Golden Garden Vietnamese Cuisine

Chinatown doesn’t have many options for Vietnamese. But this is good for Chinatown. Clean, spacious, friendly service. Phở and rice dishes are decent.

So I just ate here today. The service was awesome and the food was yummy. We came when there was a lunch rush but they seated is pretty fast only 10 min wait. I order the banh me special love that and phở and side of salad rolls everything was
will definitely be coming back here on my lunch breaks or ordering Togo. By the way of you didn’t know they have a dinner menu to with tons of delish vietnames style family dinner style. Which means you order a bunch of dishes and eat it with rice

I’ve came here a couple of times but I’ve got to say they do a very good job in specializing in their phos! I love the lychee smoothie it tastes really authentic, I can taste some real lychee flavours in the smoothie. However don’t get the bun bo hue because it tastes like ramen packet seasoning and it’s quite disappointing. Either than that everything is superb.

Some of the best Vietnamese food I’ve ever eaten. I was lured here by the prospects of a warm, juicy sandwich. Afterwards I tried, the phở, then spring rolls, calamari, it’s all delicious, savoury and excellent quality.

My favourite spot for phở in Vancouver. Curry chicken noodle soup and beef stew are delicious. The servers are always super friendly with big smiles on their faces. I like that it doesn’t get too crazy full like Phnom Penh, the seating environment feels much better.

I love the Buddha’s feast, really great veggie spring roll. I work close and stop in for lunch and it’s always ready in less than 10 minutes even when the dining room is full. Nice people too.

I’m conflicted over this place.
Some of the food here just isn’t as good as Phnom Penh down the street.
But I don’t think it’s trying to be like it. Maybe I just don’t like it as much as PP down the street– the papaya salad and the wings are lacking here for me.
And they do nice warm Bahn Mi’s for very cheap– 4 $.
And they always feel so nice in your hand as your walking down the street and you get so excited to take your first bite–
And it’s good– it really is! But it doesn’t have the same flavour profile as a Bahn Mi should have– like vinegary vegetables offsetting the salty, sometimes sweet– meat and pâté. The sandwich even tasted a little more like a Chinese –meat filling with the pickled veggies atop.
Things are good here. They just don’t have that typical flavour profile you’re looking for/​idealize out of Vietnamese food.
But then again, should all Vietnamese food taste/​be done the same?
(Nice clean interior– no lineups ever– and the bathrooms are clean after you go down the stairs and shut door that make you feel like you’re going to the bowels of a ship).

Very clean, nicely decorated, good food and moderately priced. No hesitations going back again.

Slow service even at 20PCT capacity. Lemonade takes 20 minutes to make, food took 15. But this is Phở and bun… Should take less than 5 minutes
. Tiny portions…

Given the location of this place, I’d figure it’d be super authentic Vietnamese food but naw… but it wasn’t bad either, just not super memorable. You could find something just as good in a strip mall in anytown, USA, Canada, etc. I did like the spaciousness of the restaurant. From the outside it looks really small but there’s lots of tables and room. The service was fast and friendly and prices were reasonable (though you can find something cheaper since there’s so many other noodle joints in the area). I’ll probably come back again the next time I’m picking up Siopao at New Town Bakery around the corner. The marinated short ribs were tasty.

The food is great, there was no line up, and the renovations in here are spectacular. Love this joint.

Super quality nice atmosphere spacious restaurant. Food was fresh and tasty and oh so good.
The calamari came with a lovely clear sauce, the gai lan was a bit small proportioned both the huge noodle and goodie stuffed soup made it all work out.
We inadvertently shut them down and they didn’t even say so.
Lovely

The restaurant has a nice feel to it, there was music and the lights are a little dim. The furniture was fantastic and overall it felt like I was in an expensive dining place.
The portions of meat were not that great, but the soup base was superior to other phở restaurants. The noodles were put in the right consistency because it did not end up mushy as I finished my soup.
One thing I also liked was that the food wasn’t super duper hot that I can’t eat right away. I really dislike having to wait for my food to cool down to an edible temperature.
Cons are their spring rolls are a little bit pricey and small. I was disappointed when I walked down to use their washroom. I think they have not renovated it yet to meet the standards set by the main dining area.
Overall it was a good experience! Will definitely come back.

Price point is a little high for the area given that multiple cheap Chinese noodle soup joints abound. However, there’s not a heckuva lot of phở in the area (here’s looking at you Phở Saigon).
It’s the service and the non-​rushed nature of the place that make this a good eats destination. You can kick back and relax without feeling rushed, drinking pot after pot of tea once you’re finished eating. The servers helpfully continue to refill your pot forever. It’s good for the digestion they say.
This place has been newly renovated on the main floor. The floor plan is open and spacious, and service is still friendly and efficient. The food isn’t phenomenal but it’s pretty good, and the non-​food perks are plenty. Phở is a little one note but it’s a good size; spring rolls are crispy and hot (rice wrapper FTW), and the salad rolls are a-​ok.
The bathrooms are unrenovated, and exist down a flight of stairs past an oddly placed door. On weekdays, elder Chinese ladies play mah jong in an adjoining basement room. The clickity clack of the game pieces and wisps of conversation are a reminder of days gone by and a disappearing way of life.
I hope you don’t change, Golden Garden. The mishmash of old and new in this spot keep me coming back.

There needs to be better Phở options in Chinatown.
A year ago, I walked into Golden Garden and had a mediocre Phở experience. This time around I thought I’d give them another shot and try their Bun Bo Hue. Bad decision! The broth was very bland, lacking any kind of flavour. For the first time, I had to ADD IN hot sauce and hoisin sauce to my BBH to make the bowl deem edible. I thought it was just me, but my eating partner felt the same with her regular bowl of Phở.
Perhaps they have better tasting rice dishes or maybe they were just having a completely off day with their broths. I’m hoping for the latter since they’ve gotten some decent Unilocal reviews and there were quite a number of people eating in the restaurant while we were there.
I have to say though that their service was pretty good. They were very friendly, polite and attentive. The only reason why I gave them 2 stars instead of 1.

I have been meaning to write a review for this place for some time now.
I have dined at this restaurant probably 4 times a month for the past 4 years.
They probably have the best vegetarian phở and salad roll and I have eaten at a lot of phở places. I probably eat phở 15 times a month so this place is top 3 easily in Vancouver.
I am a pretty picky with my Bánh mi but this place makes the best sandwiches hands down. I have concluded it’s the bread that they use.
Their regular phở is very good too but not crazy about their Bún bò Hu. It lacks a bit of depth and taste.
This place could easily be a 5 star but I held back because they really need to upgrade their men’s washrooms. They renovated everything else except that.
Trust me and dine here, you won’t be disappointed. It’s always busy and they pretty much run out of sandwiches by 3PM.
Price is moderate and service is very good.

Bought a tofu sandwich here today and a coke. Was under $ 5 and yummy.
Waited 10 minutes, flipped through menu, listened to waterfall. I have so many other dishes here to explore!

I remember coming here years ago after watching Globaltv news had the owner of the restaurant as a guest one time.
And I found myself back again after being in the rain and wanting a hot phở to warm me up. I happened to be in crosstown so I got my handy Unilocal app out to look for the closest Phở place and this place came up.
We got in and was shown a table to sit at. She didn’t physically take us but she said «the table in the corner» and I took a seat at the table at the back. I wasn’t sure if this was the seat but she didn’t say anything and the server came by to give me a cup of tea. So far so good.
I got their phở to share with my little guy and salad roll and their spring rolls. I knew this was going to be too much food so I asked the server for the container. She forgot to bring it but was willing to pack up the leftovers at the end of the meal.
The phở was yummy, hot and just what I needed. I usually add in chilli oil but it was missing its «zing» meaning not spicy enough. Oh well, that’s all right. They had the hot sauce so it worked out.
Their salad roll was good and their spring rolls were really good. I definitely recommend getting the spring rolls here. They were hot and very flavourful.
Service was pretty good and the food was good. So everything was A-​OK!

My friend eats here at least once a week and I know why.
The food is very good. The lean beef and noodle is so good, my friend has not ordered any other soup on the menu.
I have been eating Vietnamese food for a long time. My mom’s best friend was an amazing cook and would feed our family every Chinese New Year with a huge feast when I was growing up. I’ve never been a huge phở fan but I do enjoy it. I was happy that the food wasn’t drenched in msg, which makes me feel sick, and the tea is so damn good and you get it for free.
I love that this place is almost hidden. I would never have found it if I wasn’t friends with a loyal customer. It’s easy to miss. It’s a gem in the middle of some sh. This is a good place to bring out of town friends who have never seen the DTES before.
i’m giving this place a 4 star, just cuz i dont want people making this place too busy with hipsters and having to wait in line.

It’s a good phở place for Canada. But it’s not like the ones in California! We stumble by this place when we were in China town trying to go to the suspension bridge.
Phở was flavorful, but small (I guess only Americans eat massive bowl and amounts, guess thats why we are fat as well). Plenty of soup, noodles, and meat. But the bowl was small, place wasn’t a typical phở place.
Why a 3? Because they tried to rip us off! Yes we are Americans, and the exchange rate was 1 – 1, but they gave us the rate (if we paid in American dollars) for every $ 10 USD we only get $ 9 Canadian dollars. I know it aint a lot, but the fact that they tried to rip us off, how shady.
Shady!