Phodaubo Restaurant

Kitchener King St Pho Dau Bo

This might be my favorite restaurant. I have been coming to this location for about 5 years and it is very consistent. The food is incredibly good, there are other restaurants that serve better quality thai dishes in the K-W area, but for this price this is the best deal. The most ‘bang for your buck’ so to speak. The portions are very generous; I am about 6’1 230 lbs and I can eat, typically I struggle to finish a meal consisting of an appetizer and main course. I always leave full, satisfied, and without breaking the bank. I absolutely recommend visiting and will personally continue to so in the future. The only criticism I can offer specific to this location is the quality of atmosphere. It’s in a bad area of town being downtown Kitchener. The restaurant itself is located in a dive/basement like part of the building. The building it is in looks aged, poorly maintained, and contains several other questionable businesses. The parking lot isn’t paved or well lit, and feels like you might get mugged leaving or traveling to your car. The inside the restaurant is kind of gloomy and all of the furniture, utensils, and equipment appear to be weathered. There is also this annoying bell or charm the goes off every time someone enters or leaves the restaurant making it feel like a convenience store or a queue to get on the subway. The service, like the food is also very good. The restaurant is never over packed. I have never had to wait for a table. As soon as I walk through the door a server is grabbing the appropriate amount of menus and walking me to the table. I literally do not stop walking from when I leave the car to when I get to my table because the staff is so on top of it when guests arrive. Although the service to very good, it’s not too good, and that’s good. I personally do not like being bugged and having my conversation interrupted every 5 minutes by some desperate for tips student. They sit you down, bring your drinks and meal very quickly, and leave you alone. One final thing I will mention is regarding the pho (soup) portion sizes. Whatever your non-thai soup portion experience is leave it at the door, the portions are extremely large, a small or medium will feed one person and a large will probably feed two.

I ordered the Pho with beef slices and beef balls. I received my meal within 5 minutes. Very quick service! The noodles in my bowl were all broken and cut up into pieces like macaroni elbow noodles. I'm pretty sure they shouldn't be like that since I've been here a few times already. I spoke to the waitress and they told me it shouldn't be like so she took the soup away and she'll let the owner know owner know about the situation. The owner confronted us and refused to exchange the soup because "there's nothing wrong with it", which the waitress and I thought otherwise. He also demanded that we pay for the soup that they took back and then proceeded to raise his voice and start yelling at us for refusing to accept our order. I didn't know what to do at this point so I calmly asked him to go back and bring out our soup. Once he was at the back. My wife and I left the restaurant. Nevar again am I coming back there. I've never met such rude restaurant operators before.

Poor customer service. How about a web menu??

Maybe our take-out experience would have been better if this place put a menu online. I don't know how a take out restaurant survives in 2011 without any web presence. Anyways... We ordered 2 vegetarian pad thais, and vegetarian spring rolls. I asked the girl on the phone if they made green curry, she said no, but they could do yellow curry with tofu on rice. Sounded good to me. It wasn't. It was chinese fried vegetable rice (the veggies consisting of Green Giant cubed carrot and pea mix) with some fried tofu. My wife called to complain of this, and we were first told that the restaurant doesn't sell curry (??) then the curry in the dish I received was "fried into it" - The cost for my "rice creation" was $9. The restaurant offered no future discount or credit, and did not apologize. As for the Pad Thai: not bad, but not the best we've had in the area, especially at the $9.50 price. Live and learn... Next time we want beef tripe soup (never), maybe we'll give Pho Dau Bo another shot. Until then, there are better Viet & Thai restaurants in the area that actually know what a thai curry is.

HORRIBLE Service...

Ordered a pho and cold bubble tea with "less ice". Instead of a full cup, I was given half a cup of bubble tea (warm). I've ordered bubble tea with "less ice" at many other establishments with no issues. When I complained, I was told to get out. When I asked the man's name, he refused to tell me. Needless to say, if you want good service, STAY AWAY!!! Food was OK but there are definitely better pho places in town.

Great food, Fast lunch

Food come very quick which I like. Don't expect too much service, they;re more of a fast food type restaurant and get straight to the point. However a little unorganized but still very yummy when you want a big bowl of hot soup! Food comes out as soon as it is made, which I know some people hate but other restaurants just leave in it the back anyways. Sometimes other places will warm it up again if it takes too long. so Really as least you know that they just made it fresh.

So So Lunch

Lunch was ok. Ordering was a bit of a challenge due to language skills but we managed. Fare is routine, not bad, but nothing special either, rather bland. Didn't give me a lime, and the vermicelli came with no sauce or flavoring so I improvised with the hoisen sauce on the table. Forks not provided, you must ask for them-fyi. All in all, there are other places I would recommend first before this place

This is the best Vietnamese in K-W

This is a high quality, reasonably priced pho restaurant. Service is quick and friendly, food is high quality. Tried other pho restaurants in K-W and this is the best.

I go there all the time, def good food, good price (: their soup is def good and their rice dishes are my fav as well (: worth a try

I've been to both locations and find this to be...

I've been to both locations and find this to be the more clean and the more friendly. Reading other reviews reveals that this may be only some of the time, but my experiences have been good. I love the quality of the ingredients, and the speed and price point make it a great lunch spot. My only issue to raise would be that if you have a stomach which does not handle hot/spicy food well, your menu options are limited.

good yet nasty

Everything was amazing except im asian and i had no service i had to get my own water and take out boxes. Also, the spring rolls came out last and it was suposed to be our appitizer. The noodles mixed veggies tast old not only the veggies but the noodles didn't seem fresh at all. I went the second time and nothing changed. I go to other resturants that serve the same food cuisine and taste fresher and cleasner. Maybe the prices have a difference because the food's habitat is probably not clean here.

Great value, great food!!

I have been there numerous times.The food is always fast,fresh and delicious.Friendly staff make this an enjoyable meal every time.Have not been disappointed yet.(and dont expect to be) I would recommend this place to all my friends and family!One of Kitcheners hidden treasures!

Good Beef Noodles

I tend to prefer the Victoria Street location better, but the pho beef noodles here are very good. Service is OK.

standard vietnamese fare

What can go wrong with sticking to good ol' vietnamese? This one is just as good as most other fairly authentic vietnamese places around KW & Guelph. The atmosphere is typical too where there are a lot of plain tables and chairs stuffed into one big, open, bright room. Service was quick but that was pretty much it. Instead of dine'n'dash, it's wait'n'dash.

Nice big menu...OK food

Reasonably fresh and tasty food, mediocre service, OK surroundings. At least it's fast and convenient

I have been here tons of times, they make it so...

I have been here tons of times, they make it so fast and it is good. I also drown mine in hot sauce so sometimes I am not the best critic. I eat there and sometimes on lunch just get it to go, I love how everything is separate and you get it the way it should be when you're ready to eat for take out. I'm going right now. I also get the same thing every time! It's ghetto, cheap and delicious. Kicks the crap out of the paying $12 at Subway.

Typical pho places, but their food was good and...

Typical pho places, but their food was good and prices are cheaper. The atmosphere/decoration isn't as nice as Ben-Thanh Waterloo/Kitchener, but food is better Definitely pick this over Ben-Thanh if I want pho

We adore Vietnamese cuisine. Having recently...

We adore Vietnamese cuisine. Having recently moved to the area, we were pleasantly surprised to discover this restaurant. Service is prompt, food is hot and tasty especially the hot and sour soup. Fresh ingredients make all of the difference and lack of grease increases one's desire to return. Service was given "7" because in comparison to regular restaurant ie. Canadian, service is not the focus, rather the cuisine. Two thumbs up!

There are a couple of ladies there that are...

There are a couple of ladies there that are really bad at serving. The owner does not know how to hire people. Their english is not good. I will not be coming back.

I had visited Pho quite a few times prior to this...

I had visited Pho quite a few times prior to this and always loved their food. However, I had called and ordered my food one day as I was very busy at work. I took a cab there, got my food and headed back to work. Once I had gotten back to work I had realized that they didn't give me what I had ordered. In fact my portion of rice was that of a small bowl and the rest was vegetables. I called Pho to see if something could be done about it and what treated in the worst manner I have ever seen. I work in the customer service industry and I have never been screamed at one the phone, especially considering it was their fault. I made a point of mentioning my order, which is one of seven tofu dishes. In my opinion, they should know their products. I have never been so insulted in all my years. I work in a large office building where word of mouth goes a long way, our business is very customer oriented and this has left a few people with a bad taste in their mouth because of this.. I will never return because of Kim that spoke to me in this manner and will make a point of informing all my clients about it.

This restaurant is one of the best Vietnamese...

This restaurant is one of the best Vietnamese restaurants I have visited within the GTA. I have definitely tried quite a few vietnamese (and thai combo) restaurants and can support that this is one of the better ones around. The service is fast and the food is great. The price is always right and there is always seating. Check it out if you like traditional asian cuisine, affordable prices, and fast food on your table!