Pho Hien

1.8 Not Recommended

Food  1      Ambience  3      Service  1      Value  2     

Been to this place a few times and only because Gia Hoi next door was full, and I can see why Pho Hien plays second fiddle to Gia Hoi (or any other of its competitors for that matter). The pho beef noodle soup has no flavour, and being Vietnamese I should know, pho is all about the soup, which this place has not given any thought to. And who said there's no Msg at this place? All Asian restaurants do and especially in Pho, whoever says otherwise is a big fat liar.

The service is probably the worst, asked the waiter for some more basil as only a tiny bit was given to accompany my food. He looked at me in disbelief and said "ok", but I knew he wasn't really going to bring it (maybe basil was expensive who knows). I would've much rather he told me "no only one serving of basil per dish" rather than lie to my face and pretend he would get it for me but not bother to return.

Overall, steer clear of this place, even the locals do.

Apr 28, 2011 

8 Recommended

Food  7      Ambience  7      Service  9      Value  9     

Had the rare beef pho which was not bad, a little bland, generous portion. Also had the beef salad, also generous portion & very flavoursome! Good value, fast service & modern looking place.

Mar 15, 2011 

2.8 Not Recommended

Food  2      Ambience  1      Service  4      Value  4     

First of all, I can't believe that this place got 8.9 - maybe when they were brand new and everything was all about good service, after a recommendation from a colleague about the Pho at this place, I had to go check it out for myself.
On first impressions, cool, brand new televisions and the place looks fairly new. Upon sitting down I actually realised that the floors were very dirty, it looks as though it hadn't been cleaned for at least 2 weeks, there were bits of food, dust and tissues everywhere! The table we were at was reasonably clean until I picked up a pair of chopsticks and a spoon, for a place that's still pretty much new, their utensils were down right second hand - it looked like they've been using them for at least 5 years.

The Pho was the first to come out followed by the t-bone and rice my companion ordered (10 minutes later), after adding condiments to my meal I had a sip of the soup, I could not tell you how badly disappointed I was. My benchmark for pho is my mum's (it varies from time to time but most times it has been very average - sorry mum!) and this was by far the worst I've ever tasted, it lacked the usual flavours, the noodles were hard and although there was plenty of meat to accompany the dish, it wasn't enough to help my disappointment. In the end I only ate about half of it, and wanted to leave after having another glance of the restaurant, it was so disgusting. I definitely will never go here again even though it's only about 3 minutes from my house, I will be going to any one of it's many competitors from now on.

Feb 21, 2011 

9 Highly Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  9      Service  9      Value  9     

Tried a few dishes, all were delicious! Friendly atmosphere and quick service! Value for money!

Jan 01, 2011 

8.3 Highly Recommended

Food  8      Ambience  7      Service  8      Value  10     

This place has been recently revamped so it looks a lot more modern than it used to be.

The service is always fantastic. The food comes out quickly, hot and is always delicious! Serves are huge and great value. My partner and I eat there often for dinner and our TOotak bill is always $25 or less.

We are pretty surprised by the latest reviews, we think this is a lovely place to eat and great for a casual night out with friends or family.

PS They have recently release a loyalty card, eat 5 pho and get the 6th free!

Jan 01, 2011 

3 Below Average

Food  2      Ambience  2      Service  5      Value  3     

The food here was ok, it was that spectacular. If you want great pho theres a very famous place in Bankstown, and prices are just about the same. If you want other vietnamese places near the restaurant that taste much more better and prices are pretty cheap. When here once, will not come back again.

May 30, 2009 

5 Average

Food  4      Ambience  7      Service  5      Value  4     

Based on the feedback on this site I suggested this restaurant for lunch. It certainly did not deserve the overall rating of 8.8 to say the least. However, given how bad the food and service was I have to write this review.

Firstly, there were 9 of us for lunch and decided to go for family oriented ordering of many dishes to share rather than single serve meals. The restaurant was not full or close to it as it was a little after lunch hour.

The dishes (4) came out without fried rice or boiled rice. All the dishes we ordered were mediocre and borderline horrible. As the common trend was "burnt". Particularly, the fried rice that looked grey and black! Charcoal anyone? How can any restaurant fail to serve a delicious serving of brocolli and shiitake mushrooms? If the food wasn't burnt it was close to tasteless. Lastly, our deep fried fish came out over 30 minutes later!

We note that they seem to "churn" out the single serve dishes quickly. So may be this is not the place for good food or family servings.

May 17, 2009 

9 Highly Recommended

Food  10      Ambience  8      Service  8      Value  10     

A level above other Vietnamese places. The food is great and the service was fast. It's a bigger place than most other Vietnamese places and the food is cheap!! Admittedly I don’t eat pho, so the rating is based on the broken rice and the entrees I have tried. Out of all the Vietnamese places I’ve eaten this is the best, and I’ve eaten at most places in the Cabramatta area. Worth trekking to come try it out!!

Nov 02, 2008 

9 Highly Recommended

Food  9      Ambience  9      Service  8      Value  10     

Seriously, if you are looking for Pho that's not too overdosed with MSG, clean looking premises (because let's face it, alot of Pho restaurants aren't of the cleanest quality) then definitely come here. My boyfriend and I have Pho here all the time, even though we are closer in the Parra area.

Service is good, Pho comes out within 5 minutes which is great and they give you a great serving. Recommend the chicken pho too, just as good as the beef! Good value and their loyatly program (eat 5 and get one for free), is perfect for Pho lovers...

Oct 03, 2008 

10 Highly Recommended

Food  10      Ambience  10      Service  10      Value  10     

This restaurant is not just a Pho restaurant, although it is their specialty, the menu consists of a large variety of Asian cuisine - Vietnamese and Chinese. My first outing there, I had the Pho noodles with rare beef, and it was absolutely heavenly, I had a bit of a cold that day, and the Big Bowl of delicious Pho soup healed me up then and there.

The second time around, I decided to go with the salt and pepper squid with rice, and it was a absolutely delicious, having perfect texture and flavour. The service is excellent, food came out fast, and the surroundings were very comfortable. A large LCD TV shows the latest in Vietnamese entertainment. Overall, a very good experience and excellent food, that doesn't hurt the wallet.

Jun 23, 2008