Pho68: Classic Vietnamese eats in Burnaby

Pho68 just opened in Burnaby and we decided to go check them out as they had a special 15% off for the whole month of January to celebrate their opening.

This review is based on an in-dining experience.

Interior

It’s a medium-sized restaurant and can seat many people even with spaced out tables. I thought the interior was quite cute and colourful. Chairs were comfortable and all staff were wearing masks during service.

It’s not a romantic restaurant, but a casual one you’d like to go with your friends for a late night meal.

Food

We order way too much food in order to try a little bit of everything.

Vietnamese coffee with condensed milk ($5)

You can order this hot or with ice for the same price. Be careful! The coffee is strong and can definitely keep you up all night.

Deep fried wings ($13)

I almost forgot how good wings are from Vietnamese restaurants. They are deep fried and the best part is the garlic pepper seasoning it comes with. You dip the chicken wing in and let all that delicious MSG powder coat your chicken wing before you eat it.

We order the full version which as 10 pieces.

Roll combo ($8)

This is my favourite combo for a snack because it includes all 3 spring rolls – shrimp salad spring roll, pork roll, deep fried spring roll. It is served with peanut sauce and fish sauce.

All 3 of them taste exactly how I expected them to taste. Of course, my favourite is the deep fried spring roll hehehe.

Banh mi ga nuong ($7)

We order the lemongrass chicken banh mi, which is like a sandwich/sub, but we cannot finish it so we saved it for lunch the next day.

The banh mi is pretty big and decent. I like the bread they used, it’s not too crunchy/falls apart. The chicken inside had a darker red colour than I’m used to, but the taste was fine.

Pho dac biet ($12)

This is the house special noodle soup with steak , brisket, tendon, tripe, fatty flank and beef ball – Served with beansprout, lime, green chili and basil.

My friend mentioned that his noodles tasted slightly overcooked and the broth wasn’t as rich as some of the other places he’s been to.

 Pho nam bo vien ($12)

This is the noodle soup with brisket and beef balls – Served with beansprout, lime, green chili and basil. Again, I was told the noodles are slightly overcooked and similar feedback on the broth.

Mi seafood ($12)

I decide to go with something a little different. I choose the mi seafood from their egg noodle selection. It has egg noodle soup with seafood and veggie – Served with beansprout, lime, green chili and basil.

I originally expected a dry noodle dish with egg noodles, but I realized after that it is soup-based. The soup broth is different from the pho noodles and had a better flavour (in my opinion). However, the overall dish reminded me of wonton noodles and so I feel like if you’re going to try an egg noodle dish, you should choose the wonton one instead.

Final thoughts

Loewe’s rating: ⭐⭐

After trying a bunch of different items, I had the feeling that Pho68 is very similar to Pho99 in Coquitlam (if you’ve ever been there). The menu and taste are very similar.

Pho68 is a convenient place for a quick and classic Vietnamese dish, but it won’t have modern menu items like The Viet Noodle Guy or Do Chay. Compared to some of their more modern/fusion competitors, I find Pho68 to be quite average but a nice and convenient addition to Burnaby.

Sincerely, Loewe