bay city noodles & cafe

best viet in geelong by far.

such an ugly restaurant but the food is very authentic. i used to live in footscray and this place is on par. they just need to clean up the place a bit.

5 of us drove past geelong on good friday on the way to great ocean road. not many shops were opened. decided to have lunch here. the restaurant has an unpleasant smell. ordered 2 entrees and 4 main dishes. costed $63 for 5 people. very cheap. however the taste of the food was very....not nice. i wasn’t expecting much at the beginning anyway. sorry to say that but it was the worst vietnamese restaurant i’ve ever been to. wouldn’t want to come back again. made me wanna go back to melbourne and have a good bowl of pho.

a surprise find during our road trip. we got the tomato rice with the fried chicken and although it did take a while, the fried chicken was pretty flavoursome. wasn't a big fan of the tomato rice because although it didn't really taste of tomato. the beef rice paper rolls were also pretty good! 

a tip for those visiting here - be very very careful when using their toilets. i got locked here for a good 20 minutes, shouted help and no one came. the doors are pretty old so it got jammed when i closed it! what an experience.

overall the food that we ordered was very standard, rice paper roll was very bland, there were no marinade on any of the filling, the flavour were only from the dipping sauce (i like the crushed peanut on it), pho was very basic, the flavour of the broth was "meh" and there were many tendon pieces inside (good coz i like it) but taste wise the whole thing was just so-so. the mung used bbq pork, and it was okay. what annoyed us was the strong smell of this place, seems like we were eating inside their kitchen, definitely there were something wrong with their kitchen exhaust fan, we ate real fast and just cant stand to stay there longer. decor inside was depressing with majority of dark green and black colour paint, and the paint job was awful. the mirror was dirty, with lots of stain on it, dunno when was the last time they clean it. only the service was good, the young waitress was very friendly and fast, explain everything thoroughly and made us feel a bit better. but that wont make us come back though, maybe for geelong this pho considered not bad, but its far below melbourne standard. and its not worth it to stand the smell anyway.

the environment is pretty aweful , pretty dark and filthy . waited for half an hour still no food and i ended up late for work. the taste of the food is below average but it's so far the best in geelong . if you compare it with the pho restaurants in melbourne it's really not good .
the dinning area is smoky like in the kitchen .no fresh chill

i think this restaurant has changed management, as it's now charmingly run by a sister and brother duo. popped in for lunch today after a train trip from melbourne and a short hunt for lunch. in the mood for some sliced beef pho, i ordered a bowl along with a serving of prawn and pork rice paper rolls.

i've eaten alot of pho and a measure of good broth is flavour (without it being overpoweringly salty) and clarity (without it being cloudy). the broth was some of the best i've had, and the flavour was amazing, which helped carry the fresh ingredients. the rice paper rolls were similarly fresh with a yummy dipping sauce.

would definitely be back if in the area again.

amazing food! so authentic, spring rolls are just like you get in vietnam.
don't judge a book by its cover because the food is so delicious.

i was dying for asian food and this really hit the spot!! definitely recommend the pho! my only recommendation is use fish sauce for the spring roll instead of sweet sour sauce~

no fresh herbs with my pho? really?
the beef broth was overly salty and mono-dimensional. it had no resemblance to the balance and subtlety of a fine, restorative complex broth. the rice noodles were all broken up to about the length of matches and were texturally indistinct. 
the bean shoots looked slimy and in need of at least rinse, and again no herbs really? 
the rice paper rolls were so tough (fridge cold?) and with no herbs within the vegetarian rolls, just vermicelli, carrot, iceberg and a tiny amount of tofu they were so disappointing.
it just seemed like the food was prepared without effort or care and left the table disappointed.
hate to sound like a broken record but where were the herbs?  
cant see myself returning or recommending.  super mediocre.

having tried many vietnamese restaurants in my lifetime, the portions served here are one of the smallest that i've ever seen for similar prices. the basil and bean sprouts given along with the pho don't look fresh and i feel like they may be reused. not the very best pho i've tasted but enough to settle the cravings.

food sizes are too small.. i love vietnamese food and i went tonight and ordered 'sweet and sour pork'. when i returned home i found that there was 1/4 pork (no vegetables) and 3/4 rice in the container for $11!
a few vegetables would have been fine however to have 3/4 rice was a joke. i've eaten 'sweet and sour' from almost all asian restaurants in geelong and this was by far the most disappointing.

owner- you should have just said sorry and given me some more pork in my 'sweet and sour'. that's all i really wanted.

best pho. i've travelled through viet nam and could not find a better bowl of pho than at bay city noodle. so delicious!

good pho in geelong. tried pho and laksa here a few times and they were delicious.

euuuwww. who are these people doing the reviews?
all the meals including lemon chicken and mongolian beef include more than half the dish in steamed rice
maybe that should be listed?
so two thirds is plain rice.... also it's utter crap. sorry but we are from melbourne and arent used to rubbish food
also y are these places closing at 7pm / 8pm!!!!
if you are open then be open for gods sake
either way
do not bother
better off with cheese on toast

great pho. michael the owner is a legend. the cafe is just that, a cafe. however the pho is as good as i have ever eaten (including in vietnam) the place is not flash, however i have sat with michael for hours talking one day and he showed me the kitchen-spotless! the place is a must for those wanting a healthy and nourishing bowl of soup. the stuff cures hangovers, colds, aches and pains like nothing else. 5 star cafe