bistro nguyen's

went into bistro nguyens for late lunch on monday. although they were actually already closed, they were nice enough to let us eat still (menu was restricted tophoseeing 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 little bistro with great atmosphere, attentive staff, and delicious fresh food. thephois unreal. if you're in the area you must try it.

this place gives me life, thephoand the pork belly are absolutely exquisite and everyone i have taken there has enjoyed it immensely . nguyen's is well worth the hype. anyone who needs motivation should visit nguyens- it will give you hope.

bestphoi have ever had

this place is always busy but you don’t have to wait long for the food. i’ve been here a couple of times and it’s been consistently good. theirphoserving is decent for the price paid. there is a good selection of traditional vietnamese dishes. they don’t split bills and i’d recommend you book if you have a group.

this was the place where i dated my husband for the first time. their specialphois mr yu’s all time favorite, and i love their vermicelli salad the best. the best vietnamese restaurant in canberra!

really good location and easy to find - right in the middle of civic.
the atmosphere of bistro’s is perfect for group dining and the waiters were all lovely!

highlights were definitely the garlic salt and pepper calamari, seafood in claypot and the pho! the calamari were so crispy on the outside and really nicely cooked throughout, and the portion of the claypot was so generous! there was a very large variety of seafood and vegetables within the claypot. the broth of thephowas so good, we finished the whole bowl!

unfortunately the special broken rice and my tho style noodles were flops. the noodles were quite hard to chew and all clumped together in the bowl, whilst the crab cake in the special broken rice was cold and didn’t have a very nice texture.

great experience and lovely food! i love their entries in particular! their mini spring rolls are just perfect!phois also very authentic! definitely recommend!

i came in with high expectations after hearing my brother’s praise of this place. it delivered above and beyond any expectations i had. coming from a vietnamese background i can guarantee this place is legit. the banh xeo (vietnamese pancake) had a perfect texture and was delicious with well seasoned filling. the nem nuong (marinated pork) rice paper rolls which were house made also did not disappoint. finally the beef dac bietphowas up there on best phos i’ve had. insanely fresh and tasty broth, meats were beautifully tender and serving size was generous. decor is modern and authentic and service was genuine. highly recommend. 10/10

this is a fabulous place for vietnamese food! the restaurant itself is well decorated, and reminds me of some of the hip restaurants in hanoi. the food is really fresh, tasty and well portioned. i really recommend thephoand iced coffee. the staff are always friendly and the pricing is pretty reasonable for canberra. recommended.

canberra doesn't generally have a big asian community therefore the asian restaurants aren't that great - but this is the bestphoyou'll get here. the combinationphosoup is pretty flavourful, definitely not the best if you've been to syd/melb, but it's still pretty alright.
have tried the rice dishes and you can't go wrong with those so 👍.
would recommended going here for a good viet meal.

had thisphoafter a good hike at mt. ainslie. if you used to live in melbourne like me (or maybe sydney), don't get your hopes high. decent phó to meet your craving but nothing compared to other places i have tried in melbourne. having said that, i would come back to this place when the craving hits again.

i know i'm a spoiled melbourne vietnamese food wanker but shit, this was barely passable. hadphoand a prawn noodle dish and they both looked kind of like vietnamese food but tasted like paper with a picture of coriander on it.

the decor is nice and maybe the other dishes are good, butphothat bad isn't a good omen.

bistro nguyen's was a total disappointment tophorestaurants 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. thephoi 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 to bistro nguyensphorestaurant after this horrid experience.

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

utterly disappointed and will not be returning. to begin, the service from the staff is a major downfall for the business. it was impossible to get their attention when i needed their service as they avoided looking at customers and were more focused on the till and bar itself.

secondly the food was unacceptable. i ordered aphoand as it usually occurs, it comes with a plate of fresh herbs, limes and vegetables. to my disappointment, we were given old produce... the lime was so old and dry that when i squeezed it, absolutely no juice came out. tried yet failed to get the staff's attention towards this matter due to the previous statement made above.

thephowas also the worst i've had. i've hadphoall over canberra and sydney, and this has got to be the worst as the flavour was not authentic and my body had suffered from the amount of msg in my meal.

worst dining experience i've had in canberra.