TOA Vietnamese Cuisine

It was mid afternoon close to 3 when I decided to stop in and get something to go. There were a few staff sitting at a table eating and a view of the front so they asked if it was for one. I said I wanted to get take out and one of them brought me a menu. They had the usual Vietnamese food with phở and vermicelli bowls. Since it was a late lunch and soon to be dinner time, I decided to get the 3 shrimp salad rolls for $ 7. The woman assumed I was paying by card and gave me the machine. I asked her how long it would be and she said 10 minutes so I decided to come back.
It wasn’t quite 10 minutes and she a bag with a container waiting for me. The rolls came with the peanut sauce and some hot sauce on one side. I scooped more of the peanut sauce onto the rolls and devoured them. There was the typical shrimp cut in half and about 3 or 4 pieces in each roll. They were ok, nothing special but satisfied my hunger. Next time would like to try a soup or noodle bowl.

Don’t come here if you’re expecting good service. The servers are almost terrifying. Expect it to be very busy at lunch time.
In terms of the phở I had, it was probably one of the best phos I’ve had in Calgary and Edmonton. They give lots of meat and the broth is tasty.

One of the best Vietnamese restaurant in Calgary. The place, food and staff are great. deserves a visit.

Good food, terrible service.
I would not recommend visiting with a group of six people or more. An automatic 15% gratuity is added to large groups, and the staff seem to have problems with basic arithmetic when it comes to splitting the check — my $ 4.65 coffee came out to $ 7.25 when the tip was added. I told the cashier this was unacceptable and she argued that I should pay ¹⁄₆ of the group’s tip instead of 15% on top of what I actually ordered. She then cursed me out to another employee in Vietnamese.

This place is a good average when it comes to taste and atmosphere.
Their servers have no personality and are only concerned with rushing orders out. They nearly crashed into each other three times while we were eating.
As well, they charged a tip on out bills without disclosing it. Our entire group of six gave an undeserved double tip. Watch out!

I came here for lunch during the workweek. Was advised that it was so busy we would need a reservation. I called in that morning (10:15) for an 11:30, and had no problem once we arrived (although it WAS very busy and many people who did not call ahead had to wait). Service was QUICK (under 5 minutes). The food was good, but I wasn’t WOWed. I got #18 (vermicelli with satay chicken and spring rolls) and the portion was spot-​on for lunch. Average price seemed to be between $ 11 – 14. Service was decent — ordered quickly, food came quickly, and bill came about the right time — but no refills on water.

I wasn’t wowed by the food or the service. I know other nice Vietnamese restaurants that I can have an equally decent meal for a lot less.
The place is surprisingly busy so make a reservation on weekdays

Good food, but the service could be a bit faster though ;that’s not to say that the service staff weren’t friendly.

Worst service ever! Don’t even think about getting a table if you are alone or small party in lunch time. They will seat bigger group first.
I was there alone about 10 mins before 12 pm, I saw there were at least 3 – 4 empty tables. No one approached and greeted to me (which was expected and didn’t mind). After I was standing there about 2 – 3 mins, I asked a guy (looks like manager or some sort) for table. By this time, there are a few more people waiting behind me. And this guy didn’t even say a word to me, just a hand gesture — seems he wanted me to wait. Then he asked other people how many they were, gave a table to largest party among those who were waiting. This happened a couple of more times, now restaurant was full.
After a few mins later, I asked again, but ignorance this time. There was a young guy (looks like a server, I think he felt sorry for me) asked me if I wanted to get a take out. Then I walked out right away.
I was in Calgary for a business trip and tried to have a quick lunch near by a meeting location. I rarely write a review unless there is something I feel I really need to share… I’m still mad when I’m thinking about that moment.

I’ll never know if it is any good or not, to be honest. We had a 12:00 reservation to meet some friends for lunch. At 12:20 there were still at least 10 people in line with noon reservations, and the «boss» (other employees referred to him as such) was just randomly seating people from line. At least four other parties who arrived after us were seated before we finally got tired of being chumps and left.
The place was full when we arrived, obviously a reservation means nothing to this business.

I came here for a quick business lunch just before the Christmas season. We didn’t make reservations, and got there at 11:30am, and it was not too busy. But by 12pm, there was a small wait for a table, so I’d recommend going a little earlier that 12pm if you’re thinking of coming here for a business lunch.
The service was pretty efficient, as soon as we ordered, they preset the tables and our food was out less than 10 minutes after. I don’t think communication is necessarily the easiest here, but they were friendly enough. They gave me the wrong order, but they were quick to fix it.
The spring rolls were crispy and hot and the food was tasty. The prices are very reasonable, and they don’t serve any of the wraps during the lunch hour.

I work 2 blocks from here and all I have to choose from is iPho and this place. The 3 stars is probably because iPho is a 2 stars.
The food wasn’t bad. The place is cramped at lunch so it’s impossible to enjoy your food when you’re rubbing elbows with another dude. I get kicks listening in someone else’s conversation about their workday. Ok back to the food. The staff are all Vietnamese. The front had incense and the place reeks of beef noodle soup. All good signs. But it’s average food and not really much to talk about other than it’s better than the food served in our building.

I agree, it’s on the pricey side but the place is clean and the food hits the spot. I had the rare beef noodle soup, and I have to admit that I did whine about the price — «$ 10 for phở is highway robbery!», but then the steaming vat of soup was placed in front of me and I can understand why it’s $ 10. Easily 2 meals in that bowl. Comes with the ususal: basil, sprouts, lime and a chili. I do my phở up with whatever they give me, and I have to say I really liked the broth that this place has. It was nice and clean, I hate when there is a ton of grease floating on top of my phở. I have to add, I did not take away my leftovers and when lunch hit the next day I was kicking myself!

It was a toss up today between Toa and sushi. For me, Vietnamese wins every time so I won the ‘coin toss’ so to speak. We arrived at 1130am, early by lunchtime downtown standards, beat the rush and was able to get a table for 2 despite not having a reso (had never been here before). The waiter was curt, professional and to the point. My friend and I each had a vermicelli bowl — wow, may have been one of the best I have ever had!!! My particular special #22 came with a free, fresh shrimp roll. YUMMY! The peanut sauce with a touch of spice was fantastic! The bowl itself has the finest, freshest noodles and came with a skewer of grilled shrimp (3), charbroiled chicken and crispy spring rolls. Cooked to perfection. I brought half of it home, ate it when I GOT HOME and wish I had more now, hours later! My friend loved her bowl too. The place was PACKED by 1pm. Maybe resos are a good idea and will remember this for the future. I can guaratee 100% I will be back and did not mind paying $ 13 per bowl whatsoever.

Good taste and service.
Food was served quickly.
A little expensive for the food.

Food: 2.5÷5
Atmosphere: ⁴⁄₅
Service: ³⁄₅
Overall experience: ³⁄₅
(1– Terrible; 3– decent; 5– Fantastic)
I’ve been here twice and both times it was a ‘meh’ experience, I’ve definitely had better around Calgary and for cheaper. The only thing TOA has got going for it is its décor. It is an upscale Vietnamese restaurant with a clean, crisp look and several tables to accommodate the busy downtown lunch crowd.
The service was okay — my second time here was after the lunch rush so it wasn’t very busy yet they weren’t really attentive enough. As we ate, they didn’t really come by check up on us, and took them awhile to notice that our glasses had to refilled with water (my bf ended up drinking mine). Only nice thing is that the food came out out fast especially if you’re looking for a quick lunch.
The food here is a bit pricey, a bowl of phở/​vermicelli is about $ 10 but i guess it’s what you expect for downtown. The portion size was decent but for the price it is definitely not worth it. My bf got the rare done beef and brisket phở and I got the rare done beef phở. The broth was not bad, but the flavors could have been stronger with longer simmering; got thirsty after about an hour though. There were only a couple pieces of meat which was overcooked (rare my butt) and small. My bf couldn’t even find a single piece of brisket in his.
I also tried their satay beef sub which I found to be pretty tasty, but had too much bread to filling ratio and not enough toppings/​veggies as I would have liked. Still I found it a tad pricey for what I was getting.
Overall, TOA Vietnamese Restaurant is sub-​par and I wouldn’t come back or take someone here for Vietnamese food.

Hmmm, I don’t know lots about Phở. My boss, whose wife is Vietnamese apparently does, and recommended this spot as one of his go-​to places in the downtown. So ethnic recommendation by proxy. Should be a go right?
Ehhhh, I don’t know about TOA. The staff and service are actually quite good. I disagree with the below reviewer, and indeed, I am quite confused by comments. The staff was attentive and friendly, our orders were promptly brought out to us in under 5 minutes (as it should be with Phở).
The servings were adequate. I had the #42 which is just egg noodle soup with shrimp, chicken, and crab sticks. There were 3 shrimps, 4 crab sticks and adequate amounts of shredded chicken breath in the broth, as well as half dozen stalks of broccoli and cauliflower. The ratio between broth and ingredients was ok.
Basically, as far as I could tell, just a standard Vietnamese soup joint where lawyers from the courthouse or local office workers could come grab a quick bowl of soup. Nothing special.
The real drawback to this place is the relative price. I end up with a so-​so experience, I want to pay so-​so prices! Normally a bowl of Phở will throw you back $ 7 – 9, at TOA it’s $ 11 – 14. No excuses. Not going back.

Good broth for a cold day. But for some reason, all warm liquids in Calgary are 150 °F in temp! We had to wait until it was cool enough to enjoy. The satay beef is quite good and juicy. Flank steak wrapped around a lemon grass. But even all of the food comes to the whole of the sum. Waitstaff stink. They aren’t watching the patrons as much as they should. Sure, they are cute, but I could get some cup o’ noodles and head over to French Maid if I wanted to…

I ordered no. 31 — Rare Done Beef Noodle Soup with Beef Balls. It came with a plate of bean sprouts and mint leaves, no fresh chili and a little bowl of hoisin sauce and chilli sauce. The soup broth was not too bad. I’m not as thirsty as of yet and I just ate there about an hour ago. That’s a good sign. The beef was a little too cooked for me as I expected it to be rare as the menu suggests. The beef balls were cut up to smaller chunks. I would say there was a total of maybe 2 beef balls sitting in my soup.
What I don’t like as well is the price — a bit steep — $ 10 for a bowl of Beef noodle soup!
My 2 friends had pork chop with rice and one said it wasn’t enough meat on the pork chop; the other said the rice was dry.
So, I only gave the restaurant 2 stars. It’s so-​so but I wouldn’t go back unless all the noodle soups in my end of town dried up and that’s a fact!