'll just wait till after work and head up to Richmond Hill to get my fix -
Review from Josephine T.
North York, ON
10/30/2011
I went against Yelp people's advice and tried this place yesterday. The food was great. Their Pho was really good. I was surprise from all the bad reviews. Their Avocado smoothies were fresh. Their soup base was actually good but just needed to be a little hotter-lost a star here. Their spring rolls was really hot and tasted great. The food was fast and the meat and tendon was soft. Their price is a little higher than other pho places -lost another star, but I was surprise how good the food was here. I would definitely come back.
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Review from Isaac Y.
Toronto, ON
5/13/2011 13 Check-ins Here
I've been here three times. This is basically an average of all the experiences.
Food: The soup base for their pho is tasty enough, without over powering. The noodle could use a little more time warming up though. Every single time the noodle still come slightly clumped together. Their spring roll is typical store bought Chinese spring rolls, not Vietnamese style.
Service: First time we went, the waiters were running around in circles not knowing what to do. That was a week after the original opening, so they kinda deserved a break. Second time, things were better. With couple of waitresses working hard to keep everything flowing. Nice improvement. Third time, the waiter, a young white kid, stood there hitting on the waitress at the counter. We stood at the door with other groups waiting and he just ignored all of us. Service was horrible until one of the hard working waitresses showed up.
If the owner of the place can bring in good servers, this place would be quite good. But, the way it is now, it is quite bad. -
Review from bold c.
Toronto, ON
Pho was light and refreshing. The meat was good. Somewhat on the small portion side. Price was about average $15. Service was good. Staff responsive. Decor and ambiance above average. Good for client meetings. Took a little while to get the bill paid as they only have one credit card machine.
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Review from Jasmine L.
North York, ON
2/13/2011
Best pho I have ever had! The basil, sprouts and chilis they give you are very fresh, and the broth and noodles are delicious! (I find many pho places have a strange after taste in the pho broth, but at this place, it was perfect!). Service was good, and I would say it could be improved if the menu selection was a little broader.
Comment from Jason C. of WonderPho 4/1/2011
Thank you so much! We are glad you enjoyed our restaurant.… More » -
Review from Zeynep U.
Toronto, ON
3/29/2011
I think this place is improving. The service was just fine.
The prices were a bit high but we usually hit up less "fancy" pho places and spots with more competition.
I thought the broth was very flavorful. Large bowls very large. Food came fast. Veggie spring rolls lacking something. Can't put my finger on it.
Biggest disappointment: they charge about $2/person for tea. Seems like a cash grab to me.
Hop-Pho-ly the will continue to improve. -
Review from Cynthia F.
Toronto, ON
2/13/2011
Very disappointing. I echo a lot of the other one-star reviews, even with giving the place some leeway for being brand new and needing to work out the kinks. My mother used to run a restaurant, so I hate giving out one-star ratings; it is a tough business and there are so many picky, unreasonable customers. But this place seriously needs to get its act together.
Major points needing improvement:
- the pho tastes overwhelmingly of anise and not much else. It was also lukewarm, and the noodles at the bottom of the beef pho I ordered were stuck together in a very unattractive clump. Not something that would likely be "worked out with time" -- that cook needs to find alternate employment, ASAP, if s/he can't even heat a bowl of pho to the right temperature.
- the vegetarian spring rolls that came to our table tasted previously frozen, and were completely flavourless. They didn't even have the embarrassment of MSG to mask how awful they were. They were out of their regular spring rolls, so we ordered the vegetarian version. Again, this is nothing that can be worked out with time -- this recipe badly needs revision. There was also NOTHING Vietnamese about it. I had a hard time being charitable about a $3.89 tiny 2-spring roll portion of a dish -- I could have gotten a much better product, for a much better price, in the frozen section of T&T. Not cool.
- Please bring the RIGHT BILL to the RIGHT TABLE. We were presented with the wrong bill and had to ask for the right one. On the bright side, this is at least something that can be worked out with time.
With 1/3 promising as an improvement, and the food -- the mainstay of why this restaurant exists in the first place -- in dire straits? No, I don't think a 1-star review is harsh.Comment from Jason C. of WonderPho 4/1/2011
Thank you for the review; we found your criticism very… More » -
Review from dabber b.
North York, ON
2/17/2011
I also don't understand why all the reviews are saying this place is horrible. I went to this restaurant for the first time this week and the reviews are completely wrong. As soon as I walked in, one of the waiters greeted me and then sent me towards the take-out counter, where a waitress had a menu ready for me. They asked if I wanted any hot water while I was waiting and the food only took about 5 minutes to be made. The food was amazing- I had the grilled shrimp bun. The shrimp was done amazingly and the spring roll that came with it was better than any spring roll I've had before. The vermicelli that came with it was a bit surprising, as I had assumed they'd be thinner but they were still well enjoyed. The decor of the restaurant was also very nice and fresh looking. I'll definitely be going there more often!
