Pho Hoai Calgary Restaurant Review
I find that pho restaurants in Calgary are either hit or miss as there really is no “in-between” when it comes to a good bowl of pho, bun or other delights from Vietnamese cuisine.
Having said that, Pho Hoai Vietnamese Noodle House in Chinatown makes our list of best Calgary pho restaurants with its uniquely flavoured and absolutely delicious pho sate beef soup, a dish that I find gives pho lovers like me an idea of just how good a place is.
- Atmosphere – 7.0/10.0
- Service – 8.0/10.0
- Food – 9.0/10.0
- Cost – 9.0/10.0
*10 rated as the best
Location
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Atmosphere and Service
There are a few different pho options you can try when in Chinatown. This time around we chose Pho Hoai, its entrance inside a shopping centre dubbed the “Stinky Mall” just west of the corner of 1st Street and 3rd Avenue SE.
It’s a location that kind of makes you feel like you’ve stepped into some restaurant somewhere in Asia. The mall isn’t really stinky though, it’s just named that because of all the different medicinal herbs and other smelly things you will find there.
Inside is a dimly lit, comfortable atmosphere with uncomfortable chairs, but then and again your there for the yummy affordable food, right!?
Our servers were quite attentive in comparison to your typical pho restaurants. Some places I go I find that there is just no service at all and I usually don’t go back, but it’s safe to say that I will be visiting Pho Hoai Vietnamese Noodle House again sometime in the near future.
Our Food
Pho Sate Beef Soup – sate soup, slices of beef, onions, tomato, vermicelli noodles
I do love when this dish comes with more than just the basics. Pho Hoai delivers not only more nutrition, but better taste in their Pho Sate Beef Soup and they include lots of onions and cilantro and a few slices of tomato on top.
Shrimp Salad Rolls – shrimp, cilantro leaf, carrots, vermicelli noodles in a rice wrap
Another way you can tell that a pho restaurant is in fact good is if it makes salad rolls fresh. Sometimes you get that aged, mildly stale taste, which wasn’t the case at Pho Hoai! Salad rolls are a cheap appetizer, come out quickly and are a great way to start out a pho experience.
All in all, Pho Hoai is one of the best of its kind in the Chinatown / downtown area. Check it out the next time you got a craving for pho!
Pho Hoai Vietnamese Noodle House
- Address – 132 3rd Avenue SE, Calgary, AB
- Phone Number – 403-264-8174
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