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    Ben Thanh Restaurant

    2.4 (41 reviews)
    ModerateVietnamese, Thai
    Closed 11:00 am - 9:00 pm

    Ben Thanh Restaurant Photos

    Business Info

    BEN THANH RESTAURANT ATMOSPHERE

    What's the vibe?
    Moderate noise
    Classy
    Good for groups
    Good for kids

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    Recommended Reviews - Ben Thanh Restaurant

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    Vietnamese crispy spring rolls
    Ray B.

    Haven't had pho for quite a while due to COVID as I just couldn't see getting it for take out. As things have relaxed somewhat, I decided to stop in to Ben Thanh for a bowl. Ordered the rare beef with tendon pho with some crispy Vietnamese spring rolls as an appetizer. The spring rolls were a bit oily, could have been drained for a bit before sending out. As for the pho, it's probably the worst bowl of pho I've ever had. The cook has no Idea what he's/she's doing. Takes a dry cake of banh pho noodles puts them in a bowl with the beef and pours the broth over to cook the whole lot. The soup came out with the noodles still hard on the bottom in a clump with the "rare" beef cooked like leather. There was so much in the way of noodles they sucked up all the broth and made it cold before serving. When Inquired as to the soup having no broth I was told maybe next time I should order less noodles. I indicated that their likely wouldn't be a next time. I would usually order a taro bubble tea to go, but as they couldn't make a bowl of pho, I didn't think they would be able to make a taro bubble tea. So wouldn't recommend and not likely to return. Oh yea just an FYI they don't serve complimentary tea anymore.

    Mango slush bubble tea. Had very little mango flavour, and tasted soapy.
    Melissa S.

    The food here is average. Their rice plates are not very authentic tasting and are slightly oily. Their pho is pretty good, but are on the pricey side compared to other Vietnamese restaurants. Their crispy chicken wing appetizers don't taste like they are seasoned AT ALL so you really need the sweet chilli sauce, which they usually forget to give you. I ordered the mango bubble tea, which had very little mango flavour and tasted almost soapy. The servers here are nice, but lack training. They constantly bring the wrong dishes over and mix up my orders. Overall I wouldn't come here for authentic tasting Vietnamese food, but I've had worse.

    A nice cozy restaurant

    Nice ambience. More upscale than other Vietnamese restaurants. They also serve Thai. One of the best options in Guelph, I think. I quite enjoyed the seafood noodle soup. Very tasty. I think their large is more usually referred to as a medium. No matter, I was full afterwards. We also ordered the fried ramen noodles with seafood. A tad greasy. Still, my Dad while not a connoisseur of Vietnamese food seemed to enjoy them. They served hot tea in large mugs which was a nice change. I would have given them four stars if I weren't sitting next to a tower of foam take-out containers and plastic bags. So typical of Asian restaurants, indeed too many others --absolutely no regard for the environment. Ugh! So if you're going to eat here, we'd recommend eat-in!

    Pho special 101 - small size
    Susan V.

    Lots of selection here with a menu that ranges from Vietnamese cuisine (pho, vermicelli) to your Thai dishes (pad Thai, curries) and even some Chinese choices (congee, fried rice). We came here overwhelmed with what to order and made a point to come back to try more. The prices are very reasonable although the pho is a bit pricier compared to the average Vietnamese restaurant. Ordered the pho special which comes with a bit of every meat. The soup was lukewarm at best and a little bland. Despite ordering the small, there was plenty of noodles and meat although I wished I had gotten a full beef ball instead of half. Unlike traditional Vietnamese restaurants, they provide a dish of hot sauce and hoisin sauce for your dipping needs. Overall, the pho was mediocre. Vermicelli dish was well worth it in my opinion. Very filling and the spring rolls were good with the perfect crunch. Spring rolls as an appetizer comes in two and they provide lettuce and pickled vegetables with it if you prefer to wrap the spring rolls instead of eating as is. Also got the summer rolls to start and these weren't bad. The peanut/hoisin sauce it comes with however was really thick and not very good. They also offer a large selection of drinks and not just your typical bubble tea. Grass jelly with basil seeds was so good and perfect for the hot weather. Some hits and misses but due to the large variety they offer, that's to be expected. Would come back though as there's some stuff you can't really find in Guelph.

    Nicky B.

    Had the Vietnamese Spring rolls, Melon Bubble tea, and a Beef Pho Bowl. Always get the XL and take it home. Great consistent meals. Disappointed they have stopped providing small plates for you to eat your apps on. Service is quick, bathrooms are clean. Seating is comfortable. Love that they separate your noodles from your broth to take home. Will be back!

    Braised beef ramen (bad quality photo)
    Jeff G.

    I am frankly pretty disappointed with this place. Their typical vietnamese food (Pho, Vermicelli, rice wraps) is okay, but they have delved too deep into the cuisines of other parts of Asia. They have made a huge mistake in trying to provide all of this variety. Chinese, Japanese and Thai are just a few more types of food they offer. This isn't a terrible thing right off the bat, but what does make it terrible is the fact that they can't do any of it well! Coming from Markham, I have a lot of experience eating at great restaurants, each of which specializes in food from a certain part of Asia. I grew up on all of these foods, so I do know how they should taste. Anyways, lets get into it... This was my first time back here after a while and if I remember correctly, there wasn't a "Ramen" section before. Price wise, they are average for ramen @ around $9-$11 for a bowl. Looking through the choices, it is clear that what they serve is, in fact, not ramen at all...Bok choy, lamb skewers, stewed beef...all of the things they add in are not what you would EVER see in traditional ramen. I was so disappointed with the ramen. The noodles were all sticking together and they were very starchy. The broth was good at first, but very quickly I realized how incredibly salty it was. Though the beef was tender, it was just not what someone wants when they are ordering "Ramen". Even down to the egg, which was completely hardboiled, it was terrible. What I want when I look for ramen is an actual ramen broth (Shio, Shoyu, Tonkotsu), noodles that have a nice bite, thin slices of marbled pork and a soft boiled egg. IF YOU ORDER THIS RAMEN, please know that it is not authentic in any way. Next was the Dim sum. We got a couple of the classics like steamed chicken claws ($4.45) and Steam mince pork dumplings (~6/$4.99). Now the chicken claws were not too bad. They were quite fleshy and the sauce was pretty much on point. This shouldn't be too hard, because you can literally buy the sauce from the grocery..I'm not saying they do this, but I am saying that it shouldn't be too hard to handle. All they needed to do was cook the chicken feet correctly, which they did. The dumplings are another story. They were absolutely terrible. I believe they were trying to emulate the ever popular Xiao long bao. Usually, this dumpling is soft, and filled with soup making the meat juicy; it's an absolutely blissful dumpling. The "Siu lung pao" that they serve here is nothing like this. The dough wrap was very dry and unpleasant as if they were baked instead of steamed. The inside of the dumping was not juicy, nor was it tasty. It tasted like someone put plain ground pork in a pan, cooked it, and made it into a dumpling. Incredibly disappointing dumpling. Ben Thanh is supposed to be a VIETNAMESE restaurant but somewhere along the line, they have lost their identity. In my books, they have made a huge mistake going into all sorts of other cuisines. Ben Thanh, if I was in a position to have advised you earlier, I would have said to stay away from anything other than Vietnamese. You have now become the proverbial jack of all trades, but master of none- including your vietnamese food. I am always fair in my reviews and I take everything into account. As a matter of fact, the reason this place even gets two stars is because the staff were nice and the atmosphere is somewhat upscale. It is just unfortunate that the food they serve is so sub-par. If you know and enjoy authentic asian cuisine, you will not fancy Ben Thanh. It is simply terrible food--

    the interior of a restaurant

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    10 years ago

    Great food. Nice decor. Like the other Ben Thanhs in the GTA. Nice to have Asian in Guelph!

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    Chao Bistro - Green dining room in the interior of Chao Bistro

    Chao Bistro

    4.4(5 reviews)
    1.3 km

    I recently discovered Chao Bistro while enjoying some fresh rolls at Guelph's Multicultural…read moreFestival and was told to check out their restaurant on Elmira Road! Their place was a little hard to locate, considering it was all the way deep into a parking lot plaza and surrounded by company stores, but you know what they say, sometimes you can find a diamond in the rough. Here's my overall rundown: Food: I got the Pho (beef noodle soup) which came with rare beef, beef flank, and beef balls! This was prepared extremely fast and came with a side of bean sprouts, basil, and lime. The broth was rich and probably one of the best pho I've had in Guelph, besides my mom's cooking of course. Normally I add a lot of hoisin sauce into my broth, to add more flavour, but I didn't need it with this pho and only added sriracha. My mom ordered Hue style beef and pork noodle soup which was like a spicy pho broth. The flavours were there but not as flavourful as the pho! The server did however give us some fish paste in case we wanted to make it a little saltier to our liking! To top it all off, we were advised to get their milk tea which comes with homemade tapioca pearls for an additional 50 cents. We opted for the milk black tea but with less sugar because we're not fans of overly sweet drinks. The drink itself tasted great except it was a tad too sweet despite the sugar reduction. I couldn't imagine something being more sweet if it was normal sweetness! The tapioca pearls were interesting as it was an oblong shape rather than the typical spherical shapes you see in chain store pearls. Regardless, it tasted alright and definitely better than Chatime (a popular bubble tea chain) pearls, but not the best I've had! Atmosphere: It has this home-y family restaurant vibe and the servers make you feel at peace as they're pretty knowledgeable with their food and since they just opened, are receptive to your feedback for the food. There's about 10-15 tables and seating in the main serving area, as well as a separate open green room for additional sitting. Perfect for lunch or dinner with the family or friends. Service: Food came out very fast and the servers were attentive to your needs. They took the time to talk with customers and ask for your opinion about the food since they're new. Their location isn't the most optimal, which may affect business, and it's always hard to run a business if you're new. When we finished, the chef asked us to spread the word about their restaurant and you can see just how passionate the chef was for cooking. Made us wanting to come back for more to support them! Price: We paid $9.95 for the pho + an additional $2 for an upgrade to a large size. The Hue style soup was $10.95 and came in only one size. The milk tea turned out to be $4.50 for the large and $0.50 for the tapioca pearl toppings. It was pretty filling for everything and I'd recommend not upsizing the pho because this was A LOT for lunch! Verdict: Honestly, the food here was better than most Vietnamese places in Guelph as there's not much of a selection in the city. It's a shame that the location isn't ideal and lies deep within a parking lot plaza but I hope to come back here and see this business grow as there's lots of potential! Giving this a 4 star rating because there is definitely some work that needs to be done with their milk tea and pearls and their Hue style soup. I can also see their service getting a little impeded the more customers there were, but the individual moments we had with the servers more than makes up for that. Definitely come and support this business if you can!

    Love love this place. Great alternative to the other viet restos in Guelph. The BBT milk tea is…read morereally good here! And the sizzling hot plate was solid choice as well. Get the bagguette version. Service was good. Its just poorly located in the very back of an industrial plaza. Doesnt bother me. I will keep coming! 5 stars *****

    Photos
    Chao Bistro - Milk black tea large size with tapioca pearl topping added -$4.50+ $.0.50 toppings.

    Milk black tea large size with tapioca pearl topping added -$4.50+ $.0.50 toppings.

    Chao Bistro - Chao Bistro Spicy Beef Salad.. add rice and fried egg... #wow #VietFusion #foodporn #delicious

    Chao Bistro Spicy Beef Salad.. add rice and fried egg... #wow #VietFusion #foodporn #delicious

    Chao Bistro - Interior and serving area of Chao Bistro, which is home to the first in-house made tapioca for bubble tea in Guelph.

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    Interior and serving area of Chao Bistro, which is home to the first in-house made tapioca for bubble tea in Guelph.

    Ben Thanh Restaurant - vietnamese - Updated May 2026

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