Haaaater-aid...
We're all entitled to our own opinions but I am surprised at some of the negative reviews. Â If you want super authentic Vietnamese food, you probably shouldn't be getting it anywhere near Richfield. Â I'm just saying!
My wife and I live to eat and frequent this place. Â It is a great neighborhood joint and we love supporting family businesses. Â Like at any restaurant, figure out what's good, make sure the restaurant is consistent, and stick with it. Â
If you go, and you should, order the spicy chicken combo A. Â The spicy chicken is pretty much amazing and you have to hate fried food, and anything that tastes good if you can find fault in Vina's eggrolls-they are the best that I have ever had in my life. Â
Service has always been friendly and attentive. Â
There's good reason this place has been around for so long. Â For all you haters, remember that you live in Minnesota and that you're not a big deal. Â Get over yourself. Â Bon appetit.
Food Â
I ordered 5 dishes because of the <a href="/redir?url=http%3A%2F%2FRestaurant.com&s=0aab4cbd731f3d3b0d1453050d3abc56a8c80bd214e25469c7555b750dca8a51" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://Restaurant.com</a> voucher. I could make any of those 5 dishes better than them. Very sad
Chicken pho tastes like sweet broth with slices of a whole chicken breast and tons of scallion. The only condiment was bean sprouts. This is smallest ingredients I have ever seen in a bowl of pho. If a restaurant is able to pull it off with the least amount of ingredients and still taste awesome, then by all means do it. This pho lacks the pho flavor. It tastes like bland soup
Egg are huge here, but they could have made it into a regular size eggroll and add more flavor into it with dry mushroom and bean thread noodles.
Rice were made with just a bit too much water so it's sticky
The com (rice) dish did not come with a coat of scallion and oil as it should
Shrimp curry tastes like they only use the curry powder rather than both the curry powder and the liquid mix. And they should have cook it with some chicken broth
The stir fry dish tastes bland.
Location & Parking
It's easy to find at the corner and lots of parking
Settings Â
The setting is not memorable
Service
The service was polite, but missed a few key points. I didn't get water and they forgot about it even though the place was not busy.
Price
For an average size of good pho I usually pay $8. Vina Restaurant costs more and missed a lot of ingredients from a typical pho. So for me, this is way over priced
Verdict
Will not go back even if you pay me. I ended up re-seasoning everything I brought home.
I really wanted to love this place, because it has that cute, hole-in-the-wall feel to it, and the server was nice.
But...I didn't really love it. Went into the place on a whim, after deciding Leeann Chin was too boring for us.
This place did have good chicken spring rolls, though all that was in them was chicken, iceberg lettuce, and bean sprouts. I ordered the ginger chicken, and while the portion was big enough to share with my fiance, the flavor was not so big.
As many others mentioned, the menu is mostly Americanized Chinese, not Vietnamese. If you are craving good Vietnamese, I recommend Quangs!
I did notice that that place stayed pretty busy- so this must fit the bill for someone out there!?