Pho Thuan An

New go-​to phở places! These places are just adding up in my books…
The phở here is near perfect — noodle texture wasn’t too hard or too soft and soup had depth but was clear and msg-​free. Served by different people the couple times I came — I’m pretty sure it’s family run.
One time, we went pretty early and the man was having his own brunch phở, and served watermelon as a dessert for us! Pretty sure it only occurred because he was cutting some for himself, and wanted to share. Loved the thought. Another time, we went just before it was closing, but they still welcomed us in and we noticed there was another pair who had finished and were just chatting until after we were finished and leaving. They clearly had kept the restaurant open to accommodate, and didn’t want to tell the girls they were closed. Very kind business owners — I like coming here almost just because I appreciate how much they care about the business and the high level of service I receive and perceive.

Came here to eat some phở.
Parking is available along Kingsway.
The interior was reasonably clean, and the waitress was friendly.
Everyone seems to give this place glowing reviews, but I found the food to be, well, average. Some things did stick out though.
1) The fish sauce here isn’t really fish sauce. «Garlic and chili sauce» would be a better description.
2) The chicken rice I ordered came with a nice bowl of soup. This was pretty pleasant.
I also tried their Vietnamese sandwich (banh mi) and spring rolls. Both were decent but not spectacular. To be honest, I suspect I may simply be ordering the wrong items. With that said, I found their salad (which came with the chicken rice) to be a bit on the mushy side.
Maybe you’ll have better luck with this place.

Ok, so new years day, 7pm, HUNGRY and HUNGOVER, I found somewhere open, for the best cure for the hangover: PHO! We went in and there was no one else there, the menu looked inviting until I realized that NOTHING was vegetarian. I was so sad. My friend eats meat but I couldn’t believe that I was going to be Phở-​less when I needed it the most… So we decided to get up and leave and find Phở somewhere else… We were about ten steps out when the guy came chasing us and asked why we left, we told him about the dietary thing and he assured us they could make the veggie phở and they would use veggie broth… Well that got us back in from the cold and we enjoyed yummy foods and the satisfying fix. Total relief.

A new vancouver favorite !
Honestly there’s so many good phở in Vancouver that I just avoid going to exteriorly dirty places (even tho the phở ain’t bad).
My fellow Unilocaler Tyrone took me here and I had something standard — phở with rare beef. The soup was so good! After reading the reviews I do wish I opted for somethingelse else. It appears to be a family run joint? Couple young kids. We stayed there for a looong time and the owner even gave us a taro dessert. Guess he like our company!, a definite must visit.

Really great Phở, delicious broth, shredded pork /​pork skin /​veggie salad rolls are amazing, excellent service, the pricing you would expect and they do take debit /​credit, can’t wait to go back!

Great little hole in the wall restaurant with only a handful of tables.
Food was great but if all 5 tables are full be prepared to wait a loooong time for your food. We waited about 45 minutes to get our meal after being seated. The owner was really sweet and brought fresh picked cherries to every table and apologized for the wait. And as we were paying the waitress was very apologetic as well. It was nice to see that they geniunely cared
I will try Thuan An again b/​c the food was very good and will update on the service.

When group of foodies are starving at 11pm and most Phở places are closed, these kind people — what seemed a family of three — welcomed us in. And what a treat it was! All we were looking for was a Phở, thought they managed to sandwich a simple soup with some delicious extras. For starters, they gave us a complimentary and delicious iced tea; and to finish up with our meal, they served us with a watermelon.
Everyone left happy, because how can you not at midnight when everything else is closed.

We came to this place for lunch because it was right by Lucky 8 Auto where we were buying a car and we had to wait for some paperwork.
We’re vegan and were not sure they could make anything for us as their menu didn’t have a vegetarian section, but the owner was very friendly and understood «no meat» and surprised us with some very fresh and delicious food.
We got a vegan phở with lots of vegetables and mushrooms and kohlrabi. She used mushrooms and kohlrabi to flavour the broth and it was very good.
We also got this noodle dish that was seasoned and topped with sprouts and veggies and came with a side of broth. I don’t really know what it was called, but my husband liked it.
She said she did not like meat as a child and her mother had to make her vegetable dishes, so luckily she knew how to keep the flavour and make us some tasty homemade Vietnamese food.
I would definitely come back here. It’s very affordable too.

I eat loads of phở and am always searching out the best bowl.
Pros:
Excellent broth (a bit on the sweet side, the MSG notes are evident but not overwhelming, with a faint hint of cinnamon et cetera — i say et cetera becuase i couldnt discern specific spices/​flavours but appreciated their subtly anyhow), very good quality meat, and perfectly cooked noodles.
Cons :
Servers aren’t proficient in English nor do they have the intellectual capacity to remember an extremely simple order despite both them (them plural — 2 servers) and I repeating it ad nauseum. I can forgive a general lack of english proficiency but at least learn the 10 words which appear repeatedly on the menu, and try to remember an order the first time.
The tendon is utter crap. Long strips of the stuff which is very chewy. Good tendon (as at somewhere like Phở Hong or Phở Quyen) is a thick slice with the various tendon textures (some parts as soft as fat, some firm but still able to macerate with a single bite etc).
Wife had that dancing beef salad — it came with a plate of crappy battered oven fries which were still sort of yummy but not really after 3 — but the beef was delicious once dipped in the thin spicy soy/​fish sauce. She isn’t a phở enthusiast so doesn’t often accompany me but she def enjoyed it (in the way one enjoys an appetizer, not a main). Would’ve been better with rice (which was an option), but not a bad dish at all.
Overall — great phở with bad tendon. I am a broth/​meat/​noodle guy, and can forgive bad tendon or shit tripe because I see them more of a bonus if they’re good rather than a disappointment if they’re bad.
I hear other dishes are good as well so next time will try some other things.

no question about consistent quality here — it’s my 4^th visit in past 2 weeks, unheard of… it’s the best iced coffee in the city,…

I wrote this on urbanspoon, might as well paste another one on Unilocal.Yup, they deserve it! Thumbs up!
Read the reviews about this tiny phô house. Reviews are so good I just have to experience it myself. Phô Thuan An did not disappoint me. In fact, it has surpassed my expectations. The broth was very clean and I could actually taste the rare, thin sliced beef and brisket. At other phô restaurants, the broth would be so tasty, excessively tasty (MSG) that it killed the real experience with the «just cooked» meat in your bowl. Other critics were right, the server (owner?) was very friendly. I will definitely come back for more. I used to frequent «My Hanh» which later turned into «Hoi Ann» at Kingsway n Fraser. Unfortunately, small business in Vancouver all shares the same fate… I hope you do well, Thuan An!

* Unassuming little spot with nice variety *
I’ve passed by this spot many times meaning to try it. Today I finally did, and I’m glad I didn’t wait any longer!
Although the name of the restaurant has «Phở» in the title, phở doesn’t seem to be their specialty. They have a large variety of Hue style dishes available on the menu including items like banh bot loc and banh beo. I didn’t want to just eat a plate of those for lunch, so I’ll save trying those for a future visit.
Instead I ordered the bo luc lac which you unfortunately don’t find at too many places in Vancouver. (There is a nice version at Hai Phong — but I digress.)
In keeping with Hue style (I suppose!), the presentation was a step above what most Vietnamese hole in the walls provide in Vancouver.
The beef was amazingly tender, and instead of being served over a bed of watercrest, they had been chopped and added to provide a cool crunch contrast to the hot beef. There were also little chopped pieces of cilantro mixed in for flavour. Very nice. In addition to some nice crispy lettuce, ripe tomatoes, and cucumber slices, there were also some pickled daikon and carrots.
They served a complimentary bowl of pork soup, that was well seasoned, and had lots of herbs floating in it. The broth was a very complex and rich flavour. Delicious. A step above the typical side soup you find at many places.
Complimentary iced tea as well, which was regularly refilled.
The service was very friendly overall, the food tasty with a slightly more refined presentation than I was expecting, and overall this place is one I will return to for sure! (I’ve got to work through some of the Hue dishes as well as soup of their other soups — they promise to be good considering the quality of the broth on that complimentary side soup!