I don't think I've ever finished a large bowl of pho before until I had PhoBoy's version of it. I've tried both the Dragon special which is their beef broth meat combo as well as the satay broth version on different occasions. I liked both but the satay could be a little spicier (personal preference). The amount of protein is just right. The tendon was melt in your mouth good and the house made meatball was decent which other pho restaurants don't have in their pho. My son had the Hero's Feast which is their vermicelli combo bowl. He liked it a lot especially the spring rolls. I think it's called the Legend roll that you can order as appies. I will definitely go back and try their other menu items. Highly recommended.
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I drove pass this restaurant several times and didn’t think much of it. My wife and I walked around the area last weekend and I was drawn to the place because I saw the arcade machine sitting in the corner. We weren’t expecting much from this restaurant when entering it thinking that it’s another run of the mill “Vietnamese cuisine”.
In the last five years, Edmonton has seen a surge in Vietnamese cuisine restaurants that made claims of being the best. I tried a lot of them and was disappointed by their failure to deliver on quality, taste, and value – Pho Boy is NOT one of these failures. I ordered the “Pho Boy Dragon Special” (gluten free) while my wife ordered the “Pho You - Build Your Own Pho” (gluten free); these are the highlights we got from our experience:
Quality
The Vietnamese restaurants in Edmonton typically give you a large heaping of pho while skimming on the meat and vegetables. This was not the case in Pho Boy. Despite the both of us ordering jumbo size bowls ($15 for the Dragon bowl and $13 for the Build Your Own), the portions of meat and noodles were well balanced. The meat flanks in both our dishes were fresh, tender, and well marinated – I had experiences where the meat given in a pho bowl becomes chewy after you submerse it in the broth, indicating that the meat is not fresh or is from frozen – this definitely was not the case.
The Dragon meatball in my dish was made on site and is a highlight of my dish. The various ingredients and spices were easily distinguished when you bite into it and this in itself is worth coming back for more. The crowning jewel in our bowls, however, were the beef tendon chunks – it was so soft (almost gelatinous) and flavorful from its absorbing the broth that it practically melted in our mouths when we chewed on them. The other restaurants, too, have done beef tendon properly, but not to this caliber.
Taste
Overall, the dishes we ordered were very tasty – but this is a reflection in the quality of the ingredients used in the food – the Dragon meatball and the beef tendon are obviously the highlight of the dishes, but the beef broth itself was done so it is not overwhelming salty that you need to wash the soup down with pitchers of water afterwards.
The broth is there to enhance and tie together the taste of the pho, meat and vegetables - it is not meant to be the star of the dish like many other restaurants do with their offerings. My wife is very averse to anything too salty and this soup definitely got her approval – in my mind, the taste in our bowls really sets Pho Boy apart.
Value
The amount of food we each had in our bowls was about one liter’s worth of contents for $13 and $15 (before GST), respectively – that's a lot of food when it comes to eating out. Aside from the pho, meat, and broth, there were also chicken bits, cilantro, and bean sprouts that accented our meals. While this is a common offering in the Vietnamese restaurants, the sheer amount, taste, and quality in the food makes this a worthwhile expenditure – and then there’s the service.
One of the owners (Christina) made an effort to approach the customers to ask them about their experience and food while we were there. Edmonton has a reputation for not having the best customer service as a whole, but I’m glad Pho Boy is also an outlier in this regard. If you have an urge to eat out and feel like having pho, you need to go to Pho Boy.
Great place. Had beef satay nice heat to it and awesome flavor
recommend highly! !!!!
Best pho satay in town! This place is a hidden gem. Fair warning be prepared to be addicted to this place
So good! Vermicelli bowl to die for! I had to limit my portion, but enough for 2 meals for me!
Been here twice already and loved the satay pho! Can't wait for another bowl and to try some authentic spring rolls! Would recommend serving beef brisket as one of the meat options though!
So good! The ingredients were fresh and high quality. The legend roll vermicelli bowl was great and the pho was delicious. The portions were generous. The atmosphere was super cool. I highly recommend it.
A bit pricey compared to other pho restuarants but lots of flavor in the soup and not that much sodium, quantity of food was great as well!
The service was friendly and professional, and all the food was delicious :) 10 out of 10 would recommend, and I'll definitely be back pho more!
We've ordered from Pho Boy on Skip a couple times, the food has always been great so we decided to check it out in person for the first time today. I find restaurants on whyte can be a turn off because of parking, but Pho Boy has a lot next door. The server was super sweet, and the restaurant itself is cozy and has fun decor. I'm a huge fan of the build your own pho, it's a refreshing change that you can add a variety of vegetables along with the standard meats/tofu. Will definitely go back!
Had lunch here on Saturday and it's a busy place. Great food, very hip joint and that banh khot so good. I'm used to a certain type of broth being a Northern Viet so it was good but nothing like mom's home cooking. Will def visit again
They have the best pho in town! I had the dragon pho special with poppers and it was awesome!
The Dragon Bowl is one of a kind pho! The broth was outstandingly flavourful and had a delectable assortment of meats. Great food and a terrific ambience that makes it a welcomed addition to Whyte Ave. The place has some real character!
What makes a pho bowl to me is the broth, and I can guarantee their broth is second to none!! They also had an arcade machine with countless games, which made a visit to Pho Boy an experience more than a meal. Super cool place to bring family or friends!
I've been to Pho Boy twice now and never once disappointed! I could even get vegan for my wife and the service was spot on. Love the atmosphere too. If you're on Whyte jet down to a legit VK in YEG!
Went there for the first time thanks to a friend's recommendation and I am so happy I did. The food is phenomenal and the staff are so incredibly friendly. Can't wait to go back next time I'm in the city.
Simply amazing! Best broth I've had in Edmonton. I don't normally finish the soup when I have Pho, but I drank all of it. I love how they have a jumbo size for big eaters like myself. Very satisfied right now. Definitely my new favorite place.
We have ordered delivery from this restaurant several times and it has been hot and tasty every time. We finally went to the restaurant today and found it to be just as great. A fairly straightforward space with 7-8 tables and a relaxed, low-key atmosphere. The custom “Pho You” is our standard order and it has never disappointed. The service at the restaurant is friendly and helpful. A great place for a quick, tasty meal.
Yum! We eat pho very regularly & have tried many places in our travels. This is one of the best! Like most pho places, I would appreciated more meat than they give you, but that is nothing out of the ordinary. It is pretty dark in here, that's my only real complaint. We will be returning regularly.
Hii! I'm Anita~ I'm from/living in Edmonton, AB, Canada. I love to eat, eat, & eat, & travel, Kpop/Kdramas, & art~ This is a personal blog about my food & travel stories~ I hope you'll enjoy reading my posts, & visit some of the places I post about. Pls give me some feedback, or other comments/questions: missguomeiyun@gmail.com. Thankyouu :)
One of the newer restaurants in the Vietnamese food scene in Edmonton. The menu is simple and focused on a few appetizers and pho (Vietnamese noodle soup). Our table shared two appetizers - green onion cakes and the Banh Khot, both were great. For my main dish, I had the "Pho You" which allows you to customize your bowl of soup by picking your broth, toppings, garnishes and size. The broth was well-developed, perfect portion size and ratio of broth to noodles to meat. The service was friendly. The inside has a very cool vibe and I loved the decor. I you are a pho fan like me, definitely give this place a try. It was quite busy when we went for lunch. Given the limited seating, I would recommend making a reservation.
Probably one of my top 5 favorite pho places in the city. It is a small space with a cool vibe, consider making a reservation. For appetizers we had the Bahn Khot (rice poppers with shrimp and pork) and the green onion cakes. Both are available in full or half orders. For the main dish, I recommend the Pho Boy Dragon Special. It comes with sliced steak, flank, beef balls, tendon, and the house-made dragon balls, which are delicious. If you are not feeling as adventurous, you can build your own pho.
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I've been here 3-4 times now and I have refrained from doing a review because it hadn't reached grand opening yet.
First things first, I love the arcade machine!!! The art on the wall is also very scenic and reminds me of that farmers working hard to bring food to our table.
The menu is not huge and confusing and that's a good thing. I really loved the hero's feast - vermicelli bowl with generous portions of legend rolls and vegetables. I was so stuffed and it was only $15.
The pho broth is not MSG-filled like some of that other places in town. I can actually drink the broth without dying of thirst afterwards. One thing i did find different was that the broth can be quite hot at times and it may overcook your meat if you let them submerged in there for too long. Although the texture may be ruined, but i still loved it because it was so well marinated. Perhaps you can ask them for rare or medium rare meats?!
Overall, pho boy has a very cozy atmosphere and it is conveniently located on whyte ave. There is parking in the back but be sure not to park on the tirecraft side of things.
Last but not least, La Boule is just a short walk south so have some nice dessert there afterwards! I just take them home because i like stuffing my face at pho boy :)
Pho tastes very clean, and healthy. It's obvious they use fresh, good stock and not powder. As they grow and mature, I believe that their menu will keep expanding and taking on new flavours. Vermicelli portion is huge! Banh koht is okay, but not amazing. I'll definitely return for their pho, since the broth is so well done.
I liked the interior design and service. I had the satay broth and also tried the shrimp chips and the banh khot. I really liked the banh khot. It melted in my mouth and had a great flavour! The beef satay was ok. The regular size is much smaller than a regular size at other pho locations. My friends had the dragon pho and enjoyed that!
I love this place! The broth is very flavorful and the meat fresh. I love that the bowl is not jam packed with noodles, the rest of the ingredients are left to shine. The price is right despite the location. I can't say enough good things!
Great food and service. Nice atmosphere for Vietnamese food. Perfect portion size for price point. Appetizers we're good and also available for different sizing.
John Goodman's Wokest Bae
+4.5
Ok so,
This place is pretty, pretty, good.
I had the spring rolls which are unique because they're deep fried in rice paper which gives them a super neat crunchy-chewy texture.
I also had the shrimp poppers or whatever they're called. They're pretty ok. They look like cute little tartelettes and are light on the palate.
The build-ya-own pho is great. I chose beef broth with steak and all the garnishes, jumbo size. The jumbo is disgustingly huge, like, I ordered it cause a previous review said it was small but they are just probably fat because I almost threw up after eating maybe 1/5th of it and let me tell you baby, I'm a strong independent woman who loves her pho. The rice noodles are super al denté, thin, good. The meat is tender and yummy too.
I only gave it 4.5 because my dining partner was like "I'd give pho song a 10 and this an 8." So I was all "really? I like this place better, pho song has dropped the last couple times we went I think." and he was all "yeah I guess."
So bam there ya have it.
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A worthy addition to the Edmonton pho scene. I've been dying to try it for weeks, and with Reading Week for University coming up I got to try it with a friend on a warm February Thursday afternoon. Entering, we were greeted and sat down. The restaurant was pretty empty, and I noted that they are still in their soft opening. As a result, right now they are giving a half green onion cake for purchases of $15 or more. Huzzah! Free green onion cake to sample.
My friend and ended up both ordering the Dragon Special pho,and split their Crepe! With that, we also ended up getting to sample their green onion cake. Their green onion cake was yummy. A bit crispy on the outside, soft on the inside, wow. Best green onion cake I've had in a while. Their crepe was good, but not the best. I found it not as crispy as could be, and left me feeling a bit underwhelmed. Their Dragon Special pho overall I enjoyed. Our bowls were filled to the brim, and for the price for a regular ($10) and jumbo ($14) it's not too bad. If you're just getting a pho bowl and are hungry, then get the jumbo. I got a regular since I was planning on eating elsewhere after and had an appetizer or two. Meat was tender, and I actually enjoyed the Dragon Ball that it comes with! I swear it's some kind of minced meatball, it reminded me a lot of eating pho when I was growing up so I enjoyed the nostalgia that came with it too. Broth was enjoyable and fresh, definitely one of the best I've had in Edmonton.
Service was a tad bit slow, but it is still a soft opening so it's understandable. I'll probably stop by from time to time for a good Whyte ave pho fix. All in all, recommended.
The broth that is used here in the pho is the best I have had in town. Other restaurants I have to add hoisin sauce to enhance the soup but not here! The poppers and crepe are also great and I have never had a chance to eat these cuisines before until now. I was told to also eat them with the lettuce. Look mom I'm eating my vegetables too!
Old Strathcona can welcome a new restaurant in their midst: Pho Boy Vietnamese Kitchen. The one-of-a-kind authentic kitchen is serving up classic Vietnamese dishes and is targeting a younger crowd with a home on Whyte Avenue. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the last two Vietnamese restaurants to open in Edmonton have a younger vibe to them. I’ve been looking forward to the “modernizing” trend ever since visiting The Pig and the Lady in Honolulu, Oahu, where Vietnamese subs are dipped into a small bowls of pho broth (think like a French dip) and where your standard bowl of pho is nowhere near you’re actual standard but you’re completely okay with it. I’m looking for a fresh take on nostalgic flavours and familiar smells. Pho Boy Vietnamese Kitchen is trying to do just that.
Suuupper friendly staff, awesome atmosphere and that dragon ball Pho is as mouth orgasm 🤤 literally the tastiest Pho I've ever had!! Get your Pho fix at Pho Boy!!
So to start, this place is in soft opening and so things are expected to change before the grand opening.
When I came at about noon, on a Thursday, the was empty. It was nice having the place to myself, but it kind of put a highlight on the slightly awkward, but incredibly nice, server. Definitely didn't detract from the experience for me.
I had the dragon special in regular size and I've got to say I'm impressed. To start with, I noticed some people complain about lack of noodles and meat in the soup, and I didn't experience that at all. My bowl was literally filled to the brim, and a less steady handed server would have spilled soup everywhere. But my man didn't. They packed in as much as they could without sacrificing any of the delicious broth, very delicious broth.
The prices are right in line with other pho places around. The service was incredibly fast, I was eating within 5 minutes of ordering. I seriously think this place is worth a look if you like pho and live in Edmonton.
We really enjoyed the atmosphere! Relaxed, cozy and a creative and a great place to bring friends or families. The food is full of authentic hearty flavours and I enjoyed the twists on some of the ingredients. Looking forward to the full menu and additional foods they will be rolling out! :) p.s. the broth is actually quite wunderbar...so.much.flavour and not a drop was left behind! The poppers are super tasty too! Gotta remember to roll them up in the greens/lettuce that comes with the dish. Fresh and delightful!
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I’m a sucker for Vietnamese cuisine, so with word that a new restaurant opened their doors claiming to bring authentic street eats to Edmonton, I’m all up for it. It’s on the less busier parts of Whyte, which made parking less of a pain. The room is quite narrow, but with a very cozy hipster vibe. Service overall was cringeworthy, from start to finish, awkward. We were the only ones in the restaurant around 2pm, and assuming he didn’t know what to do he would be back and forth from the till in the back and linger that extra long second at our table. Aside from the awkward server, atmosphere was nice and quiet.
Sizzling Poppers(Banh Khot) (3)($4.00) 5/5 These were fun to eat, essentially a mini savory pancake topped with shrimp pork and green onions. DELISH!
Sizzling Crepe ($7.00) ⅕ The one dish I was most excited for, turned out to be the least satisfying. The “sizzling” crepe was more of a mushy mess. No crispness on the outside and parts of the inside were like it was undercooked. Pass.
Dragon Special Pho Regular ($10.00) ⅘ The broth is phenomenal, elevated flavors you can taste from the first slurp. Hefty amount of noodles, and I was satisfied with the portion. The dragon special came with the essential proteins along with 1 “dragon ball” in my regular bowl ; which was the only thing that fell short. Lacked flavor, just a bland ball of meat floating in the magnificent soup. The bowl was overall great, I’d probably skip the special and just build my own next time.
Pho Boy is my new place to frequent to satisfy my pho cravings,they bring traditional dishes with a millennial twist which is very refreshing to see. This visit was during their soft opening therefore I am fully aware that they are still doing improvements as they are very open with receiving constructive criticism! The broth is the part that is going to keep me coming back to this great new addition to Old Strathcona.
One of the latest eateries that I've gone to is Pho Boy, which replaced B's Diner off Whyte Ave (and which I still dearly miss btw - remember those ramen burgers?). I normally don't prefer to go to pho places but when I saw on their Instagram that they served banh xeo, I knew I had to stop by. . I checked it out during their soft opening week. I would describe this place as a hipster pho eatery with a cozy vibe. I really liked the interior of it, from their rice hat inspired lights to the beautiful scenic mural on one of their walls.
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I have been waiting for this place to open up again from their holiday closure, and Boy was I very eager to try this new joint in town. Oh Pho Boy did they satisfy my quench for a nice hot bowl of pho. I had just gotten off the plane from Vancouver and was complaining all weekend about how Edmonton lacked a real good authentic pho place, one that I could be up to visiting once a week. My taste buds had just spent five days savoring all the best Vancouver had to offer, and Boy did I need to find a suitable transition. Before you order the bowl of Pho, their Banh Khot, (rice popperss) is a must try, bits of pork and shrimp on perfectly charred moist rice flour pancake. The bowl of super Pho came out with a generous amount of broth, rich and very flavourful, you could tell from the color of the broth that they did not cheapen out on the amount of bones they used to get that consistency in flavor. It could have used a tad bit more pho noodles, but other than that I was extremely satisfied and thought to myself that we are slowly,but surely getting there, to Vancouver standards and I wouldn't have to depend on flying miles to find a nice bowl of Pho in the city. Cheers to great eats...
This restaurant is a nice little hidden gem of Edmonton. Great and quick service, with a good selection of veggie and vegan options. The dine-in area is a bit dark and cold in the winter so I would suggest to do take-outs if you're planning to order it during winter time. The Hero's Feast comes with a generous portion and it is delicious (and it comes with their yummy crispy Legend rolls)! The pho was a bit small for a regular size (than other pho restaurants in Edmonton) and the broth needs a bit more flavour. Appetizers selections are a little pricy for the portion but otherwise it was ok. I would definitely come back to try other things in the menu!
We enjoyed our lunch on their cute patio. The service was great and super friendly. They also have free parking for their customers. You cannot sit inside at the moment. We had golden phoenix vermicelli as well as the paradise vermicelli with a side of spring rolls. They have vegetarian (vegan?) nuoc mam sauce. The portions were great, everything was fresh. I really enjoyed the mint in the vermicelli salad, it gives that extra freshness and authenticity taste. The chicken was really good too.
Ordered the Hero's Feast, green onion cake and veggie spring rolls. All I can say is: Amazing. The spring rolls are clearly house-made and fried to perfection. Pho Boy hit it out of the park. One thing to mention is that their prices on the website haven't been updated so my bill was a bit higher than expected. That said, I will definitely be going back!
Awesome food with a great vibe inside. Good chill music. Fast and friendly service.
I really like how they have a vegan pho option, for the days I need a hot noodle soup but need to keep it light. The vegan satay broth is amazing.
Some of the best Pho in Edmonton. Both their Pho and vermicelli are fantastic, and their spring rolls, or legend rolls as they call them, and literally the best I've had. They are unlike any other spring rolls I've every had, they weirded me out when they first arrived as they really are quite different, however one bite and I was addicted.
Just spectacular! Broth makes or breaks pho, and they have clearly killed it. The broth is to die for!!! Spring roles are so delicious also. So dang crunchy and so much flavour. The atmosphere is also so amazing, perfect little date spot!! Will make this my go to pho place
Everything here is fantastic. In my opinion, one of the best locations for green onion cakes too! Plenty of sauce and extra green onions on top!
The Pho was fairly standard, their option to customize your Pho is a something new but very welcome for Vietnamese places. Portion size for the Pho was a tad small. The vermicelli was great! Everything here is a bit pricier than other Vietnamese places in the city. I'd definitely give it a try.
Great family-owned restaurant tucked away in Whyte Ave. Really amazing Pho selections, including a Build-your-own pho menu ! Pho came out excellent and tasty. Loved the Kimchi here as well (the best I've had in the city so far). Will definitely be back !
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