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Pho Hung

Rating: 2.6/5 (40 votes)

Posted by Tanja / Reviewed on February 12, 2006

21 Comments

Pho Hung TorontoAfter spending Saturday afternoon at work in an underground office with only tictacs (having forgotten my lunch at home), I decided that lunner (yes, lunch/dinner) was going to have to be hearty, to say the least.

After a quick scan of our Best of Toronto list I decided to head over to Pho Hung -- Spadina's noodlehouse extraordinaire. Hadn't been there for years, so it seemed about time to try it again.

While the menu was a bit confusing at first (how many ways can you serve beef with noodles in soup??), I settled on Lean Beef Rice Noodle Soup. A mere 5 bucks. I really wanted vegetables but I couldn't seem to locate any where I was looking.

Stephanie, my dining companion, decides to go with a chicken, spring roll, veggies and noodles dish (veggies being shaved carrots and onions... so they don't count)... around $6.

We scribble the order down on the specially provided order sheet and off we go.
Both bowls are huge, delicious, and yes, hearty. A squirt or two of the table hot sauce* and it's absolutely perfect. Such great value for the buck.

Oh yeah, and after I'd ordered I found the veggie section at the back of the menu. Next time.. next time.

*Note: Both bottles on the table read "Hot Sauce". To avoid anyone being as annoying as the couple next to us who bickered ignorantly loud about the what hell the difference is and how it should say more, bla bla 'like omigad', bla... let me clear it up: The RED is the hot stuff. The BROWN is the sweeter stuff. Good? Good.

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Pho Hung - 350 Spadina Ave (just N of Dundas). 416-593-4274

Photo by kaeko in the blogTO Flickr pool

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21 Comments

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tim / February 12, 2006 at 09:19 am
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the veggie pho is great. it used to be pretty blah, but around the time they finished their expansion, they upgraded the recipe and it now has way better ingredients and better flavour. you should also try golden turtle (rua vang) on ossington (at argyle between queen and dundas).
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Hamish Grant / February 13, 2006 at 09:03 am
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I'm partial to the "Rare Beef with Beef Balls" variety of their Pho' - it's got yummy tripe in it as well. Soooo much good food there. And the rice-flour wrapped cold spring rolls (with shrimp) are awesome as well.
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Peter / February 13, 2006 at 11:59 am
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I've been dissapointed with Pho Hung recently. As of 2006 I've noticed they're reducing the amount of meet in their soup. I might have to branch out if this keeps up.
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phoguy / February 13, 2006 at 08:22 pm
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Personally i think pho 88 is prolly the best especially if you like to spice it up. Try their Satay Pho! amazing for the spice lover
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Tanja / February 14, 2006 at 01:55 am
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ooo... so many pho suggestions. perhaps we shall see a string of pho reviews soon!
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Billy Nut Case / March 9, 2006 at 08:33 am
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did you guys ever try the oxtail pho in Pho Hung?! good stuff!!!

They have decent curry to me also lol. Good tropical Vietnamese food.
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Penny wort / March 9, 2006 at 08:34 am
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how are their desserts? Like the mango stuff and durian or soursop ice cream???
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Tanja / April 17, 2006 at 10:59 pm
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Didn't try, Penny... will have to check in on that.
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Meathole / June 12, 2007 at 10:55 pm
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The "onions and carrots" is actually pickled Carrots and Dycon Radish
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Tanja / June 13, 2007 at 12:41 am
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Thanks Meathole, but it actually wasn't to be honest. At least not on this visit... there was nothing pickled about 'em... and i LOVE the pickled radish that usually comes with pho. By onions I'm referring to green onions under the meat.
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apetimberlake / March 27, 2008 at 11:11 am
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Never disapointed ..
I always get PHO.... rare beef and beef balls.
My finacee gets the yellow chicken curry..AWSOME
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Elly / September 4, 2008 at 01:19 am
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Sigh....I remember the days when Pho Hung was a tiny shop just up the street. The broth at the new larger location has been getting blander by the year. Still though, it's better than their other location across from the ROM. I usually order the rare beef and brisket combination. Very friendly owners.
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joey / March 7, 2009 at 10:48 am
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The food is good to very good. Small portions for the price but the real disappointment is..... Some of the rudest and worse servers I've encountered. A total shame or the restaurant would be descent enough. I always leave a good tip for waitresses servers etc. Even if they were so so. Here for the first time in years I left nothing and this is a repeated experience of poor service not just random.
Pitiful actually.
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LaM / March 13, 2009 at 05:51 pm
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PHO-GET THE PHO PPL!!!! ..... what yall REALLY should be ordering is PHO HUNG's CHICKEN WINGS. Foodies in the know, KNOW that that they've got the best chicken wings in TORONTO. YUP i said it.... THE BEST CHICKEN WINGS IN TORONTO!!! Way better than duff's, st.louis, or any other pubs in the area. The wings are crispier and larger than other establishments and they taste more vinegary but with a kick. Ask for a side of limes to spritz on, some cheap beer and your good to go.
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Darrin / September 30, 2009 at 03:04 pm
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Pho Hung is now far from the best Pho in Toronto. It might even be one of my least favourites now. Over the last year, I've found the soup to be really really bland and watered down. the limes they give you hardly have any juice, there's less meat in their bowls than other places, and they don't even give you the ngò gai (culantro, or long coriander) that almost every other pho restaurant will give you. At first, I thought it was a one off sort of night, but then I'd say the last few times I've been there, the soup has just been terribly bland. I've pretty much written them off at this point.
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Jennifer / April 17, 2010 at 04:51 pm
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Ate here once, it tasted good. A lot of teenage waiters which I found a bit surprising, they treat customers very well ^^
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Lizzie / May 31, 2010 at 10:35 pm
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what about the milkshakes???? the mango milkshakes are amazing!!!!!
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Emmy / July 15, 2010 at 11:50 pm
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Avocado shakes are awesome. Pho here tastes really good, unlike Train Head.

The older waiters might give you bad service if you're a group of teenagers. :\ We didn't do anything bad either.
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Dylan replying to a comment from LaM / October 21, 2010 at 11:41 am
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I absolutely agree with you. I sometimes just go to pho hung solely for their chicken wings.
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Vi / November 19, 2010 at 01:07 pm
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okie so I admit they have pretty bad services but at least the staff was efficient! Less than 10' to dig in a flavorful bowl of delicious, and authentic Pho (I am a native born and raised Vietnamese, so trust me when I say authentic). Though sometime when it get crowded their soup is kinda blah, the trick is to avoid the weekend evenings when they pretty much used up their broth and have to make up with some watery quick fix.
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Catherine / May 22, 2011 at 12:46 pm
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How could any self-professed pho lover rate Pho Hung as one of the best in Toronto??????!!!! I have tried both locations (on bloor and spadina) on countless occasions since 1994 on recommendations of friends, co-workers...etc and one thing Pho Hung has done consistently was leave me wanting something more authentic. Their broth is lacking in spice (just tastes beefy) and they only provide basil with their sprouts unlike many better shops around Toronto that load it on with basil, green onions, water basil...etc. The overall pho experience at Pho Hung may be great for someone who has never had pho before and just wanting to have a bland beefy noodle soup without all the beautiful signature herbs and spices that are supposed to make this awesome dish so great.
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Location and Contact Details

350 Spadina Ave (Get Directions)
416.593.4274
Chinatown
Vietnamese

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