Review Chao Ba - Chatswood

Got the banquet menu and everything was so amazing! My favourite dishes were the spring rolls and the prawn pancakes. Great selection of drinks and really nice atmosphere. Highly recommend :)

I was pleasantly surprised by this Vietnamese restaurant. They served up an elegantly presented hot bowl of pho tai that had all the depths of flavour and spices that you want and sizes were perfectly portioned. The ambience is really nice, music choice was on point and had a jazzy funky feel. This is definitely one of the most upscale Vietnamese restaurants I have been to - and their drinks selection also reflects that. Am definitely keen to come again for a dinner date sometime. The prices are a notch higher than other restaurants but you get what you pay for in ambience and overall experience. Highly recommend!

Foods are great but service was quite slow. Dunno how the owner managed a full restaurant with only one waitress, that's totally not okay. The girl that looked after us are trying her best and tried to provide good service. Instead owner was rushing us to order and hardly pay attention in taking orders and no personal space, he stood right above us at the table. Great food but probably not going back.

Absolutely delicious and fresh food! Do yourself a great big favour and visit Chao Ba for lunch or dinner. The menu is substantial so we’ll be back to try what we missed out on today. The food was light and the flavours of salty/sweet/sour were expertly balanced. I ate at the 5 Star Nobu Japanese restaurant recently yet enjoyed the flavours at Chao Ba so much more. The beef pho was great and the soup tasted perfect - not overly sweet. The Banh Bot Loc are delicious with a chewy texture and a yummy and light sauce poured over the top. Banh Xeo (Vietnamese pancakes) are difficult to find outside of Marrickville and Cabramatta but we found them on offer here and they taste incredible. The service was excellent and Martin took the time to explain the dishes to us. Inside ambiance is great with long wooden tables and lots of healthy green pants hanging from the roof. There are lots of spirits on the bar so I reckon you could get a mean cocktail too. The Vietnamese iced coffee was the best that the wife has ever had and I watched it being made in a cocktail shaker. Chao Ba is a great find and one that I can’t stop talking about. I’m over the moon that it’s so close to home and will no doubt be out for to local for Vietnamese food!

Extremely pleased with the quality of the food and service. The service wasn't too bad. They were good when needed but not attentive to notice that we had no water left. Food is exceptional.

I went here with a friend during the week. It was quiet when we got there after 6 but the tables were full by the time we left. We ordered the banh bot loc and banh kot for entrees. They were the prawn tapioca dumplings and coconut pancakes with prawn. I don't know which one I liked more and highly recommend both. We ordered the beef pho and bun bo hue. The beef pho cane with thinly sliced beef, beef balls, tendons and tripe. It was a sweet pho to begin with and they provided a small dish on the side with a squirt of hoisin sauce and chilli sauce. I think they should separate the chilli from the hoisin sauce for thise who don't eat chilli. The bun bo hue was exploding with flavour and I can't wait to go back for more

Food was ok, slightly westernized flavour profile, but still good. (This is worth the single star, its all downhill from here) Service was very slow, 50 min wait after ordering. When we enquired why its taking so long, they pretty much said your fault for ordering after a 15 seater table. (There was no table of 15) The menu items didn't match what came out. The pictures of dishes were of food that came with small greens on the side (typical of vietnamese cuisine) but came with no greens at all on the plate. When we enquired they said, "no veges this shop" and walked off. Overall this was a bad experiance, and that's not including the seat that couldn't fit a human in it (see photos)...

As an Asian, this restaurant serves decent Vietnamese food in a cosy environment. If you wish to opt for very traditional Vietnamese then this may not suit you, but this place offers natural environment. We ordered combined Pho, egg rolls and paper rolls, egg rolls are recommended!

Absolutely fantastic food! So fresh and tasty. The banquet menu for 4 is really good value and lets you savour 13 different dishes. Great location and service. I highly recommend this place.

Online menu had a banquet for $49 per person - we arrived and it was $59 pp. Ordered anyway. After 30 minutes still nothing, not even appetisers. Asked about our food and they said it was coming. 15 minutes later still nothing... Table next to us arrived 20 minutes after us and got 6 dishes in 15 minutes - at least their food looked good! Just walked out. Went down the road and had a great ramen for one third the price - and it came in 10 mins. Was interested in trying Chao Ba but now feeling really disappointed... Will not go back.

My husband and I have been here 4 times. Nice foods, helpful staff and nice ambient. Deffinitely recommend our friends.

Pho broth was terrible. not really authentic at all. The french fusion doesn't go with Viet food. On top of this, the manager did not honour our Sydney entertainment voucher

Great food and great drinks on Saturday night thank you chap ba For the great food

I and my Vietnamese wife love this place. The salads are especially good.

Great food and the service was great - very friendly staff

Really enjoyed the food. The service was excellent. Hope to go there again.

Service was great and the food was fantastic, beautiful flavours and very fresh!

Friendly staff and a nice ambience. I got the pho which was mediocre and the price was slightly higher than expected. The vegetarian spring rolls were very tasty and light.

Excellent place in a bustling and vibrant location! They have excellent dumplings and their spring rolls are delicious! I was very impressed by the quality of the beef pho and the prices are very reasonable!

Chao Ba is a Vietnamese restaurant situated in the Concourse, Chatswood. I went there with family, the food was good and so was the service.

I understand why it's the number one restaurant in Chatswood. We ordered 2 Bo Bun beef. They were really good, and the food was on the table after only 5 to 10 min. We didn't have to wait long. My partner asked for a coconut juice and she asked the waitress if it was fresh coconut juice or canned and the waitress said that they open the coconut to extract the juice. It was very sugary and we actually saw the cans of coconut. We laughed but that's why I don't give 5 stars.

Zomato should bring in 3 ratings out of 5, one food, second, service and third, ambiance. Some places do not get justice they deserve. <br/><br/>Anywho good food here! Flavoursome and different from your run of mill fusion. Wine list is also very decent and good prices.

I’ve been been here quite a few times. Very comfortable restaurant, especially on a sunny day as there is outdoor seating available. Their dishes are quite good - love the prawn salad - but they’re just on the pricier side for Vietnamese food...but then again, it is fusion viet food 💁🏻‍♀️

Came here for lunch. Restaurant was very quickly packed when customers started arriving for lunch.<br/><br/>A good experience. Food is delicious. Entree size is good for a table for 2. We came with an entertainment book voucher and with discount ended up costing us $25 per head for 2 entree and 2 bowls of noodles. A little on the pricey side but food is flavorsome. Staff who served us was nice. Will definitely come back!

Great place to go to, the decor is nice and the vibe is funky. This place is a great place for first dates, the food quality is relatively high compared to other vietnamese restaurants we have been to. However, service was a bit tardy and the food was pricey for what it's worth. Great to go once, won't be rushing back.

Modern Vietnamese food with French influence. Quite a vibrant menu, the photos on the menu already making you salivate when flipping through the pages. 🤤 Food was nicely presented. Staff was friendly & attentive. <br/><br/>We tried their banquet menu Ba’s Banh’s, which is a tasting menu with five savoury dish & one sweet. They were only entree size as we felt like having tapas in a Spanish restaurant. ☺️ Actually it’s not a bad idea to choose that banquet if you just want to try a few dishes from their a la carte. There are also bigger banquets to choose from. <br/><br/>There was no bad dish in that banquet. Everything was delicious. It was all freshly made & carefully prepared. One dish was a bit let down, was the pork sausage fried rice which we ordered separately. I didn’t like the thinly sliced Lap Cheong as I like mine a little thicker to have some texture when biting into it. Their paper thin one didn’t achieve that, I think they are just being stingy, 🤨 and the rice was soft & wet, no wok hei whatsoever. 😬

Despite the mixed reviews about this restaurant, we had a good dining experience. The food was tasty and the service was good. The dishes are quite expensive but we were not affected as we took part in some promotions and received a discount.<br/><br/>We booked through Dimmi and arrived before 6pm on a Saturday night. Most of the outside tables were already taken by then, but we were glad to be seated indoors as it was cold, and outside had the excessive noise of the Vivid crowd (some may prefer this atmosphere).<br/><br/>The menu was exciting and there was a large variety. We ordered 3 dishes to begin with, the banh bot loc, the banh cuon and the betel leaf beef.<br/><br/>The banh bot loc tapioca prawn dumplings were disappointing as the skin was so chewy, you can keep chewing and chewing but the skin does not break down into smaller pieces. The prawns tasted like the frozen kind and I was really hoping they'd serve it when the crispy prawn shell but this was not the case. I do not recommend the dish.<br/><br/>Banh cuon flavors and seasonings were good, though it is on the pricey side as there's only three pieces per serve. The betel leaf beef was tasty and served with vermicilli noodle sheet, lettuce and herbs, though again priced quite highly.<br/><br/>The above dishes we had felt like appetizer, grazing type dishes and we did not feel fully satisfied, so we then ordered the pho dac biet. The pho was delicious but it would be nice if it had a bit more meat. Again we liked the flavors but if we were dining for full price, we'd unlikely return.<br/><br/>To finish off, we tried the green tea ice cream. The green tea flavor was quite weak in this - despite its colour, it tasted more like vanilla flavor. The ice cream did have a texturising component and whilst I'm not entirely sure what it was, it tasted like some kind of mashed bean. I enjoyed it thoroughly because of the contrasting textures.<br/><br/>We dined at Chao Ba with the use of Dimmi rewards redemption. They also took part in the Dimmi Amex cash back promotion as well as the entertainment book. You may find one or another deal better suited for your own needs.<br/><br/>I would be interested to return to try their other dishes including the quail, beef stew and caramelised pork. However, I would only return when there is a special promotion, which would make it a good value for money meal.<br/><br/> <br/><br/>****<br/><br/>10/11/18 - returned to satisfy a craving for Vietnamese food.  Between the two of us, we had the beef noodle soup and the ling fillet.  The ling fillet portion is small.  The sauce is very rich and quite salty so be sure to order some jasmine rice with it.  The pho is not bad but also not the best.  We like coming here because we can redeem Dimmi points here, if not for this we may be going elsewhere for Vietnamese food.<br/><br/>Frugal foodie tips: <br/>1. You can redeem Dimmi $20 vouchers here <br/>2. The store participates in Amex promotions such as Shop Small.<br/>3. You can get 25% off with Entertainment book.

I've been here about 5 times before, both lunch and dinner, and I always have a very pleasat dining experience. The owner of the restaurant is always so welcoming and polite, unlike a lot of asian restaurants. I wouldn't come here for Pho but the other food on the menu are beautifully presented and delicious! Although its arguably pricey, I justify it by thinking that Im also paying for the nice environment.

Walked by so many times i decided to go for lunch today. Got there at 11.40 but when i wanted to order the staff told me to wait as the kitchen wasn't ready yet. Had my son with me who was hungry and waiting with a hungry toddler isn't the best situation. Advertised opening time on sat is 11am so i would expect the kitchen to be ready.<br/><br/>Ordered the fried rice with lup cheong and pork belly. Fried rice was as expected.. Had a few peas and lup cheong was so thinly sliced you'd think they were trying to see how many dishes 1 lup cheong could stretch. luckily my son loved lup cheong no matter how little we got. Pork belly was nice.<br/><br/>Should have read reviews before coming here as the servings were really small for what you pay. I also got Vietnamese ice coffee which was nice and strong but for $6 I'd expect a larger glass. my son had a juice.<br/><br/>The atmosphere is lovely as its right on the concourse and the restaurant decor is really great with lots of plants.<br/><br/>i felt the staff did their job but i wouldn't say they loved it. i didn't get the vibe. If the price for dishes was 30% lower I'd probably make it a regular place as the location and atmosphere is great but based on price i wouldn't go back unfortunately.

Chao Ba is located in the Chatswood Concourse and offers up the best Vietnamese dishes in the area. They’re also pretty comparable to the Vietnamese restaurants in the Cabramatta/Canley Heights locality, but is the only place which I’ve come across so far which offers French Vietnamese cuisine. The menu is quite extensive and even though there’s pictures on the menu, choosing the dishes was quite the challenge. The starters in particular is quite tempting and I was excited to see the rice flour cake with mungbean on the menu, which I have not seen in other Vietnamese restaurants...

The place and atmosphere is nice but orders took a bit long to arrive. Service wasn’t anything great as we had to constantly get the attention of staff to get served. Food lacks authenticity and flavour.

Service was awful.  Threw a bottle of wine on table unopened.  Served an order of glass noodle rolls 20 minutes after the mains, and they were hard to eat.<br/>Salads and mains took forever we were able to finish a bottle of wine and two glasses of water and then wait around trying to get someone to make eye contact with us so we could inquire about our order.  Squid was cold and batter was old also. Food wasn't good.<br/>   We were tired and hungry after putting in a day's work and looking to eat and relax and chill.  This place is not for that.  Painful experience.

A good Vietnamese restaurant by the Concourse Theatre. The service is friendly and efficient. The food is just a tad pricer but that is what you expected in Chatswood. The quality and the taste are very good.

I read the reviews on various websites and was excited to try this place. However, was extremely disappointed in both the food quality and service. <br/><br/>Food was small portions and lacked flavor. We also ordered a coke and it came in a coke bottle which said plus coffee. We told the waiter who disagreed and said this is coke and was made to feel like idiots. It however tasted like Coke Zero. So it seems that they refill bottles which is scary and makes me wonder what they do with the food. <br/><br/>Service was extremely slow as there were not many people at that time but we had to wait 15 minutes to place our order. Food came out quick though. <br/><br/>Would not recommend this place as there are better places in Chatswood to try.

Went to this place this week, and have been to many other Vietnamese places in Sydney plus in Chatswood. Unfortunately it was a disappointment. The servings were very small plus for the price (about $16) for a vermicelli salad bowl for instance it was not worth it. As some feedback increase your serving size we were still left hungry! Pretty looking plating but poor on the serves and taste was ok. Plus I have never seen an asian restaurant that doesn’t put condiments on the table, when asking for srirracha - we were given a small quantity for 6 people. Seriously?

Such a great meal with great service. Will defiantly be coming back again. Finally there is good Vietnamese food in the north shore. The whole family enjoyed this meal and was very reasonably priced. Thank you

Another up market-y Vietnamese place that actually isn't so up market at closer expectation...you have all your staples for a pretty normal price and the Pho soup is certainly very acceptable...hard to judge how it ranks - we are no Pho-experts...we wouldn't call ourselves experts for sure! <br/><br/>The beef casserole well I think it's just the wrong cut of beef...and certainly cut way too small, bigger hunks of meat always turn out better in casseroles, would think that it was just gravy beef where a cut like brisket or chuck would of been better - more fat-ness always improves food!<br/><br/>The dessert is the star of the night and we are silently trying to recreate it at home - sorry! <br/><br/>Decent, above average, good but not amazing...not a bad choice for dinner in Chatswood but not at the top of the list.

Service was below average. We booked through Dimmi, and it said 'kids friendly'. When we arrived, the manager was complaining 'we don't allow pram inside'. We explained the website didn't say anything about children. Finally, they find us a table for the pram, but the manager was very unhappy and murmur just in front of us. The wait time was quite long, and I have no idea why they served salad at last and we still needed to chase for that. We ordered 7 dishes and nothing was special. Average food, small portion. Price was okay, but for the portion, it is still a bit pricey.

I was really looking forward to dining at Choa Ba because of how beautiful the food looked in photos. While I was aware that half the reviews were good and the other the half was rather poor I noted that many of the reviews were rated poorly due to the service. <br/><br/>Anyhow, we made a booking, asking for a table inside the restaurant. We arrived and was taken to a table outside the enclosed area. They tried to 'sell' us the outside table eventhough I told them I had asked for an inside one. It was quite a cold night even with the heaters on so after sitting there for a couple of minutes we asked to be moved inside.<br/><br/>We ordered dishes that we could not get in a typical Vietnamese noodle restaurant. I'm am no expert on these dishes so this review is based on our personal taste. <br/><br/>We got most of the entree dishes, prawn and crab spring rolls. These were good and nicely deep fried. The other entree dishes were Banh Bot Loc which had a nice chewy texture but we couldn't really taste the filling inside, Banh Cuon, Banh Beo Hue and Banh Khot. We also ordered Chao Tom Banh Hoi and Banh Xeo. All these dishes came with Nuoc Cham dipping sauce. <br/><br/>Presentation of the dishes were beautiful but I found them all rather bland. We needed to eat them all with a good lashing of dipping sauce to add flavour to it and that pretty much made everything taste the same. And it definitely needed some chillies to spice it up. <br/><br/>Overall I would rate the food average. Apart from the waiter trying to sit us outside I didn't have a problem with the service. The food came out quickly and waiters were all pleasant to deal with. <br/><br/>We had the entertainment voucher which made the bill more reasonable otherwise I would say it's rather pricey for Vietnamese food. <br/><br/>This restaurant would probably be a one off dining experience for me as I'm sure I can get more authentic and better Vietnamese food elsewhere. <br/><br/>

An enjoyable dinner on several occasions <br/>Food is made with great flavour and fresh ingredients. Recommend the salad bowls with vermicelli <br/>good choice on menu but could have had more. <br/>Staff service was friendly and the restaurant had a nice atmosphere<br/>slightly overpriced and may have to wait for a table on Saturday nights

STAY AWAY- have had 2 bad experiences with management. They were not happy to let me use my Entertainment Book because I booked through Dimmi, and they said Dimmi charges them a commission so they didn't want to give me a discount. Another time I was asked to vacate the table within 1 hour (6pm on a weekday) when they weren't even fully booked because I had no reservation.

Overall, the food is quite amazing considering the limited choices of French-Vietnamese cuisine in nearby areas. <br/>Ordered a Vietnamese coffee, I've had an authentic one in Vietnam before... for $6.5 I'd say I'm expecting just a bit more (as it looked like it's even less than a regular coffee at a cafe). It isn't as strong as the authentic ones/I'd like. The aroma is present and has a lovely, smooth aftertaste. <br/>Spring rolls served were quite burnt. I had to ask for an exchange and I was taken back by how it made to our table without serving staff keeping a close eye on the food. <br/>Pho was very aromatic. It was a 24-hour stew/broth and definitely flavourful. Noodles were still chewy after some time, as some may know, noodles could become soggy/soft/fall apart. <br/>Last but not least, curry was fantastic. First time ever trying a Vietnamese curry, it was a bit spicy but sweet, rich and perfect with rice!

Chao Ba - An very interesting place to go and try. It has very unique different type of Vietnamese food which you can't find in average Vietnamese restaurants. The shrimp dumplings were very refreshing along with the sweet potato, but as I'm more of a savoury person, I'd like the food better if it were a little more salty. but, overall a great restaurant and definitely worth trying this long weekend!

Great food and friendly efficient service. Highlights of an overall great meal were the signature Banh and crispy spring rolls made with rice vermicelli. Bit more upmarket than other Vietnamese places in Chatswood.

I saw the reviews and found it interesting that they are not scoring better. The food is good. Good service including kids friendly. Portions for the price is on par with Chatswood and similar area Vietnamese eateries. No complaints and would come back. We ordered 2 DIY boards, 2 entres and 1 curry with rice for 2 adults + 2 kids and we all enjoyed the meal and left with happy tummies.

Traditional Vietnamese street food style but with a big price. Delicious food and nice decor. It's on the fancy side of Asian restaurant. The Viet ice coffee was one of the best I have had. Will dine here again.

Valentines it was and we decided to go for a lovely dinner. Thinned out to this place and it was not a bad decision. The place was well lit with good ambience. Though had less veggie options, still we managed to order entrees and main course. I loved their rice paper rolls. It was yummy. The stir fry was good too with fried noodles. Worth a try!

Nice ambience but terrible service. Arrogant management.<br/><br/>Subpar Vietnamese food. Banhs and deep fried spring rolls terrible. Either the sauce was not right (especially the banh dish with the coconut based sauce), or the pancakes were soggy/falling apart.<br/><br/>Pho very pricey and very average, $14.5-16.5 per bowl. Bun bo hue tasted very average or just below.<br/><br/>Wok tossed beef dish was passable.<br/><br/>Won't be revisiting.

Suggested Chau Ba to meet friends at last night - we have eaten here a few times before and I have recommended to numerous people. the food is always great and authentic. However, the service last night was very poor. We were initailly greeted by  a  friendly gentleman who I presume was the owner and had a few pleasant words about the wine - we were one of the first in at 6 pm. AS it got busy, we had to continually call the waiters - even when we caught their attention they didn't come. WE skipped dessert because we were all over it by that stage. Had to ask for the bill twice. Such a shame - please lift your service game, Chau Ba - we would like to keep coming back  but  that relies on improved service next experience.

Decent Vietnamese food outside of Cabramatta and Bankstown, soup was nice and noodles were on point. Good restaurant for something clean and different in the area

French Vietnamese cuisine is not something you come across every day, but stylish eatery Chao Ba serves an extensive menu of these dishes and is conveniently located in Chatswood next to the library. We dipped our toes into this different style of Vietnamese cooking with their Banh Bot Loc, a.k.a. clear tapioca shrimp dumplings which had a pleasantly chewy texture and were drizzled with a delicious fish sauce and topped with crunchy fried shallots and chives for an extra flavour hit. These morsels are smaller than your usual dumplings, but each bite is packed full of flavour and there’s plenty of these bite-sized goodies in the serving too.

Came here for some basic pho on a rainy evening. Probably a mistake given it's not their specialty and perhaps a bit unfair - however, was so far below what we were hoping for even at a basic level, from a phone perspective. Had to ask for the fresh chillies and mint, which I had always thought was a standard but again, maybe my misunderstanding. Happy to give it a go with the other food as that looks good but disappointingly sad pho.

Didn't love my experience here. Service was good when we arrived but it filled up during our meal and service was non existent when we wanted to ask where our last dish was and to get the bill. Food itself was fine. Good presentation but flavour wise, not anything to rave about.

Service has seriously dropped - the place is understaffed, food takes much too long to arrive and you need to ask several times for simple things like cutlery and serviettes. <br/>Portion sizes were also smaller and less generous i.e. Very little calamari in our stir fry and beef in the pho. <br/><br/>This is a nice casual restaurant with indoor and outdoor seating, and fast and friendly service. The food quality and portion was good. The spring rolls are super crispy and tasty. The curry had good flavour. I've definitely had better pho (more flavoursome broth) but it was still nice.

Chao Ba has a great range of different Viet dishes which makes choosing so much harder. The favourite of the night was the Banh Beo which though doesn't beat that tasted in Hue, I didn't care much cause it was very tasty. The pork crackling made it. The service was attentive. Overall, the place is suitable for a date night or something slightly more fancier than the usual Viet places.

Loved the foods in overall, but staff needs more customer service training..taking order was done in poor and they tried to put a blame onto the customer instead...

Nice decor & friendly staffs. We went during lunch time, it was quite so could not verify all the negative reviews on the slow & not attentive service. <br/><br/>About the food<br/>- GOOD: Banh beo & Banh cuon were yummy & fresh <br/>- NOT SO GOOD: <br/>+ We ordered the prawn & crabs spring rolls. Apologies if my statement is incorrect however I am pretty sure these are the frozen ones that we sometimes buy from Viet supermarket in bankstown. Tasty but not homemade.<br/>+ Pho dac biet (Beef noodle soup) : was sweet & seemed like it was made from the instant spice cubes. You can not smell & taste the thickness of the ox bone. I do need to mention the meat was tender.<br/><br/>Overall, we would not mind to come back again if we are around the area & need a Vietnamese fix. However, few more minute drives there are better Viet places in Crows Nest :)

Not too shabby for clean viet food. The flavours there and really represents fresh Vietnamese cruisine. My background is Vietnamese and I thought it was pretty decent. The spring rolls was a let down though. Couldn't really taste the filling inside as the pastry was rather thick and hard. I didn't taste the Pho here so I can't comment on the quality. <br/><br/>All the staff was Vietnamese and spoke English well which is a nice change. The spring rolls was abit expensive for the quantity and quality though. Overall, not too bad.

Extremely expensive and not even close to justify the cost with the quality of the food.<br/>I have ate amazing asian food at half of the price and double the quality.

Surprised to say the least with the amount of negative reviews this place has received and all I can say is that we had nothing but delightful food and service all round.<br/><br/>Thad not to sat the other people don't know what they're talking about, it just means I got lucky when I went there.<br/><br/>Curried were fantastic, bold full of flavor. Portion sizes were huge so be careful about what you're ordering

Not a fan of this place<br/><br/>The spring rolls didnt have much flavour and relied heavily on the sauce<br/><br/>The omelette was way too floury, way too many beansprouts and not enough meat<br/><br/>The pho was alright, soup a bit bland imo but the meat was tender and delicious<br/><br/>Overall a missable place

UPDATE 28 May 17<br/><br/>We dined here for the second time on a Sun eve in late autumn. Like the previous visit, the place was pretty full, so it’s clearly still popular with the locals and I’m glad we booked ahead. Our table was outside and right at the back, although the heaters kept us warm and we weren’t cold. <br/><br/>Three of us dined and for entrees, we shared the vegetarian spring rolls. They seemed smaller than last time, but there were six to a serve and they were crunchy and crispy with a tasty veg filling. For mains we all went for the Vietnamese Vermicelli salad bowls: Two with lemongrass chicken and one with lemongrass beef. The beef dishes had very little in the way of meat in them, mostly just noodles and salad. My lemongrass chicken was quite cold and bland. I couldn’t really taste much in the way of lemongrass.Probably best dish of the night was a the “Banh Ba” dessert, which is a traditional Vietnamese rice sponge cake with coconut cream and topped with roasted peanuts and white sesame ($12). The dish was nicely presented with three colourful little cakelets neatly arranged on the plate. They were not too sweet and the coconut cream and peanuts made the perfect accompaniment.<br/><br/>Service as per last time was friendly and efficient although entrees and mains all came out together. I usually prefer to do it in stages.<br/><br/>I noticed that prices hadn’t seemed to have changed much in the 13 months since we were last here, a minor miracle in this age of soaring prices, so a they get a tick for that. We paid a modest $75 for three of us, after our $20 Dimmi discount voucher. That bought us two drinks, one shared entree, three mains, two bowls of rice and one dessert.<br/><br/>Overall though, a disappointing dining experience this time around.Voucher or no voucher, I’m not sure that we’ll be rushing back.<br/><br/>03 April 16<br/><br/> FOOD TYPE<br/>Vietnamese<br/><br/>FOOD QUALITY<br/>We were impressed with the quality of the food, although serving sizes were small. Four of us dined on a Sunday night in autumn. We started with a serve of Vietnamese style, vegetarian spring rolls, at $14 for six. Unlike the spring rolls that one gets at Chinese or Thai restaurants, these ones are small but the coating has a coarser, nuttier texture making them even more crispy and tasty. For mains I chose the chargrilled lemongrass chicken ($17) and my dining companions had the salad bowls with prawn ($19) and lemongrass beef ($17). To round it off, we ordered a serve of jasmine rice and a plate of stir-fried broccoli with oyster sauce and garlic ($12). Everything looked and tasted fresh, wholesome and nutritious. Presentation was neat on trendy, coloured dishes. My lemongrass chicken was succulent and tender and served with an accompaniment of lettuce leaves and sprinkled with shallots. A simple but flavoursome dish. The beef salads were topped with crunchy nuts and prawn crackers, with the meat finely cut into thin strips. Everyone enjoyed their meals. This is the kind of place where you won’t walk out feeling overstuffed and bloated, although to be honest I still felt a tad hungry afterwards. <br/><br/>ATMOSPHERE<br/>Chao Ba is situated in the modern and rejuvenated Chatswood Concourse, which comprises a string of restaurants arranged around a central communal area. Seating is split equally between indoors and outdoors. Outdoors was fine on a warm autumn eve and as you’re well away from the road, there’s no issue with traffic fumes, which tends to mar other alfresco sites in Sydney. I’m not sure what happens in winter, perhaps they manage to enclose it with a canvass roof. The décor is stylish and inviting with lots of greenery in planter boxes and pots, exposed walls and low hanging lamps. A perfect venue for a casual and relaxed dinner with family or friends. When we arrived at 6.20pm, the place was only about half full, but it quickly filled up and by the time we left at 7.30pm, it was pretty full and buzzing with energy and activity.<br/><br/>SERVICE<br/>Wait staff are neatly turned out in smart white uniforms and their service is efficient and professional. Our booked table was ready and waiting for us. Orders were smartly taken and dishes came out quickly and in the correct order. I should also mention that my initial email enquiry and booking request was handled promptly and politely. It’s a pleasure to deal with a place that’s responsive and attuned to customer service.<br/><br/>COMFORT<br/>The solid wooden tables are large enough to easily fit all dishes and drinks, and our plastic chairs were firm and comfortable. Some tables have wooden stools or benches. There are no table cloths so you can happily make as mush mess as you like!<br/><br/>MENU<br/>I found the menu difficult to deal with. It consists of scrappy pieces of paper attached to a clipboard and one finds oneself paging backwards and forwards and trying to stop the pages from falling out. The fancy font style, adds to the problems of reading it. The online version is as difficult to cope with, requiring constant scrolling up and down and side to side. Wouldn’t it be better to have a straightforward menu style on laminated plastic sheets enclosed in a binder, with a simple matching electronic version on the website?<br/><br/>TOILETS<br/>Even as a restaurant patron, you’ll have to use the public toilets in the concourse. Fortunately though these ones are well lit and just behind Chao Ba, so they’re easy to find and you won’t have far to go. They seem safe enough and they’re clean and well provisioned.<br/><br/>ACOUSTICS<br/>Sitting outside we were initially easily able to converse. But tables are placed quite close to one another and the concrete paving will ensure that noise travels. Once a group of rowdy ladies lobbed in and parked themselves at the table next to ours, conversation became more difficult! I’m thinking that on a Fri or Sat night, it could get quite loud. The inside section is small with no carpets or other noise absorbers so that could be a problem too.<br/><br/>COST<br/>We paid $90, after a 25% discount (up to max $25) with our Ent Book card. For that, we got three drinks (inc one Peroni); one serve of spring rolls, a plate of broccoli, four mains and a single serve of rice. A fair amount to pay, for smallish helpings.<br/><br/>BOOKING<br/>We took the precaution of booking ahead for a Sunday night and I’m glad that we did because although there were empty tables when we arrived, by the time we left the place was pretty much full.<br/><br/>PARKING/ACCESS<br/>The Concourse is a short 10-minute walk from either Chatswood Chase Shopping Centre or Westfield. We found easy parking at the Chase, where the first three hours are free, giving you plenty of time to enjoy your meal. Westfield is free after 6pm. <br/><br/>SUMMARY<br/>We had a pleasant evening at Chao Ba and everything went off smoothly. Food and service are first class and the ambience is just right for a laid-back and relaxing evening. Prices are reasonable and there are plenty of free parking options nearby. The Chatswood Concourse provides a secure and congenial environment that’s ideal for families. Only downside was the small serving sizes, but as prices are reasonable it’s probably wise to order one or two extra dishes to make sure you don’t leave half-starved. Noise could be an issue on a busy night, especially if you’re sitting inside.<br/><br/>RECOMMENDATION<br/>Any of the lemongrass dishes are sure to tantilise your tastebuds.<br/><br/>MEMO<br/>If you are an Ent Book member, you’ll need to show your card, as this one is a bonus offer that’s not in the original book. The friendly cashier will photograph your card to make sure you don’t use it again. A bit of overkill I thought as the discount is limited to only $25 anyway.

We weren't greeted when we stepped into the restaurant and had to approach a waitress to ask for a table. My pho was average and it was also an average experience overall. It wouldn't be my first choice to dine, as it wasn't a place that stands out for me. There are too many other great options in Chatswood!

This restaurant offers an attractive selection of foods which is great for share food. Although the service was inattentive and slow, foods are great and good presentation. I would recommend this place for a group of friends or families .

Just walked to our car that was parked in the concourse and we just stopped here for a quick bite.<br/>Its really nice set up and the decor is nice. We like the community tables too. So we just had a pho to share, little bit pricy compare to our regular vietnamese back in St Leonards. But really tasty, We will definitely come back and try more dishes.

Anyone familiar with Chatswood will know it has one of the best collection of Asian eateries on offer in Sydney. Chinese, Cantonese, Japanese, Korean...you name it, Chatswood has plenty of it. Chao Ba, a modern Vietnamese restaurant, is a welcome entrant to this jam packed dining scene. . I noticed this restaurant walking by the Concourse one night, and visited with a friend a couple of weeks later. The menu was quite extensive, ranging from small tapas style share dishes to more traditional mains.We started with the Clear tapioca shrimp dumplings topped with crunchy fried shallots and chives. The dumpling skin was slippery and the right thickness to hold it together. The prawns were yummy and went well with the fried shallots and fish sauce which accompanied the dish.

Located in the centre of Chatswood concourse, this Vietnamese restaurant is only three months old. I had a bowl of tender beef pho $14.50 and the prawn and crab spring rolls $13.50. Pho to me is a pretty simple dish and is all about the soup base, and unfortunately Chao Ba was extremely average, the soup base was very watery and not the strong beef soup that you usually get. There's plenty of noodle but not alot of beef. The spring rolls were fresh and tasted good. The rest of the menu looks good but abit pricey for a what you get.

Well decorated but very mediocre food. Don't get me wrong the food was presented beautifully on plates but not so much when it comes to flavours. <br/>Although all the dishes came with lots of garnish, there wasn't much flavour to the food. Everything was on the plain side. <br/>The biggest turn down was the pho. I had very high expectation as the place was so well presented. The portion was huge but the soup was rather blend. For the price of it I was expecting much more. <br/>Lots of people mentioned inattentive services at this place. I thought it was ok. They weren't exactly very warm to customers but they reacted to our requests fairly quickly. <br/>Overall the dining experience was very average.

Okay, before I start off as I would with my regular reviews of a restaurant, I should point out that I do consider myself an expert on Vietnamese cuisine. That’s probably because I am Vietnamese myself and have grown up eating authentic and homemade food from my mum. Now although I did have prejudices against Vietnamese restaurants situated outside the Cabramatta region, I must say, this place totally blew my preconceived notions about all those Vietnamese restaurants out of the water!

If you are looking for authentic vietnamese food with some taste DO NOT go here. My wife and I went here during the week for dinner. Chose 4 dishes (one which was recommended by the waiter) This included an entree, salad and main. The service was good. Friendly and attentive. However food took way too long to come out, considering they were very simple dishes. <br/><br/>As for the food, I can honestly say that every dish was the most bland and tasteless I can remember ever having (and I have been eating vietnamese food my entire life). The dishes were accompanied by a small serving of fish sauce (also tasteless- I had to get 2 extra servings and drench the food)....and no chilli.<br/><br/>When I asked for chilli...their response was "we've run out". A vietnamese restaurant with no chilli?????<br/><br/>The whole meal cost us almost $90, so we went home to have a nice packet of instant noodles (which tasted nicer).

{ _anne_with_an_e // review }<br/>We walked around The Concourse in Chatswood looking for a late-ish feed at 8pm, and noticed this new Vietnamese restaruant. Inside we were greeted with friendly smiles and we asked if they were still serving. We were told in advance the food may take a while (30-45mins) - but we were happy to wait.<br/><br/>The interior reminded me a lot of Mama's Buoi (and not sure if they’re linked in any way), but there’s a mix of long communal tables and individual tables and chairs - good for big and small groups. The menu had a vast variety of options; for entree we ordered the Cha Gio (prawn and crab rice paper spring rolls), and for mains the Suon Rang Me (chilli tamarind pork spare ribs), and Pho Dac Biet (beef rice noodle soup).<br/><br/>The Cha Gio were a delightful surprise and certainly weren’t your average spring rolls. These had a delicate waffer-like outer layer which was light and crispy, and great texturally. And although small in size, they were delicious and I would happily come back for these any day!<br/><br/>I received my pho about 30mins after being seated (which is fine as we expected it, although most pho places are super quick). I do like it when the herbs and condiments are brought out to the table automatically, but I had to kindly as for mine. The bowl was large and full of beef slices, and it was really filling and fresh. The pork ribs came to the table 10mins after. They were soft and very tasty with lots of sour flavour from the tamarind. We left satisfied!<br/><br/>Must have // Cha Gio (rice paper spring rolls)<br/>Pros // friendly service, open and modern atmosphere, large menu<br/>Cons // bit of a wait (but told in advance)<br/><br/>Food: 4/5<br/>Ambience: 4/5<br/>Service: 3.5/5

A new exciting place to eat in Chatswood, Chao Ba delivers a new level of westernised vietnamese food in Tapas style portion. Entrees are flavoured to perfection with stunning presentation. Deep fried String rolls were my dish of the night. Salads were amazeballs. Definitely place to checkout for all y'all foodies.

My friends and I were severely underwhelmed by both the inattentive service and bland flavours at Chao Ba. Completely understand that they are still trying to find their feet but we had one order mixed up, ridiculous wait times between each dish and one order completely forgotten. Although presented beautifully, the beef rice paper rolls were nothing special, same with the Vietnamese chicken salad. Would not recommend the coconut/tumeric mini pancakes with prawns or the crunchy noodle dish with seafood. It is unfortunate that the decor and general vibe is great because this restaurant could have had a lot of potential. We won't be returning.

Made booking via their website, then called the store twice to change the time of booking and number of people. However, when we arrived, it seemed like our table wasn't reserved but luckily there was table available so we just sat there. Wasn't a nice impression to start with.<br/><br/>Now this impression was not just a first impression.<br/>Our dishes nearly took an hour to be severed! I think our orders did not go into the kitchen (when we asked if the order had gone in, the owner/manager avoided to answer our question) as the table next to us who ordered after us got their (same) entree before us. <br/><br/>Taste was not too bad but they come in small portions compared to their prices.<br/>So after all our dishes we had to order some more (which again took ages to be served).<br/><br/>Now the payment. I had 2 Entertainment Cards as there were 7 of us. If you use Entertainment cards, you should know that we can use up to 3 cards for 6 or more people. When I gave 2 Entertainment Cards, the owner said we can only use 1 and that we can use the other one next time (there will be no next time, as I won't be returning). So I showed the 'Rules of Use' on Entertainment book website for him to read. Then he made couple of calls to someone (not sure to whom as he spoke in French) then he told me 'ok' and reprinted our receipt. However, on the revised receipt he had only used 1 Entertainment card. So I told him that he had only used one but he kept saying he had used 2. I had been standing at the counter for about 10 minutes and there were people behind me so I just paid and left.<br/><br/>Overall, we did not have a nice experience at this restaurant (there was no apology of lateness of service or whatsoever) and certainly won't be returning.

Convenient location but underwhelming food. Portions are also quite meagre for the price and look nothing like the pictures (though to be fair, many others are guilty of that too). Most of the plate is taken up by garnish. We ended up having a second dinner elsewhere.

In terms of the food, most of the dishes were delicious, particularly the tapioca shrimp dumplings (would've loved more prawn filling though) and the crispy dumplings!! Unfortunately, the salt & pepper squid was a disappointment - the squid and the fried noodles served underneath were oily, and the noodles were also flavourless (quite frankly, I felt the addition of this wasn't necessary). Serving of food was relatively quick.<br/><br/>In terms of service, this what unfortunately brought down this review's rating. The staff were not at all rude/impolite, but I noticed throughout the evening that the staff were very unattentive. No staff came to ask whether we were ready to order, and this resulted in me having to ask the staff behind the bar/counter beside me to get a waiter to take our order. Later, the table of three beside us also appeared to be finished with looking at the menu, however after awhile they eventually stood up and left (most likely because no waiter came to take their order). We also had to ask for water twice.<br/>Considering the restaurant was not overly packed as well as the number of staff, I would've expected better.<br/><br/>I would highly recommend the restaurant works on improving such basic service, because I believe they have potential in terms of their food, concept and location. (visited Monday night)

I went here for dinner with three friends the other night. Restaurant was very clean and well presented. However staffs were very cold and inattentive, not welcoming. Heard all the rave about this place on instagram, we ordered banh khot, springrolls and banh beo imperial as our entrees. The banh khot was poorly made, batter was too thick considering the fact that the middle isn't cooked you could taste the raw powdery rice flour. Springrolls are also bad and the portion is tiny for $13.50, they use rice paper for the spring roll which is great, however they are missing the fundamental point being the ratio of filling to the rice paper; too little filling were used making the crust too thick and dry, again inedible! The banh beo came out last after our mains, and took a really long time being an entree, the consistency is also wrong it felt too powdery and overcooked, we couldn't finish the whole plate. For our main we ordered water spinach stir fired pork belly in claypot and a vermicelli salad. I'm very disappointed at these dishes. It is very hard to screw up water spinach stir fried, but chao ba managed to make it very salty. Same with the pork belly, the taste could be so much better if it wasn't this salty and for $18.50 all you could get is a tiny child-like portion. We hate to waste/leave food behind, tried as hard as we could but we simply couldn't stomach it all down. We paid our $110 bill with among three of us (one of the girl couldn't eat anything) yet we have to find another to finish up our dinner. Thank you Chao Ba for an unforgettable experience, mediocre food, overpriced and terrible service. Sometimes look isn't everything. Will not be recommending this place to anyone.

Visited the place on a work lunch outing with a group of 12. I always like to think of restaurants as an offering of both food and setting. That said, I think its important for me to balance out some of the reviews here. I ordered the Wonton noodle soup, which like many of the menu options were in the $10-$15 price range. Wait times were reasonable and staff were polite. There was a certain blandness and pre-made taste to the won-tons but the soup was pleasant. It gave me confidence that they didn't use flavour enhancers like MSG. The venue was very well presented with potted herbs on the table and a view overlooking The Concourse and wishing well. Whilst I wouldn't give this place a rave review, it is definitely not terrible and the venue plus food price point is agreeable.

Food was average at best and they need to sort out their portions. Some of the entrees were the size of a main and some of the mains at our table were the size of an entree! We also found the quality to be similar to what you find in a food court rather than a nice restaurant. One of our entrees was that bland and ineddible, we were unable to finish it. We also noticed the table beside us was sending their food back.<br/><br/>However, what cannot be excused is the poor service. The restaurant was only quarter full and the staff couldn't cope. It took them 20 minutes to even take our order despite acknowledging on numerous occasions we were ready. When we asked for the entrees to come out first they said this is not possible and all food had to come out together. After speaking to the chef, they were able to change this, but only by placing two separate orders! Then because they had to place two separate orders for our entrees to come out first, they messed up our mains and gave them to another table by accident then had to make them again! This caused an extra 30 minutes delay. We also had to ask for our drinks were on 3 separate occasions, which finally came out during out mains! I would hate to think how they would cope with even a half full restaurant!

Not entirely sure what the below review was about but I found my experience at Chao Ba to be refreshingly pleasant. The portions were generous (we had pho and a noodle dish) for our mains, and the quality of the ingredients were indeed high. Even my mum commended the how fresh the veges were! My family and I enjoyed sharing the dishes, with the gorgeous decor and soft mellow beats playing in the background. The service was warm, and true to the philosophy of the restaurant. The only downside was that one of our dishes was a bit saltier than expected, but having said that, this wasn't a consistent trend out of all the dishes. <br/><br/>As a local, I'm looking forward to spending more time here for Vietnamese cuisine given the current poor overpriced options in Chatswood.

Overpriced food, bad service. Waiters walked pass our food 5 times and never gave them to us. Avoid like the plague. Plenty of other good places around.

Chao Ba means "Hello Aunty" in Vietnamese and we certainly weren't greeted that way when we arrived. I really wanted this night to be pleasant as I am not only sick of writing mediocre reviews but having mediocre food however, my bad run this week would prove to continue. The precursor to the evening was that this new establishment had only opened this week so I was willing to make exceptions for teething problems but there was simply way too many basic mistakes that were inexcusable.<br/><br/>We arrived at 6.50pm and half the restaurant was already full so we escorted ourselves to the table of our choice after the waiter gave us the option of 3 tables. We waited for 5 minutes and thought that waiter would eventually bring our menu but it never came. I had to go to the counter to ask for the menu when another waiter apologised and brought our menu. Not a very good start.<br/><br/>We ordered a bottle of wine and some dishes. The wine came and the waiter started pouring the wine into both glasses without asking us to taste. Now, I'm no wine tosser but basic waiter skills are needed to at least give the diner a chance to see if the wine was corked. Anyway, this was not a real bother.<br/><br/>We ordered 2 entree's a salad and a main. The salad came first, followed by one entree, the main and then the next entree last. There were no sharing plates and we needed to ask. The rice also needed reminding. <br/><br/>The food:<br/><br/>Banh Beo Hue Imperial - Steamed rice flour cakes topped with dried shrimp, pork cracking and mungbean. This dish was an entree and took the longest to prepare. The wait was worthwhile as it came quite spot on and traditional.<br/><br/>Cha Gio - Crispy rice paper spring rolls with black fungus and pork served with lettuce, asian herbs and nuoc name (fish sauce). The spring rolls were good with a good filling and the nuoc nam was very well balanced however they forgot to bring the lettuce and asian herbs.<br/><br/>Goi Ga - Poached free-range chicken salad. The flavour was very well balanced but re-reading the menu again now, I found several elements missing and the serving was simply too small for a salad. It was not an entree salad but a salad listed under its own category so the size should have reflected that. There was no roasted peanuts or fried shallots as listed on the menu.<br/><br/>Thit Heo Kho To - Braised caramelised pork belly in young coconut juice. I question where the poor belly was as the pork was simply shoulder pork but the caramelised sauce was good. The dish was classified as a main but would struggle to be an entree given the incredibly small size.<br/><br/>The good - the flavours of all the dishes are well balanced and traditional. <br/><br/>The Bad - The service was simply not up to scratch. We needed to ask for the most basic of things and we also found the next table that came in sticking their neck out on several occasions to see where their food was. The dishes were missing elements described on the menu - this was inexcusable and unprofessional. The portions were very small especially the main. Anyone who ordered the pork belly without sharing would be flabbergasted at the ridiculous size of this main meal by any standards. The service was clumsy and disorganised although the waiters were generally pleasant.<br/><br/>Overall, I would say that the food quality is not bad but so many things let it down. They probably do not realise that the Japanese restaurant they replaced was only opened for several months and spent a lot of money on the fit out. If you open a business these days, not doing your homework is financial suicide. The restaurant business in Chatswood is cut throat and many restaurants have come and gone. I am afraid Chao Ba will go down this path and have the same destiny of many of those restaurants if it doesn't lift its game. <br/><br/>We paid $78 for our meal and had to go down the road to another restaurant to complete our meal.