bistro nguyen's

went intobistronguyens for late lunch on monday. although they were actually already closed, they were nice enough to let us eat still (menu was restricted to pho seeing as the rest of the kitchen was already closed). we ordered the beef special pho. really good flavours though soup was a little too salty; but overall, very filling and not expensive for what you get.

a bustling littlebistrowith great atmosphere, attentive staff, and delicious fresh food. the pho is unreal. if you're in the area you must try it.

i love vietnamese food and have been tobistronguyen's several times. i've never had a bad experience! it's priced well and the food is really good.

a relative newcomer to the city centre,bistronguyen is doing a good job of offering tasty vietnamese food in a fun setting with plenty of nostalgic decor. the fresh pork and prawn spring rolls are excellent value at $6.50 for three and come with a good hoisin dipping sauce. they are a good accompaniment if sharing another dish.

bistro nguyen's was a total disappointment to pho restaurants in canberra.

yesterday i decided to try a different place to get my favorite meal being pho, this decision ended up in disaster.

first off, the bean sprouts and lime were not fresh at all, when i tried to squeeze the lime nothing came out, so i avoided putting them in the pho. this incident then involved me in getting the attention of a staff member.... nope.

secondly, the service... my gosh the service was not what i expected, i made it clear that i was staring and even tried to ask a waiter that was walking past but got ignored. this type of service is unacceptable for any type of restaurant.

third, when i first came into the restaurant i didn't feel welcomed, as i was getting stared at by the three staff members that seemed to be talking amongst themselves and i had to find a seat that didn't have plates all over them.

lastly the pho, the main reason why i came, was lacking and was full of msg. the pho i ordered was the "pho with meatballs", this tasted very artificial and muddled that i couldn't finish it.

all in all i will not be coming back tobistronguyens pho restaurant after this horrid experience.

as a positive note, the restaurant has a very good interior design.

very disappointing experience atbistronguyen's, unfortunately this is not a place i'll return to. the food itself was not super tasty but fine, and the service was truly awful. 
as a group of four last friday night we were greeted and seated promptly, got menus and ordered right away. one entree arrived quickly, followed by two of the four mains (pho and a rice dish). it then took a long time (i didn't time, but 10-15 mins) for the next dish to arrive, and the order was incorrect. the waiter took it away, and returned with it saying that if my friend didn't want this, then they'd have to put the order in to the kitchen again from scratch and we'd have to wait for it to be ready. it felt a lot like we were being told we were fussy not to eat the dish we didn't order. this is bad enough, but i've never experienced a wrong order not being rushed, plus they'd made a beef dish instead of the veg version for my vego friend. not cool. after a while the replacement dish arrived alongside the second entree, which we'd forgotten about.  after what felt like an age the fourth dish arrived, well after everyone else had finished, and just at the point we'd decided to leave and get takeaway from somewhere else for our now ravenous friend. he ate his dish alone after everyone else was finished.
i did see afterwards on the menu this restaurant has a "serve when ready" philosophy, but this wasn't explained and i've only ever seen it in a share-dining setting.
the waiters were friendly, and i don't think it was their fault but regardless the restaurant was non-apologetic and didn't offer any recompense or explanation.  
we won't be going back.

there weren't many places open to eat on a monday night at 915pm. most of the anu area had shut down already and red chilli sichuan wasn't taking anyone new. across the road from it, in a prime corner of northbourne avenue was a new(ish) viet place that i had heard mixed things about.bistronguyen's probably brings a little hesitancy to the avid eater on paper (especially one with some familiarity with vietnamese food) considering the prime location, the restaurant name, and the decor attempting to fuse old school vietnamese charm in a more modern setting. the only modern viet places i've tried are the slanted door (which is exceptional) and red lantern (which is good). there's also a chef's hat called dandelion that i've always been interested in but never made it to. but with limited options, a few other people eating inside and the cold weather setting in, it seemed reasonable to try and see whatbistrohad to offer.

it's great to have another dine-in vietnamese option in the heart of the city - particularly for a warming weekday lunch. the pho atbistronguyen's is pretty good - the broth is tasty (without being the best i've had) and the beef is nice and soft. they've got a good variety of dishes too, and are pretty good at catering for a big group.

finally i get to catch up on my reviews, now the sydney film festival is over and we are mostly caught up on movie reviews it is time for some more loving and attention to spooning australia. i am continuing on with my next meal in my last trip to the ruling section of the nation. the place that houses all those evil conniving backstabbing fucktards we call politicians, canberra. enough with politicians, we want to make you hungry, not puke. i came acrossbistronguyen’s purely by accident. i made a list of the restaurants i wanted to review in canberra and this wasn’t on it. there was a place a few doors up i was keen to try, zomato (old urbanspoon) said it was open at the time but alas it was not, i kept walking up and down the street trying to find it, the numbers were all off and i could not locate the numbers at all. but i walked pastbistronguyen’s about ten times and it was packed and looked fantastic.

don't be a spoiled brat:bistronguyen's is great. i've been here more times than i can count. apart from having some sort of divine pho recipe, the place is friendly and the staff are lovely unless they're too flat out to breathe. be patient with them, they're clearly new to the restaurant game but they've got a great recipe and they've always done their best to fix mistakes when they've made them, although i would say this to anyone having a go at them: you try running a busy restaurant in a second language. that is, if you can even speak a second language.

i’m not very adventurous when it comes to vietnamese food, and when i saw the menu atbistronguyen’s, i was overwhelmed by the choice. whilst my friends had been there before, i hadn’t, so i chose the rare beef pho and young coconut juice as a safe pick. the juice came out in a huge glass with pieces of coconut flesh floating inside – it was sweet and coconutty and i would happily order it again. we sat outside near the sidewalk and chatted while we waited for our meals. mine came out last and i had to ask for the accompanying bean sprouts, basil and chilli. the broth was quite pale and the beef flavour was weaker than i was expecting (especially compared to the one at my’s), but at lunchtime that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. i was pleased that it wasn’t an overly salty broth, but i did feel a bit bloated afterwards. unfortunately the beef wasn’t rare but it went well dipped in the hoisin and sriracha sauces, and the noodles were lovely and soft. next time i’ll be more adventurous menu-wise –bistronguyen’s is a lovely lunch spot i’ll come back to.

recently, i visited the newly openedbistronguyen’s which replaced the recently closed wasabi in civic. i was originally pretty skeptical of this new vietnamese restaurant which screams hipster and i’ve never trusted hipster vietnamese food. it’s just one of those cuisines that doesn’t translate well to hipsterness. vietnamese food is all about delicious flavoursome dishes, good portion sizes and homely comfort. its not something that photographs particularly well, or should be plated in a hipster way. however, after seeing the menu which included many other traditional vietnamese dishes, not just pho, i felt a lot more comfortable that i would have an enjoyable meal and decided to try it out.

excellent food, fantastic atmosphere, fast service.. i was immediately impressed with the rustic/ industrial decor as soon as i stepped insidebistronguyen's. i was with a group of eight and didn't have any reservation, the place was quite full for a monday night, but the lovely manager quickly seated us down in the central table without any hassle. the smell of spices from the kitchen is instantly recognisable as 'pho' reminded me of my time in vietnam. the menu is small, but filled with many recognisable vietnamese dishes. we all decided to have pho and a few vietnamese pork bread roll( banh mi) to share. our saigon beers were quickly delivered to us while my vietnamese ice coffee arrived momment later. the banh mi arrived minutes later nicely cut and place on a wooden board for us to share. i've got say that was the best banh mi i've ever had in canberra, it was filled with fresh coriander, chilli, pickled carrot, pâté and pork. warm, crusty and flavoursome, well presented starter for $7.50. while downing our banh mi, my 'special pho' delivered with a plate of fresh bean sprouts, basil, lime and chilli. the rather large bowl of pho is aromatic, topped with many different variety of beef product, onion, shallot and coriander. i've tried pho at many vietnamese restaurant before, but safe to say this place does it way better. beefy flavour, loads of meat, and the rice noodle was cooked perfectly. i was told this place only open for a couple weeks and its already popular. look forward to try their crispy skin chicken rice.

as soon as i walked inside, i could immediately smell the delicious aroma of pho cooking in the kitchen. well that made my decision of what to eat easier.bistronguyen’s is a funky hipster vietnamese restaurant with mismatching chairs, colourful asian lanterns and plenty of natural light streaming through the large windows. i do love the green plants that decorate the restaurant on individual tables, hanging baskets and the front counter. you can’t miss the large bonsai either. asian hipster decor? the feature wall was decorated by the manager himself scrawling his name on the tiles and doing up the cartoon-like artwork. i think it gives a fun vibe to the place. our table had the essentials ready and waiting – chopsticks, spoons, sriracha sauce, hoisin sauce and small bowls. the four page menu is impressive with lots of tasty traditional vietnamese food items like pho, banh mi and com tam. then there are stir fries, hot pot ($35 for 2 people – on my list for when it gets colder), and dessert. vegetarian options are clearly marked against certain dishes. the menu also states to advise staff for any other dietary requirements and allergies. i would like to point out that i’m impressed with the prices here. dishes are around the $15 mark or under. very affordable! i honestly thought with the location and asian hipster fit out, that some dearer prices would be charged. glad to be proved wrong. a short beer and w