Ben Thanh North

We came here on a cold winter's day. The place filled up fairly quickly. MSG in the pho. No liquor license here or orange juice. Food is okay. Our server, Vanessa, went with the flow and was very helpful with our questions. I striked out on all the drinks except the hot tea. Thank you for the great service and avoiding the hand.

We ordered lunch via the site for delivery. Due to a delivery mix up I went in to pick up the order. Ethan, was excellent, providing a seamless experience, the food was excellent, we had BBQ vermicelli bowl, yellow chicken curry & rice, fresh shrimp rolls and deep fried spring rolls. I will definitely be going back there to eat.

The food was good i ordered the green curry which they rate 8/10 on their spicy level. I was told by people it would make me hate myself the next day. Id give it at most a 3/10 spiciness.heat lovers like myself would only be disappointed when expecting an 8/10. The taste however was great. Wish it came with smaller but having more chicken. Having 3-4 big chunks of chicken is great but it makes it more annoying to deal with than anything.overall would recommend

The fact that Ben Thanh has expanded outside the Tri-cities is exactly what Ontario needed. 10/10

I have been eating at Ben Thanh North for years and years now and it never disappoints. I notice the reviews are often a bit lower than other similar restaurants in the city but I have tried just about ever other Viet-Thai place and BT is by far my favourite.

We aren't really big pad thai people so I can't speak to the quality of that dish which seems to be a main complaint of reviews. We usually order either the curry or the vermicelli BBQ bowls instead.

Nothing else in the city compares to the Ben Thanh curry which is actually spicy and not just a bland curry with a bunch of crushed peppers sprinkled on top to make it "hot". The flavour is fantastic and consistent. Our favourites are the green and yellow curries, though the red one has been good too when I've had it in the past.

We have not dined in since before Covid so I can't speak to the quality of service, but the food for takeout is always hot and good quality. I don't think they have ever made a mistake with our order either and the online ordering process is easy to use.

My only complaint is that the prices have become quite high, but it is still worth a visit for the occasional treat.

I’ve been to this place twice and I got to say that the service here is much friendlier than Toronto. I read others saying they’ve gotten bad service but that was not my experience.

That being said, food is not exactly about the service but the Taste. I’ve had quite an experience food hunting for restaurants all over Toronto during teenage and University years. So I definitely have higher expectation taste buds. This review will mostly be based upon that, I don’t really care about service that much, just normal order taking and cashing out.

Pho
I’m not going to share my experience regarding any other dish aside from the Pho. #101. That’s literally the only only thing I’ve ordered because I can’t figure out if I really want to try the other ones.

I’ve grown up with Pho in Toronto and I got to say that it taste pretty good. Pho isn’t exactly a hard to make dish though but the key is in the broth. And the broth taste pretty good.

That being said, in all Toronto Vietnamese restaurants, they ask you if you want “Fresh” or “Dried” Noddles. Just like the name, Fresh noodles are not dried and vice-versa. They did not ask that here, they thought I wanted a different type of noodle. Not a big problem but doesn’t seem authentic, but the taste is definitely there.

Portion
For Pho there’s only Small or Large (we had the small). My problem here lie in the bowl.

The Bowl for the Small is way too small. The portion is there but it is filled to the max so any movement in the bowl = Spill. Also splashes from the noodle and unable to mix the noodles and things without splashing.

The review loses a star because I was constantly trying to avoid splashing my clothes.

They should remove small and replace it with a larger bowl with the exact same portions and call it regular.

Menu
One of the problems with the menu is nobody knows what it is unless you already know the dish. I’ve always hated going into restaurants with text-only menus.

In Toronto, they usually make a print with the house specials and top picks which makes it easier for the customers.

Even in those restaurants in Toronto I have no clue what 95% of the stuff on the menu are and I am Asian. Lol.

Conclusion

The Pho is decent. If I had tasted the Vermicelli and Pad Thai I would be able to judge their flavors much more. I’ve been to some of the best Thai restaurants in Toronto and the Vermicelli would give me an understanding to how they BBQ their meat and of course the Spring Roll also tells you something about the other dishes for the place.

I wouldn’t feel shame if I’ve taken friends from TO here, unlike the new Congee Chan when after COVID the original chef isn’t there and all the flavors are of poor quality. That reminds me time to make another review.

The Thai food is not good. It is nowhere close to being right. You would only be happy if you never had Thai food before coming here. It is also grossly overpriced for what it is. I sure hope their Vietnamese food is better. The service was acceptable. Regardless, I will not be coming back.

Great service, decent food but seems overpriced for what you get. To get enough food you need to spend at least $30pp and this place doesn’t have the atmosphere or experience to warrant that cost. Our server was excellent though, I’m sorry I missed her name she did a great job. We had 4 orders of appetizers (a total of 18 fried wontons and 6 coconut shrimp which were both delicious) 1 wonton soup and 1 deluxe chow mein and it came to $125 after tip.

Highly recommend going when they open! We went on Sunday at 12, it started picking up after we were done. I ordered the specialty pho and the soup tasted very flavourful and fresh, nice amount of beef to noodles. Nice portion size as well for a regular bowl! I was full and for $14 not bad!

Their rice dishes and vermicelli bowls are a bit more pricey than I believe other restaurants $17. I didn’t love how they made their chicken for the bbq rice dish tbh. It’s not bad just not great. Chicken is tender and great portion size but a bit on the oily side and not much taste of lemon grass (I forgot to take a picture).

Service was very nice! She was super patient with my family ordering which I appreciate and checked on us well. Thank you, I’d come again and recommend.

We came in around 8: 10 pm and were told they close at 9 pm, which was fine. We knew we could eat quickly. We ordered Shrimp Pad Thai and Ramen Chicken Noodles. They were passable. My teen daughter said: "This is not Vietnamese, Korean, Chinese or Thai food. " She was correct. Although the food tasted okay, it felt like they dump sauces from a bottle onto it. We were in and out in less than 40 minutes.

I was disappointed with our recent meal at Ben Thanh. This was the first time eating at this location and I must say it felt a bit cold like a cafeteria. The coconut shrimp were delicious as always but my husband had a ramen bowl and it was flavourless. My Tom Yum soup was ok but nothing great. I don't think we will be returning.

We’ve been ordering here and we like the food. However our in person expirience was far from pleasant. As soon as we told the server that there were 15 and upon knowing that we did not have a reservation she made us feel unwelcomed. She informed us that they cannot have more than 12 people in one table and when we asked why, she rolled her eyes ans told us that it is thwir policy. It wouldn’t have been ok if she was respectful but she was quite rude and ao blatant eith her body language. Then, once we had the menu she told us to close the menu once we were done with it in a condescending manner. We really felt unwated so we juat decided to leave.

It was such a shame that they dont have hospitality skills. Our excitement to eat there turned into a total dismay.

We went there with our friends and family and as soon as we came in, one of the servers gave us an attitude when we asked for the menu. While we were not looking my son noticed that one of the servers shook her head and rolled her eyes at him. We didn't like how the server treated us it was bad service. We end up leaving.

Had not been to this restaurant in over a year. Very disappointed in some of their changes when we went last Saturday. They have changed their soups sizes. The small size is now half the size of their old regular sized Soup Bowl. For $5 more. My husband got a meat platter, we specifically asked the waiter how it compared to the pad thai in size, he told us it was way bigger than the pad Thai. The plate came, Covered in a bed of head lettuce, (to throw you off so the plate didn't look so empty.) With one shriveled up pork chop, 3 pieces of chicken and some little bits of beef. It was all cold. We told the waiter when he came back. He disappeared and came back 2 minutes later and told us he would reheat it, he left with the plate and came back 10 minutes later and it was still cold. Do not order the meat platter it is Not worth it. Very disappointing. We told the waiter, and I told the younger guy when we paid. Nobody cared.

Similar experience with Mike below.
I have been ordering chicken laksa for the past 10 years.
Ordered Chicken laksa from this location for the first time yesterday and it came with the wrong noodle.
I asked them to change the noodle type. The soup came came back as if it was watered down.as if it the soup was strained and reused but added water on top.
I told the waitress that I have been getting consistent taste from all locations but this.
Nobody from management took interest even though we were the only ones in the restaurant.
Fully charged the meals.
Try other locations

I recently dined at Ben Thanh restaurant and I have to say, the experience was fantastic. Our server, Ethan, made sure our meal was unforgettable. He was extremely friendly, attentive and made sure we were well taken care of throughout our visit. He went above and beyond to make our dining experience enjoyable. The food was delicious and presented beautifully. I highly recommend Ben Thanh and if you have the chance to have Ethan as your server, consider yourself lucky! A big thank you to Ethan and the team at Ben Thanh for a wonderful dining experience.

Amazing vibe and service. The interior looks fresh and new. Vanessa was super nice and helped us when we asked her questions.the food quality was amazing, somehow a bit overpriced compared to the quantity. I strongly recommend it. Had an amazing time

This location is smaller than South London but about the same size as their downtown location. Overall it's fairly consistent and reliable Vietnamese and Thai food.

Friendly staff, great flavors and an experience and education from the server. Love when people engage when we are in their establishment.

The food and service at this location is better than the downtown and South London locations. The thing I hate about this location is that, because of the set up, in the winter time, it is very cold which makes it uncomfortable. The hot tea helps but it's still sucks. I'm not sure what you could do to remedy a situation like this, maybe putting up a portable barrier or something might help.but yeah, the entire place, no matter where you're sitting, you feel this draft at your legs that just makes it uncomfortable.other than that, they have the best prices, the best service, and the best food quality out of all three locations.

The food was incredible. We can’t wait to go back! Definitely need to try this place if you haven’t. Owned and operated by a local family that put their heart and soul into it. Thank you again! Can’t wait to come back with our kids.

My husband and I went there yesterday hoping to have a good Thai meal. We ordered mango salad, pad Thai and soup. We were very disappointed with the food. The pad Thai was like a glob of overcooked noodles with a few pieces of chicken. There were no vegetables, peanuts or bean sprouts as is normal in a pad Thai. The mango salad was a plate heaped with shredded cabbage with a few juliennes of mango thrown in so it could be named a mango salad. Would never go there again. It was a sheet waste of money.