Golden Bell Saigon & Vietnamese Restaurant

This place use to be good back before 2017 when I ate here all the time! Now their satay broth is not even.. satay. Its different now and lacks flavour like before and even doesn't look appetizing anymore! I tried their new nem nuong salad rolls which was great! Their dipping sauce is so good glad they didn't give the hoisin peanut sauce for this roll. Their salt and pepper squid also doesn't look anything like before you can even see the precious pictures on their menu that's how it was before. But not anymore not sure if new owner or what. Won't be coming back though my friend and I only come here for their peanuty satay broth but since it's changed we will need to find a new great peanuty satay broth

"Meh. I've experienced better." perfectly sums up my experience with this place. I was getting my truck worked on at a business close by so we decided to grab a bite to eat somewhere close. We like Vietnamese food so we thought we would try this place out. I had a vermicelli bowl with spring rolls and we also ordered some salad rolls.

The food was pretty bland and nothing really stood out as exceptional or noteworthy. It really lacked spices and or herbs. The service was good and quick so no issues there.

We love our Vietnamese food but I don't see us coming back here as we have had some exceptional Vietnamese at many other places.

Visited here for a quick bowl of Pho
I was very pleased with their broth and quantity of ingredients, lots of meat and noodles with ample bean sprouts, basil and other accoutrements.

The restaurant is spacious and well maintained. Our service was prompt and friendly.

The soups are good but just so bland and unexciting, even after talking to the cashier/owner who recommended their spicy version of regular Pho.
No, no, no.
It was so bland, so unjarring, as to put me to sleep in the bowl.
Why did I return? As the place was packed during lunch times, I thought I'd try it a second time in case I got the wrong chef the first time. Not to be.
Ah, but I won't return to what is sub-par Vietnamese non-cuisine. These dishes seem mostly tailored to caucasians who for the most part don't know good from mediocre.

Great value. Friendly staff and delicious broth. Pho star rating.

Portions good. Sate with the pho dac biet is my go to.

It was D's birthday and we were down by Chinook mall, I asked D what he was feelin' for food and he was feelin' some pho so we decided to hit up Golden Bell, a place he suggested. It was my first visit and they have their own little reserved parking area in a strip. Golden Bell is located across from the Chinook mall on MacLeod trail. It was about 3PM and it wasn't busy at this hour. We were immediately seated at a nice big booth, handed menus and ordered some water and a pot of jasmine tea. Normally when I go for pho, I order satay beef - D said it wasn't too spicy, but had a nice flavor so we both went with #51 satay beef pho with the meat on the side and ordered some shrimp salad rolls to start. Pho anywhere doesn't take long so we weren't surprised when our salad rolls came out pretty quick with our nice hot bowls of pho following shortly after.

The salad rolls came in three and were nothing out of the ordinary...a salad roll is a salad roll. It was nice that each roll was cut in half though! As mentioned, we ordered the meat on the side just so it would be nice and rare. The bowl of pho itself had big pieces of cilantro, crispy green onions, al dente noodles and tender beef. As usual, when anyone orders pho, it comes with a side plate of lime slices, bean sprouts, basil, and chilis. I always top my bowl off with a ton of bean sprouts for the crispy texture, squeeze a little bit of lime for that citrus flavor, and peel up a basil leaf. The broth in the soup was nice and light, but I had wished that it was more flavorful, it was kind of plain and I didn't find it spicy at all.

The service at Golden Bell was pretty good. They frequently stopped by to make sure we were still doing okay and topped up waters. After we ate, D and I sat there chatting for a while, we didn't feel that they wanted to rush us out or anything. I think Golden Bell is a good place, but I've had better pho...so it's A-OK!

If you're in around the Chinook area and it's frightful out, I'd say stop by for a nice hot bowl of pho, it's a great way to warm up.

Some friends and I were in Calgary for the day and we were looking for a good Vietnamese place to eat. Thanks to Yelp we ended up at Golden Bell Saigon. Maybe I was hungry but I was happy to see that their menu was quite large and that I could choose from everything Vietnamese (pho, rice/noodle dishes, subs) and food from other Asian cuisines. Then again, I wouldn't actually get Chinese food from a Vietnamese place.

It seems like our problems with the wait staff is not unique as at least one other on here has also commented. When the server took our orders, she didn't write anything down. When she repeated it she had trouble with the numbers we had just ordered. They brought out three out of four of our orders and had to ask what the fourth order was. Clearly the server forgot and it was only now they were making the fourth order. My friend was sitting there waiting while the rest of us were eating. The table setting also only had two sets of utensils. We asked for additional napkins and chopsticks which never came... I finally just got up and grabbed the stuff from the utensil trays myself.

The service part is a shame because the food is decent.

I came here for lunch quite often with my friends since we are close to this location. Easy excess, many parking spots. Nice comfortable environment with decent space inside, which will never make you feel too noisy when it's packed.
The food here is very delicious and original Vietnamese style. I wouldn't say this is the best pho I tried so far since I tried many nice pho restaurants in Vancouver and Toronto. But its one of the top 5 pho places on my list in Alberta. Their freshly made, natural flavoured broth and the Meat quality are good.
Server is quiet but friendly, owner is friendly too and she recommended this Bun Bo Hue noodle soup to me this time. When I ate 1/3 of the noodle I realized I have to rate them here because I'm amazed by tasty Bun Bo Hue! Not too spicy not too salty with a slightly sweetness, very delicious!!
If you are looking for a cheaper pho noodle soup with bigger amount but a lot MSG inside which seems flavoured but feels so dry and thirst after the meal, this is not the place for you. Their noodle just has one standard size, and I do think it will be nicer if they offer smaller or larger sizes for customers to choose. Because my friend sometimes only can finish half of the noodle.
If you are looking for a good pho with no MSG inside, feeling comfortable and soothing after the meal, this is definitely a good pho place to come and try.

Love their peanut soups! My favourite is the charbroiled chicken peanut noodle soup!

I was very hesitant to try Vietnamese food but my friend insisted and reassured me that she would find something that I liked. She recommended the peanut noodle soup and so I tried it. I am a frequent eater of this restaurant and the owner knows who I am he hee hee

Been here 3 times so far... my favorite dish, pho bo ko is to die for! So yummy! The beef is tender, lots of sweet carrot... the stew is delicious. The staff is friendly and polite.