Spent a long weekend in Las Vegas with my girlfriends and checked out a few restaurants. Over the next few weeks, while continuing to write about local eats, I’ll be running some posts on this trip.
Treasure Island at night
Before we even got to Vegas, my friends had been convincing me to have Vietnamese food at Treasure Island, where we called home for the duration of our trip. Frankly I was hesitant – Vietnamese in Vegas, really? Once we checked in at our hotel, we walked around to look for an alternative so I didn’t have to eat Vietnamese. I was out of luck. Other restaurants either didn’t seem all that interesting, or they were serving something I didn’t feel like at the time. Alright, Vietnamese it is.
Pho at Treasure Island
Food
The restaurant is actually attached to the Coffee Shop of the Treasure Island, which offers a different menu – a Western menu with sandwiches and mains like fish & chips and steak. However, you cannot order from both menus. Once you selected to eat in the Pho section, you can only order from the Pho menu. Within this menu it not only has Vietnamese dishes, but also a few Chinese style stir-fries. Just to be safe, I ordered the basic Cooked Beef with Rice Noodle Soup. This normally costs you around $7 in Vancouver – this cost me US$12.25. After all, it’s Las Vegas.
Cooked Beef with Rice Noodle Soup
Portion wise, I’d say it’s bigger than those in Vancouver. But probably minimal difference since I was able to finish the bowl; a bit stuffed afterwards, but manageable. The flavour was not bad. The broth was not overly salty, and the meat was tender. A standard affair that’s priced Vegas-style.
My friends MR and JX each ordered a Special Beef Noodle Soup – the more adventurous one costs you $14.95. A bit steep if you ask me. This one had quite a bit of everything, though, since JX felt that it was bottomless. It did look to have more than just a few slices of beef, so perhaps it’s worth the extra $2.50 or so.
Special Beef Noodle Soup – Rare Beef, Beef Tendon, Meat Balls
CC ordered Charbroiled Pork Chop with Rice which was $12.50. O.M.G. those were two gigantic pieces of pork chop. The pork chops were only lukewarm when it got to the table, which was a bit disappointing. But the meat was well seasoned with a lot of flavours.
Charbroiled Pork Chop with Rice
Service
While the food was not too bad, they definitely need some work on service quality. Boy were they slow. After we were seated at our table, it probably took 10 minutes for us to get water. Then 15 minutes for the server to take our order. Then another 20 minutes for our food to arrive. Then it was another 10 minutes before we could get the bill. It’s a very big space, so I could understand the challenges they might have when it’s a full-house. But the restaurant didn’t seem too busy, and in Vegas, each staff plays a role (host vs bus person vs server), so there should be enough manpower to make it happen. Vietnamese restaurants in Vancouver tend to have a reputation of having fast service, at this place we probably spent at least 50 minutes just waiting around.
A very big space
Final Thoughts
A convenient location for those staying at Treasure Island with decent food. Once you got past the fact that food in Vegas in general is over-priced, I could live with what I paid here at Pho. However, the service was just way too slow for my liking.
Pho at Treasure Island
702-894-7111
3300 Las Vegas Blvd, Las Vegas
www.treasureisland.com/restaurants/pho_vietnamese.aspx
VanFoodies.com 
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