Pho is arguably one of the BEST things to eat in Vancouver during the rainy winter months (that, and ramen!) to warm you up while it pours outside. (The sun is coming, don’t worry.)

Even if it isn’t raining, who doesn’t enjoy a good bowl of beefy soup with the unique Vietnamese spices boiled for hours extracting the nutrition and flavor paired with glassy rice noodles with just the slight bite to it that can easily be slurp down added with the important bean sprouts packing the right crunch and how can you forget the slow cooked beef brisket or medium-well beef sirloin! Mmm.

That’s what good pho should be. Not the MSG loaded, artificial soup you might find. We took to finding the BEST pho in Vancouver and think you’ll like it very much! Take a look and comment bellow if you agree or disagree with our recommendations at VancityAsks. Share your favourite pho spot as well for a chance to win $50 gift card (Contest ends 1 month from initial posting date – October 31, 2017 to November 31, 2017).

Here are the FIVE Best Pho in Vancouver:

We’ve taken great lengths to find the best pho in Vancouver. After hours of surveying locals, checking online reviews, and trying countless pho restaurants (wasn’t that difficult actually), we’re confident these are the best pho in Vancouver. Give it a try and comment bellow your experience, thoughts, or suggestions!

1) Pho Japolo:

 

Address: 244 E Georgia St, Vancouver, BC V6A 1Z7

Yelp:

Zomato:

 

2) Café Phin and Pho:

What you need to know about Cafe Phin & Pho – Delicious pho. NO MSG. Family-owned and operated. Fast-casual dining. Good prices. Friendly staff & self-service. Located five minutes from English Bay. (Beach walk after pho?)

Cafe Phin and Pho easily lands on the top 5 recommendations for the best pho in Vancouver. Flavorful broths made by boiling beef bones with no MSG. Generous portions of meat and perfect proportion of rice noodles. Friendly service, clean interior, and plentiful seating makes for an excellent pho restaurant in downtown Vancouver by English Bay. If you’re looking for pho in downtown Vancouver, Cafe Phin and Pho is where you want to find yourself a steaming hot bowl of brothy goodness with generous servings of rare beef (cooked in the soup) or a trio of cooked brisket, rare beef, and beef balls.

The prices are also excellent for downtown Vancouver pho restaurant with a bowl of rare beef pho only setting you back $10.50! The portions are generous and the broth is truly home-made with no MSG. It is a self serve restaurant.

Phuoanganh Nguyen put it nicely when he said the following on Google Reviews:

“The food here is just simply awesome. If you want to know how Northern Vietnam cuisine taste like, this is the perfect spot for you” – Phuoanganh Nguyen

What’s good? The pho is easily the best pho you’ll taste in Vancouver. Everything is made with care void of MSG. It shows as the broth is hearty but doesn’t leave you thirsty after as many pho restaurants in Vancouver. The house special which includes beef balls, strip-lion, and rare beef for $10.75 is excellent as well the rare beef pho at $10.50 with generous portions of rare beef. They are rumored to also have excellent chicken curry.

What’s bad? Nothing so far but perhaps the canned drinks?

Address: 976 Denman St, Vancouver, BC V6G 2M1

3) Viet Sub Vietnamese Cuisine:

What you need to know about Viet Sub Vietnamese Cuisine – Small take-out Vietnamese restaurant on Robson Street. Good pho but has MSG. Cheap pricing for pho. Excellent Vietnamese subs. Self-service. Reasonable portions.

Viet Sub Vietnamese Cuisine is a small Vietnamese restaurant in the downtown core of Vancouver that serves delicious pho and viet subs. Started in July of 2009, Viet Sub Vietnamese Cuisine has been a favourite of locals since almost a decade ago. In their earlier days, they had a line up going out the door with locals eager to savour their Vietnamese pho and subs.

Their food is good, their service is quick, and their price is cheap. Not much more you can ask for if you’re looking for pho in downtown Vancouver. They have two locations both on Robson Street; the original store is located at 520 Robson Street which is more central to downtown Vancouver offices and residences. Their newer store is located at

The pho restaurant is located conveniently on Robson Street. (Have you looked at the rent for retail shops on Robson Street recently? It’s ridiculous, like $40,000/month for 1000 sqft.) Surprisingly, despite being located on the iconic Robson Street, the prices for Viet Sub Vietnamese Cuisine is still very palatable. Perhaps, due to the fact that they begun serving pho in Vancouver as early as 2009 (probably locking in a more reasonable rent), where their pho were only $6.45, Viet Sub has continued offering cheap prices for pho in downtown Vancouver. We’re looking at $7.75 for a Rare Beef Pho and $4.75 for their Deep Fried Pork/Chicken Sub. (definitely not kosher) If you’re looking for pho in downtown Vancouver, I would highly recommend you consider Viet Sub Vietnamese Cuisine if you’re looking for quick, cheap eat or take out.

We have to concur with Mason W. on Yelp:

“Oh my god!! This place is definitely a hidden gem among hidden gems. I stumbled upon this place during my trip to Vancouver and I immediately fell in love! Both the pho and the subs here are delicious and the service is excellent! The price is also super cheap (Only $4 for a bahm mi what the heck!!!!). This place will definitely be my go to place whenever I visit Vancouver!” – Mason W.

What’s Good? Rare Beef Pho is quite the staple. If you want something more diversified then try the House Special. Viet Sub Vietnamese Cuisine as its name suggest is also known for their Vietnamese sandwiches which are said to be delicious and cheap at just $4.50.

What’s Bad? Not exactly bad but not the best option on their menu, many diners did not (myself included) like the salad rolls which lacked a little flavor compared to their delicious pho.

Yelp: https://www.yelp.ca/biz/viet-sub-vancouver

Zomato: https://www.zomato.com/vancouver/viet-sub-vietnamese-cuisine-west-end-vancouver

Address: 520 Robson St, Vancouver, BC V6B 2B7

 

4) Pho Hong:

 

5) Bun Cha Ca Hoang Yen:

 

Thanks for reading our recommendations for the best pho in Vancouver. We’re confident these pho restaurants in Vancouver will hit the spot and satisfy your cravings!

 

Vancouver Pho Rating: How do you know what good is unless you have a rubric of sorts? Our definition of good may be far different from yours; although tastes is indisputable. Here are some quick considerations we made when looking for the best pho in Vancouver so you know how we rated these pho restaurants in Vancouver.

• MSG? We’re looking for the real deal. MSG isn’t necessarily unhealthy for you in small amounts but save it for your instant noodles. If you’re going out for pho, you better make sure you’re getting the real home-made goodness of pho. A good stock made from beef bones boiled for hours delicately spiced with star anise and ginger for the pleasant aroma. You want the nutrition as much as the flavor here when looking for the best pho in Vancouver. If you’re going to go for MSG powder, you may as well go buy that instant noodle pho packets and make it in your room.

Try the BEST Vancouver Pho & comment bellow:

Now that you know where the BEST pho is in Vancouver, BC – go and try it! Pho tastes great on a rainy day in Vancouver (Most of October to April in case you’re not a local Vancouverite.) and it tastes even better with friends! Go alone or go with a friend but you MUST try these Vancouver pho restaurants.

Once you’ve tried these 5 pho restaurants in Vancouver, comment bellow what you thought about our recommendations for the BEST pho in Vancouver.

Do you have a favourite that we haven’t mentioned? Comment bellow to share any good pho restaurants that you think we’ve missed out! The recommendations is subject to regular updates base on feedback and quality checks.

 

BONUS – Make your own Pho:

Eating pho at these restaurants is certainly the most convenient and preferred option. Still, sometimes cooking can be a stress reliever and immediate gratification to savour your own works or see the enjoyment of your family and friends.

Should you decide alternatively to make pho at home in Vancouver, BC… Here is a simple pho recipe that you can follow to make pho in your own home! Caution, this isn’t the short-cut option so you would actually have to boil the beef bones for upwards of 10 hours!

 

The pho recipe above is taken from the following sites. We’ve adapted several recipes to form this which we think tastes great. (Yes, I made pho with this recipe – it is delicious!)

 

Pho Shout:

Here are some more pho-goodness reading if you are looking to read more about good pho in Vancouver.

 

 

More Pho in Vancouver:

Part of being in such a multi-cultural city like Vancouver where food is celebrated means there are plentiful delicious pho restaurants in Vancouver among other international cuisines. Yay!

It was hard to select just five of the best pho restaurants in Vancouver so we’ve decided to share other good pho restaurants in Vancouver that you may wish to consider if you’re around the area. (Definitely try the five best pho mentioned above even if you may need to travel. These Vancouver pho listed bellow are excellent options if you’re around the area.)

These other delicious pho in Vancouver deserves a mention as well.

 

More Pho restaurants in downtown Vancouver:

Here are some other pho in downtown Vancouver that are excellent choices.

Chef Lien – 1331 Robson Street (Downtown Vancouver Pho Restaurant)

Chef Lien Vietnamese Cuisine is one of the best pho restaurants in downtown Vancouver towards the Westend of downtown Vancouver on Robson Street. Their pho broth does contain MSG but also has a nice herbal flavor; it is notably less MSG than most pho restaurants. The portion sizes are also reasonable and the price range around $11 per bowl of pho makes Chef Lien one of the better value spots in downtown Vancouver. With this said, the pho is not remarkable that it warrants to be in our top 5 best pho in Vancouver which is why it didn’t quite make the top 5 highlight.

Pholicious – 550 West Hastings Street (Downtown Vancouver Pho Restaurant)

Pholicious is a family-owned and operated pho restaurant in downtown Vancouver right across from SFU’s downtown campus. This is precisely the hole-in-the-wall local family business that we like to highlight on VancityAsks. The unique local eateries with delicious food and sometimes amazing value. We wanted very much to recommend it in our top five best pho restaurants in Vancouver but it fell short of expectations. The service is minimal albeit friendly. The space is cramp but if the pho is good, take-out is always an option. The main problem we have with the pho at Pholicious is the preparation and perceived quality of the food at Pholicious. Notably, they use a plastic (dollar store) bucket to scoop soup from their heated pot. This is a big no-no as the plastic may leak into the boiling soup. Further, they use a big red bucket to process ingredients which is a hygiene concern. The broth itself was acceptable but a little under flavored (watered down likeness). They do not use any MSG at Pholicious which is an important plus however there is room for improvement with food preparation and hygiene. It may also be considerable adding fattier pieces of meat (like knee bones) or bone marrow to thicken the broth and add a little more flavor to the pho broth. However, if you’re looking for a good family-run pho restaurant in downtown Vancouver, Pholicious deserves patronage and consideration. The value is unsurpassed in downtown Vancouver, perhaps catering to the students at SFU, a bowl of pho at Pholicious in downtown Vancouver only rings in at $7 to $8. That by-far is the cheapest pho of pho you can find in downtown Vancouver comparable only to Viet Sub. Another gripe we have about Pholicious is the roasted chicken doesn’t seem to be very fresh chicken, it is likely bought in and kept throughout the day. The chicken is very typical roasted chicken.

Le Do Vietnamese Restaurant

 

Pho Goodness  – Best Pho in Downtown Vancouver Westend

Pho Goodness almost came in #1 on our recommendations of the best pho in Vancouver, however, they fell short due to reports of bad customer service. While they have excellent pho broth and very minimal MSG within their pho, many customers have consistently shared their displeasure with their experience at Pho Goodness. Generally insidious and ill-willed replies without reason for offence.

The prices are very standard at Pho Goodness with a bowl of house special pho (rare beef, brisket, beef balls, and tripe) ringing in at $10 while a bowl of rare beef pho (Pho Tai) – also what I usually go for at pho restaurants – is only $9.50. The broth at Pho Goodness is hearty and minimal effects of MSG found in the aftermath of enjoying good pho in Vancouver. They also have very good rolls for appetizers such as the Goi Cuon Nem (ground pork salad rolls) costing $6.75 for two rolls… very reasonable prices for downtown Vancouver Vietnamese food.

The interior is also welcoming and clean which is important observation when choosing pho restaurants in Vancouver. The only drawback and why we have not mentioned them as #1 best pho in Vancouver is due to the consistent feedback of unpleasant experience with service staff. Precisely being called service staff, they should emphasize on service but what is regrettable is the food is worth trying Pho Goodness if the service is improved. Then again, some people travel to Hong Kong to experience the rude cafe experience, so maybe, try that in Vancouver at Pho Goodness and enjoy good pho in the process?

Little Saigon – Yaletown MSG-Free Pho Restaurant:

Little Saigon in Yaletown is one of the few pho restaurants in Vancouver that does not use MSG in their pho. It costs

Le Petit Saigon – East Hastings Pho Restaurant:

 

Le Pho Vietnamese Restaurant – Hastings/Sunrise Pho Restaurant:

 

Cafe Mai Mai – Marpole Pho Restaurant:

 

Linh Cafe – Fushion French & Vietnamese Restaurant:

Linh Cafe is located in Vancouver’s hipster neighborhood of Kitsilano. Right on 4th Street and Macdonald Street, this French-Vietnamese fusion draws a loyal following of customers. They have a very diversified menu from breakfast eggs & bacon, poutine, lobster, or house made sausage. Generally, when a menu is that large and diversified, it’s a bad sign (because that means the ingredients won’t be very fresh due to turn over as well that they do not specialize sufficiently on one menu item to differentiate or stand out). However, don’t be fooled, because the pho at Linh Cafe is actually very good with little or no MSG. You can also choose to add bone marrow or striploin rare beef to your pho bo. Served throughout the day, the pho bo at Linh Cafe is available for breakfast, lunch, or dinner! Not sufficient to make it into our top 5 best pho in Vancouver but reasonable pho in Kitsilano. It is pricey as well so not very value orientated; a bowl of pho at Linh Cafe sets you back $15 (and probably smaller portion or food quality than other specialty pho restaurants like Little Saigon in Yaletown.)

Baoguette Vietnamese Bistro – English Bay Pho Restaurant:

 

Ha Long Bay – Downtown East Vietnamese Restaurant:

 

My Chau Restaurant: