Pho Spring Garden

CLOSED
I can’t believe it,. It’s the second restaurant to close on the same street within a month. It was my go-​to Phở spot in the area.
You’ll be missed.

Most Phở places are Chinese or Viet owned (or both). This place is owned by Koreans. The twist here is they serve all your standard viet dishes, and also some Korean and Thai dishes.
The broth is probably the most important thing in Phở. I’ve been spoiled by Phở Viet Express on Bathurst which I consider as the best broth. PSG’s phở broth is not bad, but lacks the richness I love at Phở Viet Express.
I also think they are a bit stingy on the beef portions. Their prices are reasonable so I can let this slide.
Overall not a bad place to get Phở. It’s actually the only place close to Yonge/​Sheppard subway.

They have a terrible waitress, we don’t go there anymore because of her… enough said.
Otherwise food is very good given the price.

I don’t like this place. Don’t know why it is rated as a «must». The food was just ok. The service was not good. It was after lunch time. The restaurant was not busy, but the waiter was quite impatient.

Food was surprisingly good for a very low-​key place. Prices were reasonable and portions were generous.
Service was fast, although the waitress could have been friendlier. Place seemed clean. Music played was unique and awesome: a random mix of 80’s love songs… bonus points for pleasant randomness in a Korean restaurant.
Highly recommend.

This place was fine but not really special at all based on what we got. We ordered the seafood phở and the rare beef and beef balls phở and spring rolls. The spring rolls were not the loose, light, crispy viet spring roll. I think it’s to do with the spring roll sheets they have. Their spring roll was much more dense and crunchy. The flavour was good though. The noodles were predominantly noodle and hardly any meat. The rare beef phở was cooked before they served it. There was only 3 small 3cmx3cm pieces and then 3 quite small beef balls. For the seafood phở, there was only baby oysters, baby shrimps and pieces of squid here and there. All in all, for the price we paid — it was fine. It wouldn’t be my first choice phở place, but it’s the kind of place I would only go to if my friends really wanted to go. At least based on what we saw today.

I’m a bit confused but also amused.
I’ve seen the chinese and koreans run japanese restaurants. I’ve also seen the chinese run vietnamese restaurants. But I have never seen koreans run vietnamese restaurants. Being located on Spring Garden, just north of Sheppard by Yonge Street and a well known japanese and korean area, you would not expect to see a random Phở restaurant to be in this place. There’s always a first for everything and I thought i’d give it a try.
Stepping into the restaurant it was clean, modern and comfortable. The staff was friendly and offered assistance right away. If i did not know about this area I would have thought it was a typical modern vietnamese phở restaurant.
As I open the menu I was caught off guard with the choices. You have appetizers which consisted of spring rolls, rice wraps and salad. The next page was a selection of Phở… so far so good. Then you turn the page and you have a large list of korean dishes ranging from Soon Tofu to Jap Chae to Korean Pancakes. Add to the mix, a choice of Thai dishes.
Once you order you will be served with a few side dishes like any typical korean joint. At this point i’m more confused.
I ordered a large bowl of Special Spring Garden Phở, which was pretty much equivalent to Phở Dac Biet at a normal phở spot. A large is a perfect size for an average hungry man otherwise medium will do. It was fairly priced at $ 7.95. The soup came out very hot, not lacking noodles or meat toppings. One thing I always judge in phở is the amount of fat and MSG accumulated. Surprisingly it really was not that bad. I was not running for water due to thirst and i did not feel like i was guzzling a mug of fat.
I always order an Iced Vietnamese Coffee no matter what viet restaurant i go to. This place sells it for $ 4 which i find quite pricey. It was however tasty and did have that nutty viet coffee taste that it should have. One big problem restaurants have with the coffee is they always over do it with the condense milk. Not this place.
Overall 3 out of 5 for me. I’d definitely come back since it covers my two favourite food types… korean and viet.
A few notes that may help you… Spring Garden is not parking friendly. Yes there’s Green-​P street parking but it usually is full and it cost an arm and a leg. 50 metres away on the east side of Doris there is a residential area. Park there as it’s free. There is also one unobvious spot literally on the north east corner of Doris and Spring Garden but on Doris itself.

Came here for dinner, I like this place. It’s a lesser-​known, underrated get in North York in my opinion.
I had the rare beef phở with tripe. Dinner is served with tea, and it came pretty quick. I had medium-​size bowl which was a good size for one person, probably could have even done with just small size. Noodles were good, broth was good without being too salty.
My dinner cost $ 7.85 including taxes, a good price in my opinion.
The restaurant is well-​lit, nice modern décor. The staff don’t really bother with you after you get your food, unless you ask, in which case they help you quickly.
The menu also has lots of Korean, Thai and Vietnamese options which I’m eager to try.
If you’re looking for an easy, low-​key place, I highly recommend Phở Spring Garden if you’re in the area. I’ll definitely return.

This places serves phở, Korean and Thai dishes. Kind of the theory of jack of all trades, master of none. a place that I had no expectations for but it was A-​OK and hit the spot for a late lunch.
Dung Yum Gung (Tom Yum) with lemongrass, shrimp and rice noodles — I actually liked this soup, sour with hint of spice. Noodles were phở noodles, not bad. Literally just had noodles and a few tiny shrimp.
Clean interior.

I’ve been here twice and both times I have had good experiences. The employees that work here are very friendly and it usually isn’t too busy that you would need to wait for a seat. It is a nice low-​key restaurant to try if you are craving for either Vietnamese noodles or for Korean food. If I’m not mistaken they also serve some Thai dishes as well? They offer a wide range of dishes and the service that they provide is quick. I’ve tried their Bibimbap as well as their Phở. I found that their Phở was a pretty small portion size. I was able to finish the bowl myself, no problem and be satisfied. The Bibimbap was tasty, it came with a couple of side dishes that you can eat with it. The price of the dishes are very affordable and reasonable but the reason why I give Phở Spring Garden a 3-​star is because I’ve had better Vietnamese and Korean food elsewhere.

I tried the house special phở which I suppose would be the dac biet equivalent. I ended with good broth lacking in quantity of the meats and garnish. This said people around me where not here for the vietnamese cuisine but rather the korean items. But again $ 12 for a bibimbap seemed overpriced. back to the phở, I guess $ 7 for a small phở is just ok…

This place serves some Vietnamese dishes as well as Korean dishes. However, don’t come here expecting authentic phở or even bibimbap. Come here expecting to get good flavorful food and you will be pleased.
The phở was decent, better than a lot of phở places in North York. The fried tentacle appetizer was crisp and tender, just needed a bit more seasoning. Their hot Korean noodle soup was really spicy and full of seafood and the bibimbap beef was much tastier than the bulgogi variety you get elsewhere. One thing to note is that the quality of the ingredients is very good for a place that does not specialize in any one cuisine, maybe they are a fusion asian place but don’t know it yet, either way I don’t mind going to Phở Spring garden once in a while for decent Viet-​Korean fusion fare.

This place is a little confusing. It’s called «phở…», which would make you think its Vietnamese. But then the menu lists it as being Korean/​Thai?
I decided to get Phở since the name is what brought me to the place.
Phở review: it’s okay. Broth flavor was decent. But they are a little cheap on the meat… there really wasn’t much meat in it at all. I most likely won’t be back.

They are cutting back on almost all necessities. There is no tissues at the tables, food quality has gone down. I asked for stir fry needles with chicken. The plate had been bulked up with onions & cabbage and no other veggies. A large bowl of noodle soup had almost a spoon full of sliced beef. There was hardly anyone at the restaurant at 1pm. I have gone there a few times but I would never go back.

Food is tasty and cheap. The Korean dishes are phenomenal, the Vietnamese dishes are good too. I especially like the kalbi. Phở is a bit underwhelming but not bad.
You can’t get much better for the price!

This is probably our 4^th trip here. Small restaurant but seating on a Saturday night at 530 has never been an issue. Upon arriving this time immediately I sensed new management and the updated menu and subsequent dishes seemed to support this.
We always order KH1 which is a hotpot with beef and rice but this time subtlety improved. Though not a fan of the sesame sprinkles the dish did come with added vegetables that added to the overall flavor and life to the dish.
Ordered the rice and chicken dish that comes with a nice sweet fish sauce for the chicken and a so/​so side salad. Ordered this before… It is good.
Tried their medium phở N12 beef/​tripe/​tendon fir the first time. Tasted okay to me but the selection was a bit weak for me. A place across town offers bowls with more items including chicken, beef balls, rare beef in the same dish as N12.
Finally we had the fried squid appetizer which comes with a nice side sauce. We are a fan of similar dim sum dishes and this is a nice version.
Overall we like this place but find the menu to be quite narrow. Other than today we don’t typically get soups and we don’t like pad thai noodles. As we go through the menu more won’t gets quickly eliminate the field. Then again we have been here and ordered three KH1s during our stay and have been more than content with that.
Bathrooms clean and staff friendly. Will return.
Quick facts
— tea no charge
— takes AMEX
— no private lot to park
— take out available

I was craving for phở and my friend recommend this place but I didn’t like it much. I had the phở and it just taste like salt+water. not a lot of flavour. My friend order the chicken rice dish, it was ok. Also, kinda over price for Viet food.

I’m a regular at this place and it’s consistently good. The Korean food here is amazing. Try the kalbi hot stone bowl. KH2 on the menu. Everything in a hot stone bowl is good!
The phở is decent but I’ve had better phở in the area. Stick to the Korean goodness. And when you’re done go to the bakery next door for some fresh walnut cakes :)

Despite this being named «Phở Spring Garden,» I’ve ordered Korean each time I’ve been here.
The kalbi stone pot rice bowl was ridiculously good. The rice got really nice and crispy from the bowl and the ribs were cooked perfectly. The marinade was the right level of sweet and savory. This is why I prefer to get my ethnic food when I’m in Toronto.
It’s also very reasonably priced. Can’t beat that holy trinity, cheap, flavorful, convenient (to my work).

I really love this place for my fix of Phở and other Vietnamese cuisine. A small establishment with plenty of booth seating, the food is very good. I always order the fresh Spring rolls and small Phở and that will fill me up in any time. I also love their Iced Vietnamese Coffee which is almost like an Ice Cap from Tim Hortons. Prices are very reasonable and they also have Korean and Thai cuisine in the mix.
I have been here for work day lunches and it can get pretty busy, but on off times, it’s a nice, quiet place to eat. Service is efficient. A great local gem