Pho Van Van

It’s about time I write a review for this place — now that I’ve had my 2^nd visit! Mind you, the first time I was there was before I started using Unilocal,so no wonder I haven’t written before!
First of all, they moved to this location about 2 years ago. According to one of the waiters, they were at the previous space for about 10 years. My last visit was to the old place. This place is better — cleaner and more spacious, although there are still a lot of tables crammed into the space. Phở Van Van gives stiff competition to my other favourite Phở place (Ox Head in Kanata Centrum)! Phở Van Van has a bit nicer ambiance.
You can get meals for under $ 10 as many Phở soups are under that price, although my soup came in 1 size only (too big — I needed help to finish it!) and it came in at $ 10.50. But they do offer bigger, more fulsome meals as well, if that’s what you’re looking for. I ordered a Number 65, which is Wonton Soup with Egg Noodles. It was deliious!
The service was quick enough; we were seated in an intimate corner and offered a pot of tea, which was very much appreciated and welcome.
I will definitely go back.

Phở soup with rare and well done beef was best that I can remember
Lots of beef, rice noodles and green onions
Serviced nice and hot
Waitress was quick and efficient
Enjoyed whole experience

A friend of ours was raised in Hong Kong. Whenever we go to a Chinese restaurant with her, she orders and we always have a better meal than we do when we go without her. All that to say that picking the right dishes from a menu with dozens and dozens of choices is as important as the quality of the offerings. Phở Van Van is Vietnamese, not Chinese, but the principle applies as well. So I may blame my rating on our own poor choices, but, as two stars implies, I’ve definitely had better.
We picked two deep fried appies. Both were overdone with the wrapping brown and hard rather than golden and crispy. We ordered five plates. Many of the menu choices seem to consist of a pile of plain vermicelli topped with chopped peanuts, unadorned shredded lettuce, carrots and bean sprouts and a chunk of over-​cooked meat. Some options allow you to wrap these ingredients to make a roll. I was not impressed. Better choices often had the word «vegetable» in the title. We had a good shrimp curry with veggies, spicy beef with veggies and veggies with tofu. While these were the highlights of the meal, I still must say that I’ve had better.
The restaurant is new, the décor is pleasant and cleanly modern. But the food arrives so fast that it makes me think it isn’t even reheated, but sits there under heat lamps, slowly desiccating until it’s served.
Don’t think we’ll be going back.

I was in the mood for phở yesterday so I decided to give Phở Van Van a try. The phở comes in 3 sizes: small ($ 8.50), regular or large. The small was just enough for me. A large would probably be enough for 2 people. I’ve had my fair share of phở and the quality of the phở was not bad at all. There was a generous amount of meat.
In addition to phở, they had quite a wide selection of stir-​frys, appetizers, vermicelli and drinks. Most items were within the $ 10 – 15 price range. They can get quite busy at lunch. It did take them a while to finally come and take our orders and to bring our food out.
When you pay, you have to walk up to the cashier so don’t sit there all day waiting for them to bring you your bill!

Went for a lovely bowl of Phở with 2 girlfriends last night — first time visiting Phở Van Van and it was delicious. Was a very warm and comfy atmosphere almost like you were visiting someone’s home but it is all dining room. Service was great — to the point that tea appeared almost magically on the table — we didn’t even notice the server putting it on the table, they were that good at not disrupting your visit.
Had a #1 with Shrimp (Fresh noodle rolls) and a #319 shrimp on sugar cane, with beef and a spring roll. The beef and shrimp were outstanding, but the spring roll I found a little too greasy. Other than that — was lovely. Despite being seated near the door, we were not cold. Keep that in mind when the place is busy and the tables near the door are all that is left. We’ll be back.

I decided to check out Phở Van Van after reading a positive review in the Ottawa citizen.
The restaurant itself is nice but a bit quirky. The wood paneling and fireplace make it feel like you’re sitting down to a meal in a German restaurant. The service was efficient and friendly.
The phở here is top notch. The quality of the beef is excellent and the broth is so tasty that it doesn’t need need hot sauce or hoisen to enhance the flavour. The fried spring rolls were decent but nothing special.
We’ll be back.

I choked on a bit of satay soup (which has become my Viet restaurant fave) and it *hurt.* Yes, it hurt because it was spicy, but it also felt like a super-​concentrated saline solution. It was a pain akin to snorting a teaspoon of ocean water, which is probably just about how salty my soup was. My shrimps were mealy, too (yuck), and the chicken had those weird striations that make me question its source.
On the other hand, the ambiance is decidedly nicer than most phở restaurants in its area, and the place is half-​empty most of the time… probably because the food really is pretty so-​so. The spring rolls were solid, but nothing remarkable about ‘em. So head on to somewhere else in Chinatown — you’re bound to find much better food elsewhere.