Kim Penh Xe Lua Vietnamese and Cambodian Noodle House

Typical Vietnam/​Chinese interior lacking any ambiance, but that can be forgiven usually for delicious food. Unfortunately not the case here.
I ordered Hu Tieu Nam Vang (Nam Vang rice noodle soup) and the broth was the phở broth!
My bf ordered Wonton noodle soup and again they used the phở broth for both of us!
The soup was filled with MSG (monosodium glutamate). Omg this place is a joke!

This is my favorite Phở place. Sure, it’s not fancy, the décor is brutal, they don’t accept anything but cash (I usually attribute this to a good sign that it’s great Vietnamese food), but the fare is authentic, delicious, and solid.
I come here almost weekly. I was sooooo sad to hear the owner tell me that they need to find a new location as their landlord is selling the building, giving them a month’s notice and kicking all the businesses out.
I really hope they don’t relocate too far, because I will end up driving to wherever they end up.

This is my to go spot for phở when I am over the bridge. Their broth is tasty and service pretty good. They were always very accommodating if I came in with a stroller. To me, that’s an awesome service.
They have 3 different sizes for phở so if you are super hungry you can go for the extra large order of this yummy noodle.
What else can I say? Yummy phở and good service keeps me coming back for more.
Oh, their sub is yummy and such a good value at $ 3.75. But they only accept cash.

Sure it’s nothing fancy, the décor leaves something to be desired, and there is a pretty dingy atmosphere, but this is a favourite staple of mine. Most phở options around the $ 5 price range, served with fresh bean sprouts, mint, lime, and peppers. I usually order the veggie soup with an egg cracked into it, and my boyfriend usually orders the steak and flank phở. I would highly suggest the salad rolls and of course, spring rolls. I’ve tried other options from the menu, but nothing is quite as good as their phở. It’s also the best priced option as well.
In comparison with other phở restaurants I’ve been to in the area, this one is by far my favourite. You can’t beat the 24 hour, 7 days a week opening either.

Maybe I like a little honest dirt in my food. Or maybe it’s mind over matter.
Either way, don’t let the tacky, 24 hr vibe distract you from experiencing some mighty tasty dishes!
Curry chicken with rice — the curry was a shocker. Tremendous depth of flavour à la Banana Leaf (almost), my gold standard! Huge fan of the heaping pile of rice. Because delicious curry deserves enough rice to drink it all up!
Spring roll, grilled pork chop, shredded pork with vermicelli — marriage of all the good things in life: deep fried goodness, pork & more pork.
Grilled chicken with vermicelli — leaner protein, meaner marinade!
Noodles — phở is reliable. Whatever you do, don’t be sidetracked by yellow noodle anything.
Don’t knock this place til you’ve tried it. Trust me… and my (perfectly sober) judgment!

I’m not gonne lie, I actually like phở hoa better.
The broth had more taste to it and for a large there, you get much more.
It was the closest place to us as we had very few choices, but if you can, wander to Phở Hoa instead.

Saw a rat running around… Need I say more?

Decent phở with an interesting cinnamon and almost sweet taste. Had the Wonton Noodle soup here — good sized portion — and cheap.
It’s a good thing though, that most people eat the soups that you know turn over fast especially at the lunch rush. The back area and the washroom… well, let’s just say I’d skip over anything that wasn’t just freshly cooked.

The phở served here does have very good flavor but not plentiful in portions. More meat, more noodles… c’mon, 2 leaves of basil… puhleese!!! My visit was in the mid afternoon when it was not busy at all, but I had to wait 10 minutes to order. Good that my phở was brought to my table in half that time! The family style of seating is great for… well, large groups, but I still like the old seating style where I can snag atable for two at the window and people watch. Cash only…
The good side of the review? Again, the broth flavor is really good. The location is less than a minute walk from the Canada Line and in the middle of a lot of places that I needed to hit.
Yes, I will be back.

This jewel in a dive’s disguise eatery is oh so what a gal needs for a yummy pick me up. It’s a cash only place so come prepared!

24h phở is the shiz.
For those days when you have late night munchies on the West side of Vancouver, and feel that Denny’s is a little too greasy, this place is for you.
I swear, I see the same lady running the front counter regardless of what time of day I show up. Does she ever sleep?
The tables look like they’re lifted out of the 1970s with the pink and turquoise tones, and the overhead neon signs definitely don’t make the place less tacky. But it’s part of the charm. Oh, the fact that the tables are arranged basically into 3 looooong rows means you can easily bring 12 friends and still sit together.
The phở here is decent, but nothing special. But it gets the job done. I’ve had the white coffee, rice, phở, and noodles. Everything is bang on. And the place is inexpensive!
This place wouldn’t be the best place to bring a 1^st date, but if you and a bunch of your hungover friends need a place to watch the sun rise or ride out the alcohol, this place is for you.

I was quite disappointed in the food here. The portions in their soup was a lot smaller than most Vietnamese places. There was way too much noodles and not enough meat. Also the order took a long time, I’ve found that Vietnamese places serve their food fast, except for this place.
The 1 one good thing about this place is that its open 24 hours… If you’re looking for hot soup at 4am, then come here.

Great phở, reasonably priced, in a convenient location. Not the prettiest of restaurants, but when I come here I’m more focused on the food.
Cash only, which I always forget. At least there is a bank nearby.

This Phở restaurant has been my favorite since I came to Vancouver 6 years ago. This is probly because it reminds me of Toronto; fast, dirty and good friendly people. I love the soup here. I always order the vegetarian phở. Lame I know, but the broth becomes so tasty when the veggies sit for about 5mins. It’s also the only phở place i’ve been to that serves hot chilli oil with their phở. something I can’t be without.
New management took over this restaurant about 6 months ago and I have to say it hasn’t been the same since. Even though the broth (the essential component of good phở) is the same, the prices went slightly up, the servers were cold and the place is still a trash hole.
Despite this, I still return to my favorite phở place every week where I get to reminisce about Toronto days.

Background: Although I haven’t been to Vietnam, I have Phở cravings once in a blue moon and have a good idea of what’s out there in Van.
Food: The Phở itself is great. Soup is very MSG’d and if you’re sensitive, I don’t think this type of cuisine is for you at all. Cuts of meat are exactly as advertised — if you want tripe, you got it. I usually go for a mix of raw beef, fatty shank, and beef tendon. I usually douse the soup generously with chili oil, add about half a bowl of sprouts, and squeeze and immerse the lime. It’s above average phở. Their rice dishes are good and the meatball sub makes for a good snack.
Ambiance: This place looks pretty dirty. It’s marginally hygienic and I’d wash my hands before and after you eat. The neon lights really need to come down.
Service: You will never wait longer than 5 minutes to get your food, and not many places can boast this turnaround.
Pricepoint: $ 7 per person should be enough.
Overall: Good simple Viet food, open almost ²⁴⁄₇. Just don’t expect the cleanest surroundings.

Wow, I have no idea how this place has such a high ranking. I’ve scrolled through some of the previous reviews and I’m shocked to see that it has 5 star reviews?
Is it because the phở portions are large? Is it because it’s open 24 hours? While those two things are good, I’m not sure it really makes up for the other things.
When we first entered the place, I couldn’t help but notice the décor. The place is decked out in neon, head to toe (there’s neon rings on the ceiling!) and is rather dingy. I thought that the table we were sitting at was dirty but it turns out that it was so banged up that the paint had peeled off in some places.
I wasn’t feeling like phở that night so I decided to get a grilled chicken sub and my dining companion picked out a bún (grilled pork chop, spring roll on vermicelli).
My grilled chicken sub was rather lacklustre. It was a little too fatty and greasy and the bun didn’t taste very fresh. Strangely, the cucumber that accompanied it was cut really large… it was bigger than the pieces of chicken! It seemed more like a cucumber sandwich to me.
And what about the bún? I stole a bite of grilled pork chop and was disappointed. The flavouring was really strong which made us feel like it was trying to cover the fact that the meat wasn’t very good. There were tons of vermicelli noodles which made me feel like this meal was more about quantity than quality.
While we were there, we noticed a few other tables who were eating phở and they seemed to be enjoying it. Perhaps this place is only about phở and we ordered the wrong things (which is why I’m giving it 2 stars instead of 1 star). I highly doubt I will be coming back. There are just too many other places in the city to get good vietnamese food and I’d rather support them.

When I used to live at UBC, isolated from most of the city during my studies, my cross town bus rides brought me by this block infrequently. Regardless, this one block stood out because nearly all of the businesses on it are restaurants. Kim Penh Xe Lua stood out because of its garish décor (neon interlocking rings on the ceiling!) and because it is apparently open for 24 hours a day.
My usual Vietnamese restaurant order is phở dac biet. Kim Penh’s menu is a little different. It classifies phở based on whether each variation is more suited for beginners, more experienced or even more adventurous eaters. Not bad for beginners I suppose and really not an important matter, but I find the whole beginner thing a little patronizing. The phở here is average if not a little below average with decent enough broth. Jalapeño is the chosen chili for the herb plate which is also, get this, average.
Tonight though I was craving a bit of an adventure and ordered #27, the assorted meat and shrimp with yellow noodles in soup. My dining companions, one of whom is a chef, were all giggling in anticipation of just what ‘assorted meat’ was going to mean in a phở shop. The bowl came and turns out it was essentially a seafood phở (if there is a term for this, let me know…). A couple of shrimp, but a lot of fish balls, squid, fake crab stick and some vietnamese meat product of sorts that we dubbed space ham, all in a phở broth. I thought it was awesome! The noodles were the thicker, flat rice noodles. Some were a bit clumped up. I also tried a bite of a dining companion’s pork banh mi. It was okay, but nothing to rave about. Definitely had a more peanut sauce/​satay taste to it than any other banh mi that I’ve had before.
If you’re in the area craving Vietnamese food this spot will satisfy. A word of warning though, the 24 hours thing is not always true. I work on the block and often see that it’s closed at around 6:30 AM. Not that I blame them at all… the demand for any food on that block at that time is minimal.

After some heavy drinking on Granville and one of my drunken cohorts calling for Asian food late at night (and discovering that even the venerable Tsui Hang was closed — as I said, it was *LATE*), one of band of brothers suggested coming here.
Having some flashbacks to some horrible experiences at random ²⁴⁄₇ phở places, my desperate attempt at last minute audible for Hamburger Mary’s failed. And Phở Hoa was too far of a trip.
As expected, the place had all the markers of ²⁴⁄₇ phở place — dirty, dingy and neon-​filled — not necessary a bad thing. I decided to allow this place to suprise me and ordered an XL dac biet (house special phở — no other description given) for $ 7.99 ($ 5.99 for regular-​size, $ 6.99 for large). Kind of pricy for phở, but I was hungry and am a sucker for size upgrades.
When the food came, my XL bowl of phở was marginally bigger than the L bowl (disappointment) — but when I dug in it was loaded with beef flank, tripe, beef balls (and probably random parts of beef) and tons of noodles in a tasty, heavy beef broth. Pretty reasonable for $ 8 at 4:30AM and the broth was surprisingly good.
The spring rolls were tiny and weren’t wrapped too well, so I would suggest avoiding that — but the phở main event was the perfect meal to help sober up. One of the party ordered from their large selection of Viet subs (around $ 3-​$ 4) for takeout, although I didn’t sample it and it took the staff a while to prepare it — a spot to try for that late-​night banh mi craving.
Overall, there are better Viet places around town but Kim Penh isn’t a bad choice given the central location and the convenient hours. I did wake up with a tummyache this morning, but I won’t blame this place yet as it was probably due to my pre-​phở alcohol-​mixing.

This restaurant is one of those places where I take my tea-​soaked napkin and ‘do the dishes’ with my spoon and chopsticks before daring put them in my mouth.
It’s one of those places where I make sure I go pee at home before I get there so I dont have to use their bathroom – god only knows what state it’s in.
The food is fresh, the broth hits the spot. (note: they do not add any cilantro to their phở, for those cilantro lovers out there) I am tempted to presume that they add msg, but who knows. At just under $ 6.00 for a bowl of delicious noodle soup, I’m not judging.
There’s just something about a bowl of hot phở on a cold rainy day.
Their salad rolls are pretty darn tasty as well.
Oh yah, and it’s open 24 hours. Score. =)

I was hoping to find a great place for noodle soup in my hood, but this place is just an ethnic cafeteria. The broth key to a great soup, and here it barely tasted of anything.
I ordered a vegetable soup and was expecting to find some strange and wonderful Asian veggies that I didn’t know the name for floating in my steamy broth. I got broccoli, cauliflower and carrots. Maybe a few beans. It looked like a frozen veg mix you get from a bag. Even after I doused it with hot sauce and added all the basil and lime I was given it was boring soup.
The walls are grey-​ish, the tables are bare and the floors are tile. It was all very basic and minimalist — but not the chic minimalist. This was more grungy. I don’t know how they’ve made it so long in this location, as the restaurant sits in a row of Asian eateries on Broadway. I will certainly try one of the neighbouring restaurants next time my stomach growls in this block.
It is open 24/​7, so keep it in mind if you’re stumbling past after the bars close.