Come enjoy an appetizing dish at Ben Thanh Restaurant. They are open after-hours all week. You can get there by bicycle and public transit. They are established in a location packed with restaurants, stores and coffee shops.
The service was absolutely HORRIBLE. We ordered three large Pho and got extremely little broth. When we asked if we could get more broth, the owner was very rude about it. This is exactly what she said (more like yelled): NONONONONO, you cant get broth only, next time you order, ask for half of the noodles.... what is the point of paying for a large if we have to order half of the noodles? The experience, sanitation, and taste cannot get worse. I advise everyone to save your $ and not go here.
Pad Thai sauce made with ketchup ... GROSS!!! Our meal taste like ketchup, franks red hot sauce and over cooked mushy rice noodles. When we advised we were not pleased and neither of us could eat our meal the restaurant gave us each a 10% discount on our uneaten meals which turned out to be $1.80 - not a good impression for 1st time visitors to your restaurant.
FOOD- Pad Thai was not authentic as it was a plate of noodles smothered in an over sweet tangy ketchup sauce with chicken and squid. I asked for the squid to be removed and that was not possible! The Pad Thai should be brown if it is authentic and real not served with artificial colouring.
SERVICE- Not acceptable nor professional. The waitress was rude when asking about menu selections. Became beligerant and started yelling at me when I explained this Pad Thai was the worst I ever had. She said "every customer order this" and that they like it. I explained it tasted of ketchup and could not eat this. Instead she only offered to re-make it. Upon return it was the same soppy noodles with ketchup sauce. Thank God my hubby is a nice guy and managed to eat his despite my efforts to vow never eating there again.
DECOR- Simple and dark colour''s making it difficult to see the food you have ordered!
I went to Pho Ben Thanh at the London, ON location on the evening of May 30th, 2012 with my boyfriend for dinner. What a mistake! We had the most UNACCEPTABLE experience there ever. I am not one to complain nor have I ever wrote a “review” for anything however this experience leaves me so flabbergasted I couldn’t help but try to make others aware of the HORRIFIC customer service there.
I have had pad thai from many other restaurants in the area with great enjoyment. When I was presented with the one from Pho Ben Thanh I was overcome with great disappointment. I calmly informed my server that I didn’t like the pad thai at which point she started to verbally attack me in a loud voice in the middle of the restaurant for all to hear stating repeatedly that there are so many other people in the restaurant who order this dish and I am the only one who is complaining. It was made obvious to me it was ‘my fault’ I didn’t like this dish. I calmly asked if she would be able to return this dish so I could order something else instead since I didn’t like it. She continued to speak in a loud and disrespectful voice for all in the restaurant to hear that she cannot do that because she would get in trouble by the management and be made to pay for my returned dish herself. I asked her then if I could speak with the management and was told they weren’t present. I asked if I could leave my phone number for them to contact me with at their convenience and was declined my ability to do so by the server. Becoming upset at this point I informed the server this was the worst customer service I have ever received and could not believe I was being treated and talked to in this manner in the middle of a restaurant. I didn’t care at this point if she had to pay for the dish herself or not after how she had been treating me so disrespectfully and I told her I was not going to be paying for this dish because I was not going to be eating it. She then informed me fine she would take the dish off my bill but again made it clear she would be punished for doing so and it would be coming out of her pay.
I am an owner of three independent businesses myself personally and am appalled that someone would show such disrespect towards a customer in a public way over something that is not their fault and that they were calmly bringing to a servers attention. I would never treat any customer that would walk into any of my businesses in any manner even remotely in the way I was being treated at this restaurant and if I found any of my employees doing this I would have them terminated immediately.
Unless you enjoy being verbally harassed loudly in public STAY AWAY from Pho Ben Thanh!!! I will be making it a point to spread this word publically in a variety of manners in hopes of saving someone else the humiliating experience I was made to endure at this restaurant.
I really really love Thai food and the first time I came to Ben Thanh I absolutely loved the food. It is actually a restaurant that holds a place in my heart as my husband and I had our first meal together, on his birthday here! However, the few times we have tried since has been absolutely flavourless and the tofu overcooked and tasting like rubber.
Very sad as we did love this restaurant very much but there are many other options in London that I would be willing to take the chance to test out.
I wouldn't reccommend this restaurant to anyone unless you don't want authentic Thai flavour...
I DO have to say though, they have probably the best fried won tons I've ever had in my life though, strangely enough. Oh so creamy and yummy... mmmm :)
Love this place, the food here just never fails to impress. My favorites are bbq pork rolls, vermicelli bowl with bbq pork, thai green curry with chicken and green beans, pad thai.
I have been coming to Ben Thanh for several years now and have usually enjoyed myself. A few weeks ago we decided to get a large crowd out from work (about 45 of us), so we preordered our meals 3 weeks in advance to try and make it easier for the staff. They only provided one waitress for the entire group (who I think was the owner), so it took ages to have the food brought out to us. People were still being served while others had finished eating. Then instead of starting to process bills while we ate, we had to all wait patiently in line to pay our bills. Each one of us was rudely reminded that the tip wasn't automatically included on our bill, and then we were asked to pay more than 15% - some of us had our tips waved back in our faces! With the poor service, she was lucky to have tips, but to have them questioned was extremely rude. They lost a lost of great customers that day.
Ok, So I took my wife out for Valentines Day, and we thought we should try something new. Well I am glad that we did. This place doesnt look the greatest from the outside, but its great past the front door. They started us with a nice hot pot of tea (it was great)... We got our food pretty quick, and it tasted fantastic!!! I will definatly be back again!!! Oh yeah, when I got the bill, I was very happy!! Two thumbs up.
I wouldn't really go back here if I had the choice, but many of my friends like this place.
I just know people who have worked here over the years, and the thought of the management taking the lions share of the servers tips just makes me sick to my stomach.
Onto the food, I've had better vietnamese food, but this place is pretty consistent in their food preparation.
They offer a pretty vast menu, but much of that is their drink selection.
The atmosphere is well lit and seems to be filled with the chatter of 20 somethings.
The service can be pretty slow, but I can attribute that to the servers having their life sucked out of them by the management.
Love it. Food is just as good as downtown, but the decor and ambiance are way better. Our server seemed a bit confused, but it was early on a monday night, so I think she was new.
Thursday night is our "Family Dine Out Night". We often go to Ben Thanh because we LOVE the food, the service, and the prices. The servers are attentive and friendly. The food is always delicious. And, we can afford to regularly eat out at prices like these.
When you are seated you are given a menu and a slip of paper and pencil. You go through the menu and write down the item number on the paper. When you are finished a server comes by and confirms your order and takes it to the kitchen. There is not a designated server for your table. All the servers serve all the tables so don't be surprised if two or three servers come by to ensure all is well.
The bathrooms are clean and easy to access. This is a consideration for us because one of us is slightly disabled and cannot do stairs well. My son and I always rate bathrooms at different establishments. It is our own little thing. And, we would give their bathrooms an 8 out of 10.
Back to the food: My husband always orders the 501 and 128 Medium size. He absolutely loves this soup. It is very spicy hot and super delicious. He cannot go for long without craving this soup and we need to go back. My son always gets the 510, 422B, 34, and 86. I alway order 510, and 303. My son and I sometimes vary it a bit, but not often. These are our favourites.
We have introduced many friends to Ben Thanh and they all love it and go back over and over again. We highly recommend this restaurant to everyone.
