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Xe Lua Restaurant
Category: Restaurants Vietnamese Vietnamese [Edit]
625 Gerrard St EToronto, ON M4M 1Y2
Neighbourhood: Riverdale
(416) 466-5887
- Price Range:
-
$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- 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:
- Beer & Wine Only
- Noise Level:
- Average
- Has TV:
- No
- Caters:
- No
12 reviews for Xe Lua Restaurant
12 reviews in English
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Review from Original E.
Toronto, ON
4/21/2011
As I was dragging myself home today in the late evening I decided to walk from Broadview and Queen up to Gerrard for some noodles.
I wasn't too sure where to go, but this group of Asian teens, dressed like Japanese hipsters, pointed their fingers across at a place called Xelua.
Smoke blew out of this one kids mouth from the cigarette he was smoking, while telling me that this was one of the two best places to eat Vietnamese noodles in Broadview China Town.
Ordering method was pretty much generic like most Asian restaurants I've been to, you know with the check-box cards?
Service was blithe. Staff amble along, but always making sure you're sabai sabai.
I ordered a chilled strawberry bubble tea to start, with nice pearls of tapioca to boot. Of course I had a noodle soup, large bowl with shreds of chicken, along with a plate of Thai basil, hot chilis, bean sprouts and lime wedge.
The entire meal cost me $11, excellent price for the type of service and quality I experienced.
One last thing, try the goat curry, I saw a couple eating it and it looks bloody delicious. -
Review from Faye C.
3/3/2012
I was starving the other day, and recovering from a cold, so in the mood for soup and noodles.
I ordered Pho (rare beef and tripe), and fried spring rolls. My bf ordered wontons with rice noodles and a vermicelli. He was starving.
It looks clean, and had the green "pass" in the window. It did the job. -
Review from Andrew C.
Scarborough, ON
2/22/2012
I don't know what happened to this pho restaurant. Notice a change with the food quality, not as fresh anymore. My bowl of pho noodles was warm, not warm enough to cook my beef noodle when i ordered NON RARE BEEF pho noodle in soup.
I was just not satisfied with the temperature of my bowl of noodles and it certainly makes a huge difference by affecting the taste of my bowl of noodle. Also I had less than 5 pieces of meat. Probably won't go back to this restaurant anymore. -
Review from Rick L.
Concord, ON
1/7/2012
This is the place I go to all the time for pho, cause its close to my house and I like the broth. Also, they give you a choice of thick or thin noodles. I love the thick noodles and other pho restaurants don't give you that option. Noodles and beef are so good, nice portion size. My nieces love this pho place the most too.
The décor is nice since they upgraded recently, and is spacious too cause the restaurant is long.
So why did I give only a 3? I don't like the wait staff at all. I don't know why its so hard for them, but there is always something wrong. At least 2 times we sat down but was not giving tea or a menu, one time I got tired and walked over to pho 88. Another 2 times, they didn't give us tea. Sometimes the staff seems occupied talking to each other or reading a magazine. And yeah, I just love it when i sit down first and they serve another customer that came in later first. -
Review from Alvin V.
Toronto, ON
4/27/2011
When it comes to Viet food, there are tons of selections throughout the city but this one has always been a staple with downtowner's and people who want to grab something to eat after partying all night. Unfortunately for me, I am neither of those classifications so I don't frequent these types of restaurants as often.
BUT In truth, I actually feel fortunate that I don't have to go to these restaurants as often because Viet food has always been quite low on my food priority list because it makes me just go "meh". Some of you must be thinking "Damn, did he just go there? Don't go there!" ....well yes offence, I went there!
The simple reason I don't like this type of food is probably because I don't enjoy noodle soup as much so the one main staple of Viet food is already already a write off for me. I typically order the rice or vermicelli dishes.
So keeping those things in mind, here is my review:
Decor:
After they renovated, I was quite impressed with the changes they made. It's definitely more modern (kind of like Spring Rolls) and I appreciate that restaurants are starting to value dining ambiance. BUT, there are some restaurants that should save their money on decor and spend it on maybe expanding their menu items or quality of food.
There are many successful Viet restaurants that have a crappy layout but if the food is right, then the product sells itself. People don't come here for a romantic date I can attest to that. But if the girl can appreciate that, she's a keeper?
Food:
Like I said in the decor section, maybe they should have spent their money on the food quality instead. The vermicelli bowl I got was COLD and the ingredients were not hot, just warm. My friend ordered the Satay Sauce Noodles which I have to give props for though. The sauce was thick which ensured that the sauce would not drip off the noodles easily so good job.
I also really wish that some restaurant could offer a 3 meat combo rice platter...Beef, chicken, and pork! That would be awesome and I would pay more for it.
Service:
SLOW. Even to get our tea refilled. My friend almost had to wear it like a hat for the waiters to see it. Seriously, noodle soup should be quick. Here's another scenario where money spent on the design of the restaurant could have been better spent on maybe more cooks?
I also acknowledge that this is a casual restaurant but as service staff, when you bring dishes over and announce the number or name of the dish, don't just put it in one area of the table and make the customers pass it around. At least wait for someone at the table to raise their hand so you could at least gesturally pass it in their direction. Again, money better spent on better service!
Overall:
I'm sorry that I ripped this restaurant so hard. But from my other experiences at similar establishments, the service was better and the food was quicker and probably equivalent in taste. I got to keep it real and in my honest opinion, right? -
Review from Myrem D.
Mississauga, ON
5/13/2011 1 photo
driving down spadeena , my crew & yours truly came here Wednesday evening for our monthly Pho night.
The way the door stands, incorrectly directs the masses to the right side of the door.
Walk into the door (even if it looks as though it has not been operational for 2 generations) follow the stairs leading up. Once your at the top of the stairs, the bathrooms are straight (if you happen to miss the dinky "washroom" sign).
The table occupancies are really convenient for large groups as well as 2 people. The space is open and roomy. The walls are 3/4 all glass so you usually get a nice view of the fun activities on Spadeena. :p
This place is supposed to be the "cool" spot. Most the the staff speak proper English so it's easy to order.
Keep in mind, this is my first time trying Pho. So, naturally I had to get the safest option. the crew ordered,
Shredded chicken and Egg noodle Pho (me)
Grilled chkn skewers - yUMM
Shrimp spring rolls - myeh - cold spring rolls don't get no votes from moi
egg noodle with dumpling pho
curry lamb (FANTASTIC - the rice comes separately. The bowl of the curry is 80% broth, lamb and yukon style potatoes)
Bbq chicken with rice and steamed egg (FANTASTIC)
beef and chicken with rice - tad spicy.
Shrimp and chicken vermicelli - myeh
vegetarian stir fry (horrible...watery, and the bok choy looked like it was melting into the watery sauce)
Green tea is served accordingly. Which is of good quality too. Not the diluted version you get at most places.
The service was partially bad. They forgot a few of the meals. With a large crowd that's usually a really awful feeling. To be the only 2 without any meals. We had to remind the waiters twice that we are still waiting on food. +_0
Bill came up to $89, which is pretty good considering we had double and triple of each on the list above.
fun fact that I learned : if you want more green tea, you raise the flap of the kettle upwards and they know to come refill.
xoxo
M. -
Review from Tony F.
1/27/2010
1. I'm a Pho & Bun Fiend.
2. I have practically had a bowl of Pho in every city I've been to across North America & parts of the UK.
3. I love Pho, BUT I only categorize Pho in 3 categories. Awesome, Okay, Bleh.
4. I only have the fully loaded special.
So to qualify for the Awesome Category, the special really has to be FULLY loaded. Tendons, tripe, the works! Next is the broth. You've got to taste the meaty marrowy goodness in the Broth. 3rd is the Noodles. I'm not so picky, it just has to be the thick kind and not the thin round ones. Lastly, the service has to be okay. You don't have to treat me like a prince, but you do have to come serve me in a reasonable amount of time, and be reasonably clean. Reasonably. This is Pho after all. I expect a certain level of dive in my Pho.
Service levels at the Gerrard location is night and day vs the Spadina Locale. The Gerrard one feels like a family run business, and the service has always been spectacular. Meanwhile the ultra busy Spadina one generally treats me like a McDonalds drive by.
What makes Xe Lua work is the fresh noodles that you can't get everywhere. I think the broth is good enough (not the best), and most importantly, I get the good yummy bits, as in the tendon and the tripe.
They've also got the best Spring Rolls this side of Toronto, and I usually wash it all down with a Red Bean Shake.
Not the perfect date place as there's a nice dive factor, but I'd only want to marry a girl who can appreciate a classic Pho Restaurant.Listed in: Omnomeriffic Yum! (TM), Pho-U, Pho-get-about it.
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Review from Neil T.
Toronto, ON
8/10/2009
Clearly no one has love for Chinatown East (sorry, not "Old Chinatown" as previously stated). The Choo Choo train strikes again! This place was a staple of mine nearly every week during my volleyball season. It's the perfect place to get super cheap eats when you only have 30 minutes to order, eat, and pay.
They do everything at this Chinese-run joint fairly well, but nothing spectacular. Furthermore, some standard Vietnamese items seem to be omitted from this menu (as I recall, banh guon was not on the menu last time I went). Any attempts to speak Vietnamese to the Cantonese server will also get you blank stares.
Still, the fresh noodle pho will never let you down. 4-stars for the pho, 3.5 for the rest of the menu. In and out and 30 minutes and everyone is happy.Listed in: My Vietnamese Food Rankings
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Review from Jenny T.
2/28/2010
This is my default pho restaurant. It's quick, really quick, the service is excellent, and the pho is consistently delicious.
I like this location way better than the one on Spadina where they don't care about service at all. My friend has even told me that she once came when the restaurant was about to close and they prolonged the closing just to serve her one dish. They even re-fired up the grill.
The fruit smoothie is really good too! The only thing is sometimes I feel dirty when I sit too close to the wall. The wall needs a bit of cleaning or something to make it feel cleaner. And I'm scared to go downstairs to use their washroom but I guess that's just me nit picking.Listed in: Late Night Eats
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Review from August L.
Updated - 4/8/2010
There's my baby...sort of...
Xe Lua is back! I knew it was just the cook!
FOOD
So I ordered my exact same dish the last time I was here and it was a lot better. There was actually meat in my dish this time. There was A LOT less MSG (thank goodness!).
My soup was only warm and this time they actually took a lot longer to give us our food that usual. Kind of weird.
ENVIRONMENT
What was awful is that the place was freezing cold. B/c it was chilly outside, as soon as someone opened the door, a gust of cold air swept through the place. They should have turned on the heat...or at least given us HOT broth.Listed in: My Pho Gho to list (haha get…, Unpredictable Experiences
2 Previous Reviews: Show all »
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3/28/2010
Ok ok... I know I gave this place a 4 before but clearly something happened between then and now.
Is… Read more »
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Review from Joanna L.
Toronto, ON
10/23/2009
Choo Choo! because of the train picture on the sign....
Not the fanciest or classiest joint in town but where else can you fill your belly for under 10 bux!
We visit the East Toronto Chinatown location because we know the owners and always get excellent, fast service. I've also eaten at the downtown Chinatown one but prefer the end end location.
It's a good place to go for some late-night eats with a group of friends.
I like the bun, many of my friends go for the pho. And, the avocado smoothies are made with real avocadoes.
Decent place. -
Review from Deanna W.
9/1/2009
It's chinese run so it's definitely not authentic but they do serve a decent bowl of pho here. Sometimes all it takes is the addition of fresh rice noodles and voila! that'll make up for the weak broth and lack of saw/cilantro. Prices are pretty good too, some dishes are cheaper than other places around town. And oh if you're hungry go for the xtra large-they mean xtra large here. I made a quarter dent in my xtra large most of those precious rice noodles had to go to waste. D'arrrgh.
