Pho Tan’s Vietnamese Restaurant

I love Phở. I was in Van visiting friends and family, and one night I was waiting for a friend to get off work so I could meet him at his place up the street. My parents were nice enough to drop me off after we saw a movie at Silver City, and we had time for a really quick bite to eat before they needed to be back in Tsawwassen. After driving up and down 41^st trying to find a place (my stepmom is impossible to please) my dad finally decided to just park and have us choose a place right there. While Phở Tan’s wasn’t our first choice, I’m glad we came here. I was a little worried when we first walked in, other restaurants up and down the street had a decent amount of people in them and this place only had one student eating. Granted it was 7:30pm on a Tuesday, but still.
I ordered the chicken phở (not on the menu but available) and my parents got their seafood soup. We also ordered a side of spring rolls. My phở was quite good, the broth had great flavor and the chicken moist. Their phở has fried onion in it which kind of threw me off as I hadn’t seen that before, but it was good. If I were to come here again I would probably ask for it to be held as the flavor was strong. The spring rolls were also very good. My parents had never had phở, so they said that next time they would have to try it as they were intrigued by my adding of the string beans, basil and sauces to flavor it the way I like.
If I find myself in the Kerrisdale area I would go again. From our experience, this place deserves more than three stars.

Who writes one review just to bash this family business? Hm… skeptical.
Anyhow, Phở Tan’s is SOLID — it’s been in Kerrisdale longer than I have, which cannot be said of most of the restaurants in the neighbourhood now. I am not a huge fan of phở in general (I like it, but I don’t really ever crave it); I do, however, crave their chicken subs and the lemongrass chicken on dry noodles (not sure what it’s actually called). Both delicious and good for any time of the day.
Sometimes I order the sandwiches for staff meetings, and they are always a hit. Plus, I believe they are under $ 5 each! That is pretty much the best deal in town.
I have only experienced friendly service here — the entire family who works here are really nice, and yes they get busy so service might be rushed at times but this is understandable. Not much to complain about, although I don’t like that the restaurant tends to attract more people than it can handle (not usually a fan of crowds and lines in restaurants). I think the seating is also pretty crowded and awkward. So, I tend to go at off-​times to eat in, or I just phone in a take-​out order and pick up. It also closes pretty early (I think last call is 8:30pm?).
But, this is the best phở in Kerrisdale and also one of the cheapest eats in general. Will keep coming back!

This is a fast and reliable place for phở in kerrisdale — I think the low ratings are due to previously poor customer service reviews (something I think they have improved on). The food is solid — good broth and tasty dry dishes. I like getting the #20, a comforting beef brisket noodle soup that is full of flavour & color. I think something people have to keep in mind is that you are getting a meal for $ 10 dollars — and as most Asian restos go, they aren’t in it to win awards on customer service, but instead provide authentic, fresh affordable food.

Not good not tasty… Simply a bad choice guys. The meat is poorly cooked and that rice is not that good

Spring rolls are to die for! And their satay phở are all a ¹⁰⁄₁₀! Their regular phở are alright. You should also try their Vietnamese coffee.

Phở Tan is my favourite Kerrisdale haunt. Excellent phở and spring rolls, fast service, reasonable prices… Just get the #16, you won’t regret it! Highly reccomended.

I love going here after a day of hiking. The food is scrumptious and alway hits the spot. It’s always busy so it can some time take a bit of time to put your order in but it’s usually not too bad. I’m vegetarian so I really appreciate that they have yummy veggie options too.

On a lazy Sunday morning I road up to Kerrisdale Community Centre and met up with a friend for a quick lunch. He was working so we ended up going to Phở Tan Vietnamese Restaurant. This place is a bit rustic… a bit on the dark and dingy side, but the food is not bad.
I’ve been to Phở Tan often. It’s a popular choice in the area. I think the food is decent and the price is low for the Kerrisdale area. If you come around lunch time be prepared for a wait.
Service was fast and efficient. We ordered and had our food in front of us in less than 5 minutes. We just strapped on the feed bags and eat!
I had a beef brisket noodle soup and a spring roll… both were pretty good. I should try some of their other food offerings. They have quite a selection, but it seems every time I come here I fall back on the same old reliable stuff! Oh well… next time!

One of the best phở I’ve ever had. Of course taste is relative and the quality does have its ups and downs, but I never left the restaurant with a bad meal. The service is regular Asian restaurant standard, but thy are never rude and the food comes really fast. Considering I’ve been a returning costumer for 6 years I think that’s all the more reason to give it 5 stars. I get the same thing, number 9 small every time. The other foods (rice plates and subs) aren’t half bad but the phở definitely defines the restaurant. Broth is rich and flavorful, even without the sauce. Portion of the noodles is good, and the beef is always tender and juicy!

If you want attitude, bad service and the waitress snickering with her coworker because she gave you bad service — then this is the place for you! Including watered down bland phở soup! Bad service, bad food, need I say more. There are soo many better options, go somewhere else!!! Warning!!!

My experience here has always been good. Some people complain about the wait and give it a low review. I don’t think that is really fair since there is a reason that they have a long wait. I’ve gotten takeout from here and it was okay. The portions are not as big as some other places I’ve been to but I do like their phở. I also get lemongrass chicken on noodles or springs rolls here as well. I just ate here yesterday and the spring rolls were huge! The biggest I have seen them so far. I hope they keep that up! The noodle soup I order was their large size but it seemed like it wasn’t as big as usual. My experience has always been that the food comes out within about 5 minutes of ordering but maybe I’ve just been lucky. Anyways, I do recommend this place to my family and friends who need a good place to eat in the area.

My boyfriend and I went here over the weekend and ordered 2 main dishes, along with two appetizers. The Ban Xeo (Vietnamese Crêpe) and Grill Chicken Vermicelli Bowl, were both really good. Nice, hot and crispy Ban Xeo with decent amount of meat (I find with some Asian restaurants they put less meat in certain orders) and veggies. My only critique would be that the fish sauce to be a little be more «flavourful».
The spring rolls were hot and crispy using the Vietnamese rice paper, instead of the Wonton wraps which is authentic to the Vietnamese cuisine.
Our criticism would be the service, the server did not acknowledge with a greeting of any sort, she put the menus on the table and left. When I asked for 2 forks, she brought them to us but placed them both on my side. Never once checked up on us and how are meals were.
Some say, it’s a culture thing, but good customer service goes along way. We aren’t expecting perfection, but dining out should be a pleasure experience.

I’ve been to Phở Tan a couple times now, both as a sit in customer and as a take away customer. Therefore, this review will be a summary of all my experiences there.
Restaurant/​Service — The restaurant is clean, if a little crowded during the lunch and dinner rush hours. It really isn’t a place for super large groups, but it’s fine if you go alone or if you go with a couple friends. Service is pretty fast, considering how busy the restaurant is. However, I’ll admit that when I eat out I typically don’t care too much for the wait — too busy catching up with my friends’ lives! I haven’t had any issues with their take out. A call 5 – 10 minutes ahead, and they’ll have your order ready to go before you step through their door.
Staff are fine. Some are more friendly than others, but on a whole, they’re polite and know what they’re doing.
Chicken sub — I love their chicken subs. They’re perfectly seasoned and marinated, with the right amount of toppings — enough to make an impact but not so much that it’s spilling everywhere. Plus, it’s cheap.
Phở — Their portions are well sized. I usually get a large phở with some combination of beef, and haven’t been disappointed yet. The noodles, broth, and meat are well cooked, and they are generous with the toppings. For take out, they place the different components into different containers, to make sure the noodles don’t soak up all the broth and don’t overcook anything. However, I would caution against getting the rare sliced beef for takeout, as the steam inside the container will cook it through if you wait too long.
Bubble Tea — I’ve only ordered one drink from them, but probably don’t do so again. Their cold black milk tea with pearls (which I consider the most rudimentary but telling of bubble tea quality) is frankly a little disappointing. Although the pearls were cooked to perfection, with the right amount of chewiness and no gooey-​ness, the milk tea itself was watered down. Neither the milk nor the tea came through particularly strong. However, I did like that it wasn’t too sweet. Maybe I’ll give their drinks another try in the summer.
Summary — Pros: food, price, clean, fast
Cons: crowded, sub-​par bbt

We have been coming here for 6 years, so it saddens me to write this review. The same family owns the restaurant but today I simply called to ask for some clarification about their take out packaging since it was quite a bit of discrepancy in the amount of food. I ordered extra-​large #11, phở with cooked meat. Usually, I get the meat in a styrofoam box, noodles in a plastic container and 2 containers of soup, all packed to the brim. It’s that much food! Today I received both the meat and noodles in a plastic container only ¾ way full and 2 bowls of soup (which was completely overkill for the amount of noodles I had). Meanwhile, I had dropped off a large size of the same noodles for my husband and he had the same amount of noodles as I did with the exception of 1 bowl of soup. I assumed they simply gave me the wrong size so I called.
The girl, one of the siblings, adamantly answered with, «I’m not so sure. We have been here for 6 years with the same cook. We NEVER put cooked meat in the styrofoam box. My siblings would tell you the same thing.» And she kept repeating that mantra no matter what I said. A simple response would have been, «Let me check with the kitchen.» But to dismiss my comment to take my business elsewhere is kind of ridiculous.
Never mind as a paying customer, I have been ordering the same item for 6 years. Really? Am I going to randomly decide to call about the amount of food today? Now I am wishing I took photos to show the comparison.
It’s unfortunate. But I will indeed take my business elsewhere (with tonnes of Vietnamese restaurants to choose from, there are way better ones). It apparently means nothing to them to keep a loyal customer.

Good Phở, fresh veggies/​nice meat in phở, good spring rolls, just OK broth, horrible wonton soup.

Food is tasty and authentic. The broth for the phở is good. They have great subs and bubble tea. Service is not so great at times. If the owners are around then it operates well, but the rest of the staff can get chaotic.

A friend’s favourite place — and didn’t disappoint!
Price: $ 7 for a meal!
Service: regular Asian standards

Half decent phở place. The soup lacks done more porc bone or flavor and no lime. Lady took our order then her buddy came and asked if we ordered yet and attitude was not the friendliest. When she brought our sub order it was in a bag when we didn’t ask it as take out and she almost dropped the bag in our soup and when we asked for the sauces, they came by 10 min later to try to take them away and we had to tell them twice that we were still using it.
Other than that, it’s alright.

solid 3.5 stars, impressed by its tri-​lingual menu lol. Im used to the viet/​english ones along the Kingsway ones.
As others have mentioned, it’s interesting to see a huge bubble tea menu board, from previous owners. It’s been here awhile.
Just ordered their iced coffee, not too shabby, not bitter, a bit sweet of course.
free parking in the back.
like their action booth seating on the right.
Only phở place in kerrisdale so u don’t have a choice.

This place was definitely not a BBH kinda place. It had the «I-​think-​they-​just-​used-​regular-​Phở-​soup-​and-​doused-​it-​with-​hot-​chili-​oil» feel to it. It was edible but definitely not anywhere near a mind blowing BBH experience. And I always seem to be skeptical of Phở places that serve bubble tea. I don’t know why.
My eating partner had their regular Phở bowl and said it was decent. No major complaints. Would I go out of my way to eat here again? Maybe… if I was in the area and there was nothing else available.