Tonkin

At 3 p.m. we sauntered on down to Tonkin and ordered their house special Bahn mi, beef stew, and meatless phở. They did not have the Bahn mi or beef stew, and ended up getting some other dishes based on the server’s recommendation. They were o.k. nothing to rave about.
Restaurant is pretty clean looking, but can’t justify more than 3 stars because we didn’t get what we ordered and the substitutions were not great.
Now, to try another Vietnamese restaurant to satisfy my phở love.

A lot of Vietnamese restaurants along Kingsway and here is another new Vietnamese one on Main Street. It used to be Honolulu Café and now become clean and causal Phở spot.
My hubby drove by and saw Tonkin was opened months ago. He loves Phở for lunch and wants to try all the Phở restaurants. When we walked in (almost 1.30pm), there is no customer in Tonkin. Then, it made us worries…
I had raw beef and beef balls noodles, the soup was boiling hot and it was good but not outstanding.
My hubby had house special noodles, it was bland and not favorable.
After we finished, my hubby said better check the review before we try new restaurant next time.

More like 3.5 stars for the food, but their service is 5 stars.
I secretly am ashamed this Vietnamese joint is void of fluorescent lights and generic Asian pop music as this is what I’ve come to expect from similar restaurants. In all reality, though, I’m glad as it can be too much on my eyes and ears. It’s just an unassuming place that serves good food, which is great when that’s all you want.
While not my favourite Vietnamese in Vancouver, the food here is good. My wife and I shared vegan spring rolls. I had the house special phở, and my wife had the vegan phở. Any vegetarian/​vegan out there will love the amount of vegan menu options. It is surprising considering the restaurant is run by an older Vietnamese couple, but they may have realized the need to cater to the Mount Pleasant demographic.
What really amazed me about this place is the service. Their son waited on us, and he seemed so genuinely happy to be there. When ordering the Vietnamese iced tea, I asked if it was similar to Thai iced tea. He said they were different and suggested to make both for us and charge for just the one drink. It’s shocking to see that kind of service as it seems so unnecessary to be that generous, but it makes me want to support their business that much more. The son mentioned afterward that his parents have been saving up for this business a long time. This is their dream, and he wants to see them succeed like any good family member would.
The son’s efforts will hopefully pay off. I know that if I am on Main Street looking for Vietnamese food I will give them the business because they deserve it.

Came to Tonkin by chance and was delighted to find the best phở I’ve had outside of Surrey.
Everything you would expect was present, including a very nice chili oil. I prefer chili oil to chili paste and this vessel was well proportioned with the oil and chili layers. Jalapeño slices, fresh basil, lime wedges, bean sprouts, sriracha, hoisin, all on the table.
What really made this phở stand apart was the broth. Dark (not too dark) and deliciously salty to begin with, it carried the added spice really well.
I found the beef a little clumpy and plain, but the overall taste would be well worth a return trip.

I was charmed!
The owner/​proprietor and wife were lovely.
I was quite taken in by the pride of someone who is soooo happy to have me there. (They were even visibly a bit nervous to have me there) –
I had the place to myself, I brought my computer and stayed 4 hours as my office-​on-​the-​road.
Clean, good food, they put thought into being stylish.
It’s not a spiffy hipster place —
just a good restaurant with good food.
Good Phó… Mmmmm.

Lots of gluten free vegan options here, and great prices. Make sure you ask questions about the gluten content if you are celiac, but the staff are really knowledgeable and don’t mind even calling to check on an ingredient if they’re not sure. I love the salad rolls!

I am a vegetarian who likes cheap and cheerful street food. This is almost non sensical in Vancouver but I still do get my treats at Hawkers, Chau Veggie, and La Taqueria.
I was sooooo excited when I saw Tonkin magically appear from the nasty ashes of grungy Honolulu café and had it twice already this week. The food is delicious and fresh, the service friendly, and the space is sparse but damn clean.
We shared the vegan spring rolls, bahn mi and hue noodle, and my partner had the traditional phở. The spring rolls were as good as I have had in a while, the hue was so flavourful without being salty, and the bun for the bahn mi was crackly on the outside and soft on the inside. It could have used some more robust fillings, but you could always just stick a spring roll in it and voila! You’ve got a meal.
My goal is to work through their vegan menu this month, it doesn’t hurt that they are 4 blocks from my house. We were stuffed and the bill was under 25 bucks. That is an awesome deal by any standard.
I think they will just get better with time and a complete and delicious vegan menu to complement a great traditional one is definitely a great
start.
Just had another great meal for 10 bucks a person and filled to the gills, they really need to charge more. The young man server forgot one of the dishes but it came out lickity split! The man (the dad?) who brought the dish out was so sweet and gentle, who’d want to be upset? It wasn’t very busy this Monday night, but I am up to the challenge to do my part to keep this local family business alive.

Stamp of approval!
I love the service and the people here — we came in at 5:30pm because the friend I was having coffee with was hungry and I wanted to try their phở despite having dinner plans later. They were nice enough to let me have their kids phở (I’ve been rejected before!) AND they added beef to the beef balls to adult it up for me! Impressed there.
The phở was decent and fresh, broth was flavourful and not too oily. Looking forward to trying their spring rolls another time. Bathrooms are clean, renovations left the place looking a bit sterile but clean and bright and much better than the Honolulu it replaced!
While the phở was good, it’s not top drawer for my preferences, BUT I’d come back here for the service and staff alone. I thoroughly enjoyed it there.

Since it’s a new place, went in with my expectations lowered, just in case. I hate being disappointed!
I walked in to place a take out order of a salad roll and rice noodles with grilled pork and spring rolls. The staff was very nice, which is always appreciated. The interior was bright and clean. The menu seemed well laid out and their logo is cute.
The salad roll was fine; totally decent with both shrimp and lunch meat (Vietnamese paté?) and seemed fresh. The peanut sauce overwhelmed any flavours of the roll contents, but not a big deal.
Rice noodles with grilled pork and spring rolls: The spring rolls were not too greasy and tasted okay. The dish was missing the usual basil and greens, which was a big bummer, but the lettuce, cucumber, and pickled carrots and daikon radish were fresh. The pork, on the other hand, smelled and tasted strongly of Chinese 5-​spice and/​or something really overwhelming and was overcooked to boot. I actually stopped eating this dish after a few bites.
Maybe the vegan menu is better… I hope these was just a one-​time problem with the food, although I can’t say that I would go back to take a chance considering the odds for disappointment.
Head down the street to Au Petit Café instead.

Finally a more modern Viet place unlike the stuff along Kingsway… mind you, it won’t win any Interior design awards, but it’s bright, clean, booth seating without any rips & tears, & no stained wall paper.
But for sure, i’ve found a good place for subs; the grilled chicken cooked just right, & the bun made fresh with the right amount of sauce.
Good enough that i’ll be back to try their phở broth. Plus it’s refreshing to see a phở place put some thought in their selection of dishware too, unlike that no-​so-​sexy commercial ones at Phở Hoa lol.
Metered parking on Main St.
For now, a 15% off Grand opening special. Nice to see one in the Collingwood area to save me some time.

This place was quite disappointing to me, with the small exception that they seem to offer several vegan dishes for those so inclined.
I found the service to be poor, and the food quite bland. I won’t bother returning.

This opened on the weekend and we decided to pop in here for dinner last night. We ordered off the vegan menu (so happy for this) and it was fantastic! Everything was so fresh and the flavours were clean and bright. The vegan Phở was perfect and we received a huge portion. Get the yummy spring rolls. Service was friendly and fast. Our meal was $ 20 with tax. SO GREAT! COMING BACK FOR SURE.

I have a confession: when I saw a new phở restaurant had just opened across the street from me, I may have rushed over to try it solely so I could be the first to review.
This place has only been open for a week or so, and is situated in the space that used to house the Honolulu Café. Given they have just opened there is plenty of room for improvement but I think they’re off to a decent start. Let’s break it down…
Atmosphere: Bright lights and freshly painted white walls. My every imperfection was on display. No music, which made for a lot of awkward silences. On the plus side, it was very clean and I’m sure they’ll eventually get around to decorating those blank white walls.
Service: The waitress was very sweet and there were no problems with our order. The tea was refilled and the bill came promptly.
Food: Lots of options on the menu, and notably a large selection of vegan dishes! A non-​vegan myself, I ordered the Pork Spring Rolls, Phở Tai, and Vietnamese Coffee. The spring rolls were pretty bland, wah wah. The phở tai was average… not bad but not amazing either. On the plus side the beef was very lean, however the broth needed a flavour boost — better than being full of MSG though! The Vienamese coffee was really really tasty, even if it took 20 minutes to brew.
Portions were generous and prices were relatively cheap (including tax and tip it was $ 24 for 2). Overall, it is not great yet but I think they’re off to a promising start and hope they last in the neighbourhood.