van son vietnamese cuisine

this is agreatrestaurant - so clean, the staff are really nice and accommodating and the food is really good. there are only 2 vietnamese places i go to in calgary - one is van son and the other is lemongrass (the one near 17th, not the one by chinook)

i have been to every vietnamese restaurant in alberta, and there is no place that compares. the largest most diverse menu, the flavouring in the soups, service/staff.......it is all incomparably the best vietnamese restaurant in all of ab.

they cater to your likes, spice things down for kids.....i just cannot stop talking about howgreatthis place is. since finding it, happy accident, i usually have lunch at least twice a week. if i could i would eat there 3x a day, every day, and the best part is the menu is so diverse i wouldn’t get sick of the “same things”.

worth driving too, for sure.

best pho in the city for sure. their gluten=free is actually gluten-free as well which is awesome. it is one of our favourite restuarants in the city by far.greatservice,greatfood and nice atmospher.

the soup is awesome with nice meat, lots of veggies and not too salty. subs are huge, tons of meat andgreatflavours. my husband had the lemongrass vermicelli and said it was one of his favourites!

recently have begun to stop by this place since it's near where i've been working and since the last time i stopped by it was renovated. it's actually a nice location and the atmosphere isgreatfor quiet conversation. i have a personal weakness for sate pho which i have tried at many different locations, and this was the first place where i didn't want to add sriracha or hoisin sauce, as i thought the flavor wasgreatalready. for heat, the thai chili they give you is enough to kick it up a little without changing the flavor, which in my opinion is the best part of this pho. they also offer two different types of sate pho so you can get the kind that you are craving! my personal favorite is the non-peanut sate however.i've tried it multiple times and it does not vary much day to day, which isgreatbecause i was already very impressed with the quality of their pho. additionally, the staff are extremely polite and attentive, and the bubble tea isgreattoo. it  comes in those sealed bubble tea containers so it's easy to take it with you after your meal. i would recommend this location to anyone who enjoys pho.

this place was ok but subpar on a lot of levels. i ordered the vegetarian curry dish with rice and there was not enough sauce. i've dined at a few other vietnamese restaurants to know how they portion out the sauce and this dish lacked it. i wasn't an huge fan of how they did their curry either but it wasn't terrible.
my boyfriends dish hardly had any meat like the picture showed on the menu. it was a lot of and rice with seldom chunks here and there. again - very skimpy. to their credit though the vegetarian spring rolls we had for an appetizer were very good.
we thought we would try to rectify our sub par entres with dessert - another fail. we ordered the fried bananas and they were pretty cold - below luke warm temperature and bland. i was expecting a caramel sauce or something similar to go with it but all we got was 3 fried cold ish bananas with a skimpy drizzle of what tasted like smuckers hot fudge with two scoops of vanilla ice cream. not worth it at all.
the service was pretty good and friendly - just the quality lacked.
with all the othergreatvietnamese restaurants out there i wouldn't recommended this one nor would i go back.

this restaurant has become a regular lunch time spot for us. we stumbled across van son while we were looking for a quick bite to eat at lunch time. we’ve come here a few times now and we can honestly say that the food has been consistently great every time. if you’re looking for a heavy meal that’s going to probably send you to sleep for the afternoon, this place should be your go to restaurant. portions at vietnamese restaurants are always notoriously massive, and van son never disappoints. i don’t think i’ve ever left without a giant bag of leftovers.

this place has some of the best vietnamese i've had! every item i try always is a pleasant surprise. #30 chicken sate is delicious!greatflavour and good spice! i work close by and even our clientele say its way better than the last place! so good!!!


-----12 jul, 2014-----

a step above the last place! i've only tried a few different things here and they have been fresh and delicious. newly renoed and very clean. the satay i tried here wasn't spicy, idk if it's supposed to be but good food. give it a try.

i, too, miss vietnam palace and it's amazing sate pho. the new owners have done agreatjob of renovating the space - its beautiful. but the food pales in comparison to that spicy pho i used to have 3 times a week. please post if anyone knows where i can find the cooks who made it? gonna try pho anh in crowfoot tomorrow...hear they have agreatcreamy sate pho.

my fiancé and i were crazy about vietnam palace. it was agreathole in the wall place with good food and prices and portions. we were anxious about van son opening up in its place, worried it wouldn't be the same. but it's just as great! the renovations are really nice with agreatcolor palate and it's very well done. the spring rolls were perfect! flaky, crisp and tasty! we left feeling so full! prices are comparable to vietnam palace and the portions are just as big. the lemongrass chicken is agreataddition to the menu! we will continue to frequent van son for the food and thegreatservice! one of our favorite servers is still there too! best vietnamese place in calgary! trust us, when they were closed for renovations we tried several others that were highly ranked and none compare to van son!

amazing new vietnamese restaurant.. i went there for dinner the other day, the service was excellent, the food wasgreatand fast. the atmosphere was the cleanest place i vietnamese place i been to and nice paintings. love this place.