Ha Long Bay

I had phở for the first time at this restaurant, and though I have nothing else to compare it to, it was delicious. I ordered the house special. Went during a quieter time and the service was good. I will definitely be back.

I tried this place only once because of the high ratings on Unilocal but both the food and the place smelled like a toilet so it was really hard for me to bear jr… Now I don’t feel like having Vietnamese food any more just because of this restaurant. They better keep their place and food more clean and fresh…

Good food, reasonable price, decent portions, lovely décor.
The only thing I wasn’t impressed about was the service — my co-​workers and I went a little bit after the lunh rush (seats were full but there weren’t a lot of people waiting for take-​out). The lady seemed SUPER rushed anyway and very dismissive and the food took a lot longer to come than I expected. And we’re not quite sure as we don’t come here very often, but some of the orders might have been mixed up (contents different from the order number marked on the box). It might just have been an off day though — will most likely be back again at some point when I’m feeling like getting some Vietnamese food for lunch, so we’ll see if it’s regularly like this.

Great for DT standards of phở!
I was in the neighborhood for an appointment so I dropped by Ha Long Bay for a quick lunch before I headed back to the office. The place is small and there aren’t many tables, so be prepared to wait if you’re going around prime lunch hours. I was on a rush so I went straight to the counter and ordered a #1 Special small. (Yah for small sizes! — DT phở places usually only have the one size large that costs around $ 10, so to be able to order a small for around $ 8.50 gives it an extra star for me).
The soup was still hot by the time I got back to my office (10 – 15 minutes later) and the meat was still warm. In terms of quantity, it was a decent portion for a small and I quickly gobbled it down.
It’s definitely one of the top two in DT for phở (the other being Joyeaux) and so I would definitely recommend if you’re in the neighbourhood and have your phở cravings.

I don’t want to over exaggerate with what am I going to write but seriously this is a place that you should go, best Vietnamese food I have ever tasted, their fresh ingredients make you feel in other place, their staff is friendly although is a small location they receive a lot of love, I was really surprised about the taste of their food, you should go there if you want to get full but eat light.

Not as good as a Surrey phở joint, but it’s close to work and I’m always content and full leaving this place.
I can guarantee it being full on a chilly weekday lunch, so either come early or call in to reserve a table. Once you’re seated though, your food will come in no time. Their servings are also quite large even for a small bowl of phở.
They accept cards here which is something you won’t normally get in the pholes-​in-​wall in Surrey. Good stuff.

This has been my 2^nd time dining here and I’d like to say that I’ve been very pleased both occasions. Ha long bay has a very welcoming atmosphere with great service. Its a really relaxing place to dine in because it’s never too busy here. I’ve tried a lot of vietnamese cuisine and this one by far is my favorite. The majority of dishes provides you the perfect amount of food to leave you satisfied and I can’t leave out the flavorful taste as well. The price is very affordable and I strongly recommend anyone who’s in the area to try this restaurant out. You will not be disappointed.

I ordered their chicken on vermicelli with spring roll, which costs ~$ 10. I don’t think it’s mind blowing and for that price, not a particularly cheap eat either. The service was efficient and fast. An OK experience.

I was looking for a quick bite of yummy while downtown and read many reviews before deciding to give this restaurant a go. Well, I was pretty disappointed. I had my usual bun bo hui, which if you love phở is a solid indication of how good their food is, and wasn’t happy. I’ve never had to doctor a soup so much to make it edible. «Spicy» to them means bland. No pork hock, just slices of fatty over cooked pork. One star cuz the noodles were ok and the place was clean. Bonus star for their tiny tiny spring roll ($ 1.50?!) which had good filling but was wrapped in the wheat wrapping, not rice paper.
Will not go back. There is too much competition to have less than average food.

Ramen slut went for Phở today. I walked all the way down to Ha Long bat after reading reviews on the net and I’ve pretty much exhausted every other option close to my home base near Burrard station.
It’s really busy for lunch so be prepared, I was only a table of one and they did not let me sit at a two top. They made me wait until a seat at the bar was available. Kind of irked me but not a deal breaker.
Ordered the vegetable phở without tofu and the first thing I noticed is the broth looked like water. I had never seen a phở broth so light in color. The taste was very light too. The dish was alright, it had lots of veggies but it didn’t knock my socks off. I don’t know that I would go back for it but would probably order it again if someone else wanted to go there.
Interesting story, I went across the street to have a drink after the meal and I made friends with a gentleman at the next bar stool. He asked me how I liked the meal at Ha Long and I reiterated was I said above. Funny enough he told me that where the owners are from in southern Vietnam the light broth is very common. Places like Hanoi have quite a richer broth. (Might explain why I like Hanoi Phở on Hastings so much). I thought he mentioned something about the broth being so light because it was hotter towards the south. Anyways if that’s the case, then this dish may be exactly what you want if that’s what you are looking for, I myself, was just not used to it.

Let me first start off by stating I’m a Vietnamese fiend! I absolutely love phở, and somewhat critical of it when I try new restaurants. Ha Long Bay served a pretty darn good spicy pork phở soup. Price was great for the Gastown area as well!

I love this place. I went there on a rainy night with a friend to try their phở and vietnamese spring rolls. The springs rolls are huge! The phở here is the best I’ve had in Vancouver. I had the seafood phở with vegetable broth and I still crave it every single day.
Prices are affordable, the staff was fast and I left happy. What more can you ask for?

Great phở with a impressive selection of veggies; I eat phở in Seattle almost weekly, one of my favorite foods, so it was really nice to have variety in my bowl… peas and huge fancy cut carrot wheels with broccoli and a few other veggies! yum!

Ok, so the interior probably isn’t going to win any awards any time soon, but hot damn that food is gooood!
Stopped by for lunch with Colene C at around 11.30, which was a great move as it was PACKED by noon! There were two servers who came around — both were super efficient, but one was definitely more cheerful and friendly than the other! I think she was just TOO efficient!
The tea was great, although I’d have liked mine filled a little more frequently (but I drink a LOT of liquid!) The server was super helpful in recommending dishes to us, pointing out the most popular with practised ease.
I love that they have 2 sizes for the phở — that always makes a difference for me. I decided to be boring and grabbed a standard phở tai, and I am really glad I did. The broth was light and full of flavour, with a good amount of meat, and a good amount of noodles too. I actually regretted putting extra sauces in, as it was so great on its own!
We didn’t feel rushed out despite the line outside, and it was a really awesome experience! Definitely somewhere I’ll be back to.

Really fast staff and good food. We had Phở and it was lightly flavored and everything including the noodles were just solid. This was a rainy and cold day in Vancouver and just hit the spot.
This was one of the few times I went to a restaurant blindly without data plan as I’m from the US but I was pleasantly surprised.
Good job!

Great service. The girl was really nice. The food was great. I’d say what I got but it was so good I suffered from memory loss.

There are 2 very different scenarios that make me really crave for Vietnamese food.
1) On a cold rainy Vancouver day where you just really need a bowl of hot soupy noodles.
2) Every other day when you gotta have a nice crunchy springroll.
Given that it was quite warm when I visited Ha Long Bay, I opted for a bowl of lemon grass chicken + deep fried spring roll over a bed of vermicelli noodles. (Of course it came with the accompanying veggies and sauces silly!).
Not bad Ha Long Bay, not bad at all. The chicken was a nice sizeable portion that was also juicy and tender. There was a generous serving of vermicelli noodles — leaving no man/​women hungry until your next meal. (Which for me would probably be quite soon anyways. can’t say no to dessert!) If I really had to nit picket, I guess the springroll was not very memorable. It was of the thinner variety (granted I have a thing for springrolls with the thicker more crunchy skin). When I poured the sauce over my meal the springroll got a bit soggy almost blending in with the noodles. Once again this could also just be a preference thing, I guess I could also try avoiding the springrolls when pouring the sauce…
Overall I was very satisfied with the meal. The staff was frieandly, the service was fairly quick, and the restaurant was very clean. I will definitely come back again and maybe try the Phở. I’m sure a cold rainy Vancouver day is just around the corner.
Note — it does get quite busy during the week for lunch. My friend and I arrived at around 11:45 and got a seat right away. 2 mins later there was a line.

Good phở is hard to come-​by in the downtown area and Ha Long Bay currently holds second place in my books (Delicious Phở is still my number 1 — IN DOWNTOWN, I have to emphasize that part.) We came here on Friday and I had their beef ball noodle soup. The balls and broth are nice but the rice noodles have a slightly strange taste to them — only way I can describe it is «plastic-​y» which is never a good thing. I’ve experienced this with rice noodles before (either at home or at other Vietnamese places) and I’m chalking it up to not cooking it thoroughly enough. Aside from the questionable noodles, the beef and broth are still good enough to place this phở as my number 2 — which speaks volumes of how badly DT needs better phở options! Great friendly service and reasonable prices/​portions. I’m willing to give this place another chance to up their noodle game.

Now, I’m always looking for phở around my area. I like having a favourite phở within arm’s reach for the drab Vancouver weather. This place, I will make an exception! It’s not exactly down the road from home, but it’s where I want to be.
It was the perfect Vancouver day for phở — torrential down-​pour of inescapable rain; the ones that come sideways. I was soaked and upset. I ordered my usual rare beef and beef ball phở and holy moly, it sure wiped that frown off my face. I felt warm and yummy. It was fabulous. The soup was tasty, and the beef fresh. Don’t be shy to ask for more beansprouts!
I was very tempted by the special crab spring roll. Alas, that will have to wait for another day. I’m, more often than not, a big fan of healthy shrimp salad rolls. Know that I will be back with a large empty stomach the next time for all th above!
The place also has a really nice, sincere, antique-​ish vibe that suits the cuisine. Check out the wooden-​framed windows on decoration above. Those were the days!
The only thing that can top good food, is good service. The sweet young lady working there was just the sugar icing on top. She was polite, attentive and kind. When she heard us talking about how good the guava sweets at th counter was, she offered me a handful. She sure knows the direct path to my good books…
That’s it. This calls for weekly visits!

Fast service, reasonable price and great portion. I didn’t like being seated at the lounge, because I felt very hot and sweaty.
Everything was good. Bunbohue was lightly seasoned and meat was in good quality and tender. They gave jalapeño with bean sprouts for topping. Jalapeño gave more spicy flavour to the soup. At the same time soup wasn’t too salty and tasted very delicious. #12 Bunbohue is must try. Two thumbs up.