Oriental Phoenix Calgary
• 105-401 9 Avenue SW | Calgary, AB | T2P 3C5
Average User Rating:
6.87/10
6.87/10
Recommended by:
64%
64%
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"Pretty swanky vietnamese joint!"
Ashley
July 2011 — "Generally Vietnamese restaurants are hole in the wall type places where you get quick food, horrid decor, excessive noise and large volumes of people crammed in. I, myself, am okay with horrid decor and all of the aforementioned as long as the food is delicious. My friend suggested trying Oriental Phoenix for lunch one day so I said sure, she tried to make reservations as it is apparently quite busy during the noon hour but for some reason they said they didn't take reservations before 12:30. The later start to our lunch didn't really fit so we decided to show up just before 12 to hopefully beat the rush and get a spot without needing a reservation -- quite the plan until we show up only to wait behind a whole hoard of people who claimed they had 12, 12:15, etc. reservations?! Regardless, we got a seat and got over the reservation hulabaloo. What I noticed about the restaurant was quite the contrary to what I was accustomed to -- it was HUGE, had really nice decor, SPACE was not scarce and there were fairly closed off booths and seperated areas which helped control the noise. I also noticed how slow they were to order and bring us our food. Although the food was good it wasn't great so I think I will stick to the holes in the walls! "
User Rating
7.17/10
7.17/10
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"Good vietnamese cuisine"
Henry
July 2011 — "Oriental Phoenix is a chain of restaurants in Calgary which serves up authentic Vietnamese cuisine. Of its many locations the ones I typically visit is the downtown restaurant located on the first floor of the Gulf Canada Square building on 9th Ave SW. For anyone who is familiar with Vietnamese noodle or pho shops Oriental Phoenix is a nice change of pace with its fine dining feel although the food quality and taste is much of the same except the menu is a bit pricier than average. The downtown location can be ridiculously busy and nosy at lunch time with the business crowd gathering but it is rather quite in the evenings as people tend to move towards the restaurants and bars on nearby Stephen Ave. You may very well be the only table when dining at OP in the evening time. Their menu has all the typical Vietnamese cuisine items and tastes quite good."
User Rating
7.33/10
7.33/10
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"over priced and nothing special"
Stacy
March 2010 — "Having worked near the oriental phoenix for the past 10 years....we have noticed a huge decline in the service, quality, and value for your money at OP. We still have 4 menus over the past 10 years of increased prices and reduced meals. 10 years ago I loved going here...excellent food and not bad prices, albeit there wasnt really a lot of competition back then but now there are tons of vietnamese restaurants my review has turned negative. Food pretty tasteless, pork (on #23 anyways) was not cooked properly and tasted old....and $2.25 each for a softdrink!!!!.....ohhh and that doesn't even include one, yes ONE refill!!!"
User Rating
4.17/10
4.17/10
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"Lacking in Flavour"
Nicole
December 2009 — "I am a big fan of Vietnamese food and was very excited to try Oriental Phoenix as I had heard a lot of great things about it. The restaurant is quite large but fills up extraordinarily fast at lunch so I would recommend making a reservation. I wasn't very hungry that day and opted for the satay seafood soup. The restaurant was very busy but my order came reasonable fast. While I was impressed with the service, I was not very impressed with the soup. There was nothing "satay" about it, in fact it had more of a lime flavor than anything. The seafood was sparse and also lacked flavor. While I tried to fill up on sprouts, I found myself more hungry by the end of my meal, then when I began. Some of the other dishes at my table looked okay, and my friends didn't complain, but I don't think I'll be back any time soon."
User Rating
7.17/10
7.17/10
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"Oriental Phoenix"
Rhonda
November 2009 — "Visited Oriental Phoenix located in Gulf Canada Square on 9th Avenue in downtown Calgary. The restaurant is quite large and appears to be quite busy, at least at lunch time. The menu is quite vast and all dishes have a corresponding number attached to them as some would be quite difficult to pronounce. When you place your order, you just quote the number of the dish that you want. I chose #23 which is a mixture of Shrimp, Beef and Chicken served over vermicelli noodles. The dish comes with a sweet and sour type of sauce that you pour over everything. There are also 2 condiment squeeze containers on the table, the red one contains a very hot sauce and the yellow contains Hoisin sauce which is similar to a BBQ sauce. I enjoyed the Hoisin sauce but found the hot sauce too hot for my liking. We ordered tea which was very refreshing and was filled up with extra hot water without any prompting. For dessert I had the deep fried banana with coconut ice cream. It was excellent and I think I would go back to the restaurant for the dessert alone.
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User Rating
8/10
8/10
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"Oriental Phoenix"
October 2009 — "Visited Oriental Phoenix located in Gulf Canada Square on 9th Avenue in downtown Calgary. The restaurant is quite large and appears to be quite busy, at least at lunch time. The menu is quite vast and all dishes have a corresponding number attached to them as some would be quite difficult to pronounce. When you place your order, you just quote the number of the dish that you want. I chose #23 which is a mixture of Shrimp, Beef and Chicken served over vermicelli noodles. The dish comes with a sweet and sour type of sauce that you pour over everything. There are also 2 condiment squeeze containers on the table, the red one contains a very hot sauce and the yellow contains Hoisin sauce which is similar to a BBQ sauce. I enjoyed the Hoisin sauce but found the hot sauce too hot for my liking. We ordered tea which was very refreshing and filled up with extra hot water without any prompting. For dessert I had the deep fried banana with coconut ice cream. It was excellent and I think I would go back to the restaurant for the dessert alone."
User Rating
8/10
8/10
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"Decent Downtown Noodle House"
Jason
April 2009 — "One thing I’ve always hated about working downtown is the limited options available to get a nice hot bowl of Pho. Unless you wanted to make the trek into Chinatown, there are really not many options. In the Gulf Canada Square building (behind Bankers Hall) there is a Oriental Phoenix (Where the old Capital night club used to stand) This restaurant is always busy at lunch but I have to say that their food is not what I expected. Oriental Phoenix appears to cater to the more western crowd and office workers offering a menu that is a safer “version” of authentic Vietnamese cuisine. I sat down and ordered the Pho Sate Beef (Rice Noodles with a spicy soup and slices of beef) and a order of spring rolls. The noodle soup was hot and the noodles and beef were fresh, but it just didn’t quite taste the same as the other Pho Noodle houses in town. If this is your first time enjoying Vietnamese cuisine, then Oriental Pheonix is a good place to start your journey, but for the die hard seekers of authentic soups, you may want to skip this place. However, their spring rolls are very, very good. I have to hand it to them that its better than many other places I have been to."
User Rating
7.83/10
7.83/10
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"Quick Service"
Claire
July 2008 — "Oriental Phoenix is a great restaurant. Unlike many Vietnamese restaurants in Calgary, Oriental Phoenix is flawlessly clean, and has great decor. Their food is wonderful, but most of all the service is extremely quick. For someone who only gets 30 minutes for lunch, its nice to be able to go to a sit-down restaurant and still be able to make it back to the office on time. "
User Rating
9/10
9/10
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"Good Lunch Spot"Elizabeth
February 2008 — "The Oriental Phoenix is one of my favourite spots to go for lunch downtown. The service is quick and the staff are friendly. Every time I've gone it's been smack during the middle of lunch hour and the food still arrives quickly. I recommend the lemon grass chicken, it's so good! "
User Rating
8.83/10
8.83/10
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"NE Location"Lissette
December 2007 — "I'm not sure which Oriental Phoenix these other reviewers are going, but the northeast location was very good. I ordered the stir fry lemon grass chicken with a side of rice and the serving was large. Although there were a bit too many onions for my taste, the chicken was delicious. True, the vermicelli bowls are a bit on the small side compared to other Vietnamese restaurants but very good nonetheless.
The server was extremely welcoming and, despite the fact that they were closing in about an hour, he was not bothered at all by this and provided great service. The restaurant itself has a great atmosphere and nice decor. Large and very quiet, and would make a great place for big gatherings. Highly recommend the NE Oriental Phoenix (along Barlow Trail)."
User Rating
7.67/10
7.67/10
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"Pedestrian"Chinface
October 2007 — "Well, I guess it was inevitable, I just didn't think it would happen so soon.
Pho has been homogenized.
First the positives. The decor and service at Phoenix was way beyond any other pho house I've been to. Our server was prompt and friendly, and showed no faults.
Now the negatives. To someone that has never had authentic pho, there would be no problem with what is served at Phoenix, it's decent. However my problem with the restaurant lies with how pedestrian they've made the menu. Normally when I order Pho, I order the Pho Dac Biet (the special noodle soup) because I love its mix of meatballs, tendon and tripe. Imagine my surprise when I could not find any of these items on the menu. Disillusioned, I simply ordered the regular beef noodle soup. To my surprise it tasted like a Thai soup, and nothing like any pho I had ever eaten.
In the end, I ate my meal, and sulked, knowing that to the unintiated, Oriental Phoenix would be considered authentic Vietnamese cuisine, when in fact that could not be further from the truth."
User Rating
5.17/10
5.17/10
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"not great"Lisa
September 2007 — "I cant belive they are charging $8.75 for a bowl of Pho. Every other place I have eaten at has charged between $5.75 and $7.00. The portion size was smaller than everywhere else. The hoisen was watered down, and there was no Basil served with soup either. There menu is limited to say the least. And I missed having Real Peanut sauce with my Salad Rolls. Instead we were served hoisen with crushed peanuts on top.
Wouldnt go back unless I was starving and no where else was open
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User Rating
4.67/10
4.67/10
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"Just Ok"Malva
September 2007 — "I haven't been out to many Vietnamese restaurants but this one was just ok. Service was ok, food ok, ambiance ok. Nothing terribly special or bad. If you're looking for just an ok dining experience, this place will do."
User Rating
5.83/10
5.83/10
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"Not That Great"Alyssa
July 2007 — "I went to the Oriental Phoenix with my girlfriend just the other day for lunch. The one nice thing about our lunch was that we were seated quickly and got our food fast.
I got rice vermicelli (spelling?) with spring rolls. The spring rolls were mushy and bright pink. The rest of the meal was very plain and bland.
They water down the hoisen sause and serve the dish with nothing but the vermicelli, pink spring rolls and two small slices of carrots.
There are so many awesome vietnamese places to eat in Calgary.. so I suggest choosing one of the other 10 vietnamese places within a 4 block radius of the Oriental Phoenix!"
User Rating
5.33/10
5.33/10
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"over-priced & bad service!"Teri
April 2007 — "I am a visitor to calgary from La, US and also a Vietnamese food fan. However, my experience with Oriental Phoenix was really a horrible one! The server was rude & in a very bad mood thru out the meal. Not even a SMILE or HELLO! There was no introduction of his name nor the specialty of their restaurant. The food was so greasy & the lettuce was badly wilted. I can't believed that this place is still in business despite of the staffs' rudeness & bad foods & presentation!"
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"* Over Price and Uncooked *"Lisa
February 2007 — "I have tried many vietnamese restaurant in calgary, but I find this one to be over price. I order spring rolls and when I took a bit I saw the meat was still pink to red in color. I informed the waiter and he told me this is how it is. I told him that I will NOT eat raw pork and insist that he exchange for me. For the price that I paid for my food and the hastle that I have to go thru with the waiter for an exchange, I was hot happy at the end of my meal. Never go back, not worth it !!!!!!!!"
User Rating
4.50/10
4.50/10
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"Very nice"Frannie
December 2006 — "This was my first time dining at the Oriental Phoenix and I will definitely go back again. Service was fast and the meals all looked and tasted great. I tried the grilled lemon grass chicken which was moist and flavourful. I enjoyed the atmosphere of the restaurant-very spacious, with high ceilings and Asian decor. "
User Rating
8/10
8/10
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"Great Atmosphere"Mike
June 2006 — "I've only been to Oriental Phoenix for lunch (the downtown location). While I haven't strayed far from what seems to be the Vietnamese staples in Calgary ie) satay soup and rice vermicelli with spring rolls, every meal has been delicious. This is a wonderful spot for a quick and affordable lunch."
User Rating
8.17/10
8.17/10
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DescriptionOriental Phoenix offers a varied menu featuring rice vermicelli, seafood and meat dishes, and vegetarian items. Salad rolls, curry dishes, and other spicy mains are also offered. Reservations are recommended, and a patio is located on the premises. They are open for lunch and dinner.
Location Information105-401 9 Avenue SW
Calgary
AB
T2P 3C5
