Review Kin Vietnamese Restaurant - Melbourne

Absolutely amazing! First time I have come here for dinner with a few friends, and definitely we we’ll come back. The atmosphere is just great, with good music (to me) and perfect volume; together with the decoration, a brilliant cozy place. Staff is also very friendly. Then the menu, one of those that you have a good variety; not an endless list of options, but good. Dishes are well done, with nice presentation and good size. Nah,... I just want to come back already.

Food is good, but service not really. They were understaffed and the waiter took sometime give us the menu and them to take order.

I'd give this place 6 stars if I could! Delicious meaty pho broth, deep flavour in the rice paper roll dipping sauce, and a lightly bitter bo la lot that makes you crave for seconds. Must try!

Went there on Thursday at 7.00pm we had a booking luckily as the place was full which is a good sign of a great restaurant the food was delicious and service is very friendly special mention to Aidan for looking after us that evening will definitely be back 😋

Very Caring staff & Super Accommodating! A group of 8 (including myself) went there after two other places were closed on a Thursday night. We were looked after with a courteous 😊. The food was made with care & super fresh >Enjoyed by all! The Vietnamese coffee sweet & delicious. Thank you for looking after All of us So Well. This is how it's done! I'll Definitely return & will Recommend to others. 🐞

We arrived around 4pm, it was empty and not waiter just the old lady in the kitchen, after 20 minutes a random waiter came to the table and gave us the menu. We ordered pho, it was 3/10 , we found a big piece of the soup stock and the soup was very brown dark colour. No really good to be honest.

This place is lovely! From the authentic decor to the incredible fresh Vietnamese food. Staff are attentive. You have to eat here !!

Really great service and food is fresh, delicious and so tasty. Highly recommend the Pho and Bun ? (Vermacelli). Never had a bad experience and food is always great!

We ordered via Uber Eats. This is the worst food I have ever received ever! We couldn’t eat anything. Wouldn’t even feed it to my dog. The prawn spring rolls were tiny and without prawns inside multiple layers of paper roll. I’ve never in my life seen spring rolls so far from a spring roll before. They had no prawns or anything inside them. Inedible! Chicken skewers were burnt black. The pork wontons were deep fried to be black on the outside. The soft shell crab was burnt also. The prawn dumplings were served on mixed lettus. Everything was burnt an inedible. We actually couldn’t eat anything at all. The worst food I have ever received in my life! If I could give no stars - I want to rate this place negative 10

Quick fix for a bowl of pho! We always get beef combination pho however sometimes brisket was quite fatty.<br/>You can't go wrong with any menu thou!

3.5/5<br/><br/>After a busy day at my new work place, Ozzy and a friend joined me for lunch. Famished, was in no mood tp search for a restaurant and immediately chose this one as we were passing-by Kin.<br/><br/>Ambience is quite basic and homely. Nothing fancy or over-the-top. This was an indication that the food would be extremely simple and either very good or bad.<br/><br/>Ordered a Grilled Chicken with Pok Pok Rice, Kin Spicy Rice with Shredded Chicken and Bun Saigon Vermicelli with Chicken.<br/><br/>We, thankfully, liked most of the things on our plate.....But the star of the afternoon was the Pok Pok rice served with grilled Chicken. It was delicious and perfectly cooked and charred.<br/><br/>The Vermicelli with chicken was delicious as well and had the freshness of fresh greens and veggies.<br/><br/>Kin Spicy Rice with Chicken was nice but a bit disappointing as the tomato curry or sauce served with it was absolutely Bland and no flavors at all.<br/><br/>The only disappointment we felt about the food was that there was no play of flavors. The dressings government with each plate was same. Salads were same. Spices used were same and food took really long to come. I guess the owner herself is a chef and runs the show.<br/><br/>Service was good and so was the pricing.

Nice and refreshing meal, but nothing to write home about<br/><br/>LOVED:<br/>🔸delicious spring rolls<br/>🔸the marinated beef wrapped in betal leaf, the meat was super tasty with lots of flavour, which balanced out the the vermicelli<br/><br/>LIKED:<br/>🔸the cocktail options, a few interesting looking cocktails, especially the one with lychee<br/><br/>FEEDBACK:<br/>🔹we actually received the wrong order, ordered chicken and received beef, but we didn't say anything as we didn't realise until half way through....thankfully neither persons had any dietary requirements but should be something you keep a note of

Their pho was amazing. Tried the beef pho and I think it is one of the best pho in Melbourne. Service was excellent. Would definitely come back.

Came have dinner with my friends on Tuesday night,the environment warm and nice looking! we waited so long for our food coming but its worth for the waiting! The food is delicious and the service super excellent! The waiter so nice and professional! He make our night with high manner! Highly recommended and we definitely come back soon!

Revisited this venue and had a much more positive experience than the first time. While the tofu pho I tried initially was not the best (as the broth lacked the umami needed to mimic the flavour of meat) the spicy papaya salad and vermicelli bowls were both great - especially when combined! Would love to see a few small tweaks (like coating the fried tofu in the same sweet chilli glaze that comes with the papaya salad) to boost the vegan and vego options to the next level. If you're getting a coffee and you drink dairy, go for the classic Vietnamese milk option which comes to the table with a cool old school drip filter. While the black iced coffee I tried on my first visit was a bit basic for the price, the simple addition of condensed milk and the chance to watch the coffee brew before my eyes makes the milk variation seem like better value. Plus it helps balance out the delightfully strong brew. Music was good and space was busy, which also helped boost my overall impression.

Service: ⭐️⭐️⭐️<br/>Taste: ⭐️⭐️<br/>Ambiance: ⭐️⭐️⭐️<br/>Value: ⭐️⭐️⭐️<br/><br/>I have Vietnamese parents and have been eating Vietnamese food all my life. I was not sure if this place was supposed to be a fusion restaurant, but I have to say that I left the place very disappointed. Aside from the Pho, which was fantastic, the other dishes were a drab. Not too sure what the soup/stew thing was, but it was definitely not Vietnamese. The chicken piece on rice was a little depressing, but luckily we ordered a salad entree. Don’t think we will be back anytime soon.

Nice little place and the bloke serving us was wonderful!<br/>Ordered quite quickly but waited a very long time for the food to come out. Noticed it took some time for other tables also.<br/>Food it's self was fantastic.<br/>Soft shell crab bao was great but the chicken bao lacked flavour.<br/>Bowls of Pho were great.<br/>Would eat there again if I was around the area.<br/>Would give 3.5/5

Lovely relaxed atmosphere. Perfect for a first date or catch up with a friend. Quiet enough to talk and staff never rushes you. Such attentive service. Simple delicious food. Ordered spring rolls, veggie dumplings and pho. Very authentic. Everything was yum! Definitely will be back.

Absolutely outstanding Vietnamese fusion cuisine with very friendly staff! Authenticity and freshness within every dish served, from the rice paper rolls to the minced beef in betel leaves. The new owner has taken over this hidden gem and has put a new spice of potential on Chapel street! Would not miss this tucked away Vietnamese restaurant in bustling chapel street!

Mouth watering Vietnamese food paired with a great atmosphere! Their spring rolls are so delicious, the pho was on point (love the fact that they do cups of pho) and the grilled chicken with rice was definitely the highlight! The chicken was so flavoursome, tender and juicy. Will definitely be back for a feed soon!

This place is okay. More a 3.5/5 than a 4/5. I found them on Eat Club and, given my time constraints and wanting a fairly healthy meal, I chose this place. It was NYE, and the place was fairly full. Service was okay, but I got scolded for eating the sprouts before the meal came, which was very bizarre. The tofu pho was lovely, but really needed more vegetables. The other bizarre part was when I went to pay. With the Eat Club discount the meal was $7.50, and they looked quite annoyed. I paid in cash and popped the $2.50 change into their tip jar, and they just looked away. I walked past three staff members on the way out, and not one of them said goodbye. Very strange service.

I don’t usually give 1 star, and to be honest, I actually LOVED Kin, before today’s dinner. <br/>I mean, if you come on a day with good service, yes, Kin is one of the best Vietnamese restaurants in this suburb in my opinion.<br/><br/>However, I had the WORST service ever tonight. We waited more than 20m for 2 coffees and 45m for all the food. I wouldn’t have minded the wait, if the service had been nice, actually. But after 45m, the waitress brought out 2 bowls of Pho, without any cutlery. I couldn’t call out to her because she left the table immediately. Then she came back with the share grill plate. Still no cutlery. No lemon, no basil for Pho. We then asked for cutlery, and had the table been bigger, her slam might have been louder. My friend ordered Pok Pok rice and he had to eat 3/4 of it without any sauce. It was so bland he squeezed lemon on it for flavor. When we asked for fish sauce, she gave us soy sauce instead.<br/>And what pissed me off more than anything, is the waiter at the cashier when I asked if you guys were understaffed because I had the worst service tonight. And he gave me NO APOLOGY. NOTHING. He gave me the most ignorant look, and proceeded to ask which drink we ordered, said “that’s 88 dollars” and asked if i wanted the receipt. It was just plain rude. <br/><br/>I love the food, I really do. I just couldn’t stand the service tonight. And it was so embarrassing because we went on and on with our friend that this place is amazing, and we love it. I was so disappointed tonight.

Updated 8 Jan 19<br/>This used to be a gem but it was a total trash tonight. It was so disappointing with the service. We were waiting to be seated and they managed to arrange a table outside for us. The table was dirty and the waitress barely swiped any veggies on it. There was fish sauce, cabbage left on the table and it was crowded so we guessed the waitress wouldn’t come back to properly swipe the table the 2nd time. We ended up cleaning the table ourselves. We ordered our food: 2 phos, 1 rice, 1 share grilled plate, 2 coffee and 1 cocktail. The waitress brought the hot coffee without a spoon to mix the condensed milk up. We waited 45 MINUTES for the rest of our order and I had to step inside to ask the staff if my food is ready yet and what I’ve got is the waitress saying ‘Please give me 2 minutes, I’ll ask the kitchen, okay?’. At this point, she just convinced me that she forgot to put in our order. 5 mins later, we got our phos. No cutlery, waiting for the cutlery. No side veggies for pho. We asked for it, 5 mins later, got a messy side veggies with 5 basil leaves (we ordered 2 bowls of pho btw). No sauce for the rice. When I asked for fish sauce, 10 mins later, she brought me a big bowl of soy sauce.<br/><br/>It was so disappointing and absolutely unacceptable given this was once my favorite restaurant in the suburb. The service was a real mess. The restaurant was completely understaffed and none of the staffs actually gave any f*** about the customer. When we did our payment, my sister complained about the service and what they said was: oh hmm okay, what’s your table number?. I don’t care how good the food is (it was not up to its usual standard today though) but I won’t come back to this place ever again. It’s a shame to see such a high potential business going downhill this way. <br/><br/>—————<br/>Old review: 1st Oct 2016<br/>I just moved here so I can't wait to try all the vietnamese restaurants in the local and I'd say this one is the best one I've been to so far. <br/>I had a BBQ platter to share, the pork skewers were very tasty. The herb chicken skewers are highlight! I love it so much. It just reminds me of my home country's taste. The tofu salad is really nice as well as the cup pho. I love the concept of having a cup pho because I want to save room for other dishes. Another plus point is the iced coffee. Very authentic. I love it. <br/>Quick service (not sure if it's good or not because it was hard to make eye contact with the waitress). Nice atmosphere. Highly recommend the place.

Best pho in town! The Char Chicken had such a tasty broth and the chicken cooked to perfection! All this, while enjoying the chilled vibes topped off with very friendly staff!

Was in the area and craved something warm and soupy on a cold freezing night. I thought the portion wasn't great, the broth was also rather mediocre. An acquaintance said it tastes like they use stock cubes instead of real broth, which I don't know if it's true. It's an OK place to have pho if you want the semi hip vibe as opposed to dingy unkempt places. Sorry about the low light photo- place has too much hip ambience to have good lighting lol.

Will come back for:<br/>+ Rear Beef Pho<br/><br/>This place serves a slightly sweeter type of pho broth compared to the usual savoury taste. It’s not better or worst, just depends on personal preference. We ordered one rare beef pho and another with rare beef and shredded chicken. The broth was flavorsome, the accompanying herbs and bean sprouts generous. I just have a preference for the more robust, savoury broth. The spring rolls were good, just needed a little bit more lettuce to roll the spring rolls with. Service was great and the place has a nice modern feel to it.

Been here a few times. They have the best Bun! You can order “combination” Bun Saigon with char grilled pork or chicken with spring roll. I’ve noticed though they’re Spring roll wrapper type has changed ( as seen on pic, they were taken on 3 different visits). Always nice to come back here when we are in the area.

Kin is the best Vietnamese restaurant that I have ever been to. My boyfriend and I adore it. <br/>The food is absolutely to die for and I have never had a bad experience. <br/>The staff are always lovely, the decor is gorgeous, I seriously have nothing negative to say. <br/>It is incredibly reasonably priced and so worth every cent. <br/>I couldn’t recommend it more.

Simplicity is GREAT ...<br/><br/>Modern interior, rustic furniture, a big mural aerial photo of a vibrant colourful market somewhere in Vietnam, a tad dark, dimly lit ... need a bit more brightness.<br/><br/>Simple, freshly made dish traditional Vietnamese street food, 8/10 $14.00 Bahn mi - Vermicelli with grilled Pork, balanced dipping sauce; light, sweet, tangy and the best bit ... charred Pork, that's the extra fine "charcoal" flavour. Vermicelli just a tad overcooked, broken/short.<br/><br/>Good recommendation Liven .... Attentive and proactive service, she did checked, "How's the food?"<br/><br/>Well prepared, presented "simplicity" is often the best. JT-26/04/2018.

I should’ve done the review long time ago.. Been to this lovely place back in August 2017 with colleagues and I can’t forget how good and delicious the food was.. the place is cozy and neat. Just love it!!

I'm not quite enjoy the pho. We have two. The sprout came in one small plate. I know it is double. But the plate is too small to hold the sprout. We ends with sprout everywhere on the table. The bowl is also too small to add the sprout in. <br/><br/>The soup of the pho is not hot enough to cook the sprout. When we finished, the sprout is still raw. <br/><br/>This is quite upset for a people who love sprout in the pho. The taste of the soup is normal. Custom service is good. But I may not come back any more.

The male host is extremely unfriendly, in contrast with the helpful waitress. It took them nearly half an hour to make my Pho as it seemed like they were busy doing all the Uber Eats orders. My Southern-styled Pho was alright, the broth is a little cold, which results in rawness on some pieces of beef. The location is great though, may come back again for other food.

Very disappointed as the restaurant refused to honour the entertainment card offer. When we asked about it he insisted that the restaurant has the right to reject the offer. Food and service were terrible. Not recommended

yuuuuum! friendliest staff EVER! papaya salad so good and great servings of meat with the clean meals. we got pho, lemongrass skewers and papaya salad.

This restaurant serves their pho in southern style. Their vermicelli is pretty average. The spring rolls came in those net crispy skin which is great. Their dipping fish sauce is quite unique and different from the other shop. The pho broth have that sweetness to it that is very different from the one you normally get from other pho place. Would definitely recommend this place to try different version of pho.

I came to this restaurant thinking they had vegan options. When I came in and read the menu I saw that two of the three vegan options had fish sauce in them. I had to have the tofu rice, paper, scissors as it was the only one that was actually vegan (as far as I could tell). I have given a 1.5 rating as the stuff were very nice. I hate to give restaurants low ratings however there is no excuse to mislabel a menu.

Though the prices here appear reasonable the food is bland, boring and comes out looking like it was straight from the tin. Not phased or tantalized at all and there are certainly much better Vietnamese restaurants in the vicinity worth visiting

Good place to come for pho soup. Friendly staff and great happy hour $4 drinks!! Some of the other dishes can be a little small but they aren't expensive.

Great food, efficient and fast service. Ordered pok pok rice and kin spicy rice with beef. I love them both but since I like chicken more, I recommend pok pok rice. Chicken was very tender, and when combined with the sauce it just tasted so good 👌🏼 On the other hand, I find the kin spicy rice unique as the beef is dipped inside tomato sauce, yummm

Food (6/10): had pho here and it was sweeter than I'm used to. The broth in this pho is light but oddly sweet and tasted more of a vegetable broth rather than a beef/chicken/pork broth. Overall, the pho here is unauthentic and expensive so I wouldn't be going here again. <br/><br/>Service (6/10): average service. Have to order at the counter rather than a staff asking for your order. <br/><br/>Ambience (7/10): has nice rustic style decor. Very modern compared to other traditional Vietnamese restaurants

Came here for an anniversary dinner on a Tuesday - had looked at the menu before and was really excited about it. Ordered a glass of wine - came hardly full (work in a bar so realised). Ordered the different bao, pho cups, spring rolls, and some chicken rice to share. Waitress came back and told us they don't have the bao. Left again and then came back to tell us they don't have the pho cups, and offered the main size of pho. How can you have pho but not pho cups? Left feeling underwhelmed, especially with what they did have tasted quite boring. Disappointing because was so excited!

I've been to Kin multiple times. I LOVE their pok pok rice and my partner loves the pho. However, The last two visits were very disappointing. The beef pho was fine, not much to complain about. As for the pok pok rice, the rice dropped so much in standard. They obviously changed the rice. The texture went from chewy fragrant rice to dull tasteless nice that break so easily. It is as though they changed the rice from quality jasmine rice to supermarket budget white rice. I hope you guys change the rice back soon. If not, I don't see myself going back there or recommending anyone there again.

Underwhelming... food flavor was ok, nothing amazing - service just ok, friendly but a bit weird just dropping off sauces for pok pok and pho together in one corner of table not to each person who ordered the dish, we had to ask whats for what.<br/><br/>Also $7 for boa with a small piece of chicken and not much else... wuld have been happy to pay $3.5 for it not $7 for dough and a little chicken<br/><br/>Papaya salad was pretty good so kudos there<br/> <br/><br/>I really hope that the owners take note of zomato reviews as there is potential for this place to be awesome...seems to be a theme going with past reviews, same issues.

Simplicity in design and menu is often good to see in a venue; yet Kin almost takes it to a level where food the options are almost too limited that it's almost an after-thought. The execution of pho (with shreds on chicken) was rather average, where the broth was too safe and light. My pok pok chicken brazenly served on top of lazy white rice was barely saved by the fact that it was juicy. Given that service was friendly yet food is one dimensional, Kin might as well be a side street stall in Hanoi, with better interior decor. The focus here seem to be capturing the Prahran pedestrians looking to drink, with margins on the 333 beers and cheap wines. Come with low expectations, and a mood to chill and drink rather than feasting on Vietnamese.

Unfortunately, yesterday we had very bad experience.<br/>It Starts that we sat at a dirty table and waited long until this was cleaned.<br/>We ordered 2 pho soups, these should come with beansshots but did not come. I then asked if we could have any of them then the waitress said they Run Out of it. The service should have let us know in advance, after all, the soy sprouts make up the soup. As an alternative, there were coal strips, which we do not like. (Of course we paid the original price although it was not served as on the menu)<br/>The ricepaperroll was just bad. The ricepaper stuck unbelievably at the fingers, so that a roll broke. The other roll they served to us was already damaged. There was a tiny shrimp in the shrimp roll. Really poor. Then I asked the service if they can make around the broken Roll another ricepaper to fix that, so that I can eat the Roll and i asked for Take away.<br/>We waited 15min. Then I ask if we can have the Rolk because we have to go. Then we got from the cheeky lady (Not asian) the answer "it will Take a while, you see it is full and I have to do! First all orders are made before you get your roll and this can take 20min!" Then she just left. That was a bottomless impertinence! We are very understanding people when the employees are not able to pack a riceaperroll into a take away carton because there is so much going on, you can predict that. This reaction was absolutely impertinent. I have worked for years in the gastronomy and can say that this service is just so worst! <br/>And especially on a day like Easter Monday is just a disappointment.<br/>I would think about it because so you lose customers. <br/>

Very middle of the range Viet <br/>Everything is not seasoned well <br/>And lacks some love I assume. <br/>Beef in pho is really dry and the spring rolls taste frozen. Inside the lighting is dark Aswell.<br/>Many better Viet around this area in a hot market.<br/>They will need to improve to keep up with the jones!!! Tastes like msg really really sweet aswell <br/>Staff are rude backpackers that don't care.<br/>There is basically no lettuce with the rolls aswell

Had dinner here the other night because they were in the Entertainment Book. Service was fantastic. Really first rate, quick and friendly. Was a bit disappointing that a few dishes, cocktails and drinks listed on the menu were not available any more. They need to update the menu. The food we could order was fresh and good quality if mildly flavoured. Despite a few issues, it was still a great meal and we will return.

Boring food with plain cabbage salad bulking it out :(. <br/>Both vegetarians and meat eaters were very disappointed.<br/>Felt like we were bein kicked out at 9pm too with everything else in the area around.

We had lunch at Kin Vietnamese today- I'd been keen to come in to Kin for a while, as their decor looked cool and inviting, however I found myself a little disappointed. Everything we had was enjoyable but lacked a bit of flavour. Started with the cup of Pho, and the broth was really lacking in its depth of flavour, tasted like simple stock, and then we had the Pok Pok Rice and the Bo La Lap. The rice with the Pok Pok rice was unseasoned, and the chicken needed more seasoning as well, although it was definitely cooked well and was juicy. The Bo La Lap (beef in betel leaf) was not particularly enjoyable, and definitely was underseasoned.

Last night's dinner for 8 at Kin could not have gone better. The staff were so engaged, so accommodating and so professional, from first contact a few days ago, through to our farewells.<br/>The food was delicious - authentic fresh, clean flavours, beautifully presented. The serves were of generous proportions, quickly delivered and very reasonably priced.<br/>We will all be back.<br/>Thank you Kin and staff for a great dining experience, which facilitated our fun night out!

One of My favourite pho in Melbourne, it doesn't have strong flavour but it's delicious :D.<br/>Beef pho is the winner.<br/>Tried the bo la lop it's a meat wrapped with leaves, it tastes good also unique.

I've been here a few times and only really out of necessity (was running errands on Chapel Street, got super hungry, and it was one of the few places still open for lunch after 2:30pm). I've gotten pho each time and it was good, but not great. I prefer the pho at Master Roll on Toorak Road, but in saying that, I haven't tried much pho in Melbourne yet (still a newbie to the city).

I thoroughly enjoy Kin. A friend recommended this to my partner and suggested we try the Pok Pok Rice! It is truly amazing such simple but delicious flavours, we also tried the BFF Share plate that was nice and the pork was the best out of the skewers. <br/><br/>I have come back and eaten here several times the Pok Pok Rice is a winner and a must try!! 😀

We ordered charged chicken pho amazing, doesn't need much hot sauce put wayyyy too much in mine. Just leave it, the chillies maybe small amount it's delicious 😋 meal. The spring rolls fantastic! thumbs up, piping hot everything was fresh service was amazingly fast. Charged pork on rice and cabbage (don't know what the menu item was called), all food was to die for. SOME OF THE BEST PHO IVE EVER HAD!

My favourite Vietnamese restaurant! We have the chicken pho every single time and love it every single time! It's the best pho I've had in Melbourne! Great winter comfort food!

For simple and fresh vietnamese food this place is definitely the spot to hit up! I ordered the prawn papaya salad and it was delicious a good serving size.

Had a wonderful dinner here, with the small space it is a lovely intimate dinner. The service was great and everyone was friendly and patience. I had the rice paper rolls - tofu and the deep fried soft shel crab and it was delicious!!! (loved the flavour combinations) Also a really good price! Will be back again! :)

My favourite vietnamese, great service, great value for money. Pho is amazing and love the prawn spring rolls!!! Would highly recommend :).

The food here is yum but the serving size conpared to the price of it is a little off.... Just got 2 prawn and 2 chargrilled chicken ricepaper rolls for $11?! I thought that they were going to be loaded with meat to explain the price but there were only 2 pieces of prawn in 1 ricepaper roll and they were pretty thin... <br/>KIN has real potential and I hope they take this feedback well x

Meal was disappointing! Spring rolls were tasteless served dry 😳 mains were pretty sad looking. Beef cerviche?! Was just a plate of cabbage...not much beef..if any?! Pretty basic food!

So good! Got recommend by some staff after shopping. This place is amazing. Really great warm vibe and delicious authentic Pho. Also ordered a side of prawn spring rolls and they were to die for 😬🙏

These special rice paper rolls are just delicious!!! We were delighted!<br/>Other dish are nice and I like the idea behind its menu- perhaps try add a few more choices in the future?

Had pho with friends yesterday. We ordered grilled chicken even it is not on the menu. The soup was okay. Compared it with other Pho restaurant, the price is a bit high. The service is good! Maybe it's worth paying for the good service.

I like Kin, I really do. I went again last Friday night but once again it was because I couldn't get a table at Hanoi Hannah around the corner. I want to like Kin even more -  because there are many positives to the place. For example - you can actually hear the person you're out to dinner with because the music is an appropriate level and you won't have to queue to get a table. Unfortunately the food is lagging a little behind it's Vietnamese friends. A bit too much sugar in the pho, average rice paper rolls and slightly disinterested service. Having said that I still like the food BUT it could improve. I will probably be back,  though I'd like it to be as my first preference!

Great place to eat. My local favorite and I've noticed has become a lot busier in the past 6 months. The mini pho cups are great idea for those who want to have other items off the menu. Favorite dish is the Pork Vermicelli salad

I've been hanging to try this place since it opened and the photos always looked appealing, so wee (I) went with decent expectations. <br/><br/>But....<br/><br/>There was something not quite right about this place. Food was ok and the salad tasted fresh but the soft shell crab was a reheated tasteless and oily disaster, the rice paper rolls bland and oversized and filled with the wrong mix for any decent taste, and the service, well it was rushed and almost like they were asking us to hurry and leave.<br/><br/>Add to that the cardinal sin, entrees and mains coming out together... Why???<br/><br/>We sat down ordered ate and left in 35 minutes, it was poor. The opposite of good speedy service in my view. <br/><br/>I've (and I'm sure you will) had plenty of better feeds elsewhere (and yes there are also a lot worse) and unfortunately it's memory won't be for all the right reasons.<br/><br/>It's like it's trying to be Hanoi Hannah without the polish, culinary art and so on, and falls flat in doing so. Be your own entity and brand and you will succeed. <br/><br/>At least you reminded me fondly of my great holiday to Vietnam, and that Vietnamese food can be one of the best cuisines when done right, it just wasn't on this night. <br/><br/>Shame. <br/><br/>But a pass because it wasn't a complete flop.

Fast efficient and friendly service. By Far my favorite is Beef Pho and the food is simple, clean and tasty. Even though it looks simple it goes a long way to satisfying your hunger!

What a lovely setup, loved the ambience and decor! we had the beef pho (with brisket and beef ball) - broth was made to perfection and good size portion. The chargrilled chicken with vermicelli was also spot on!

A restaurant that made for a nice evening meal, prices were reasonable considering the good quality food and service was pleasant and friendly. The Pho purchased had a great flavour and a reasonable quantity of included meat, making for a satisfying meal. It is unfortunate the same cannot be said about the pork rice paper rolls ordered, as to my disappointment the rolls contained a near negligible quantity of pork. This however is my only major complaint concerning this establishment. The decor of this restaurant is well planned and modern in its design, yet still comfortable, thus combined with pleasant music, it allowed for a great relaxation opportunity. I would consider returning to this restaurant if given an opportunity.

Quite pricey for a small serve of pho and little vegetables ... Definitely not authentic (as you can see from the interior design).

Easy, simple food and robust flavours! This will now be our weekly haunt. Great prices & house red is value! Stopped here today (22/11) by chance and glad we did. Great decor too.

I'm rating this high purely for their beef balls and brisket pho and Vietnamese spring rolls. Personally their pho is one of the best tasting I've had so far. Yes there are heaps of other pho places around but I must say their broth is made to perfection. I could almost just drink their broth on its own! So good. Tried other items on the menu but didn't impress so much.

Beef ceveche, was really a salad. Refreshing, crisp, punchy and strong flavours, just too much mint for me. Way too much, but my husband liked it.<br/><br/>The beef bo la lop. Not much to say about it on the positive. The pho in a cup. Great for the kids, that's as far as it goes. The waiter didn't really know much about the food other than what previous patrons have told him. <br/><br/>Shame place has potential

Like: mini pho cups. Perfect for kids.<br/>Like: pho flavour - not too bad<br/>Like: service and ambiance<br/>Dislike: bo la lop - a bit dry and flavourless. Thank goodness for the Vietnamese mint leaf served with it<br/><br/>Food wasn't bad but certainly not stand-out Vietnamese.

Authentic Vietnamese at it's best! Loved the open layout and comfortable ambience. Friendly, quick service and a varied menu. All the ingredients were fresh and the recipes were kept traditional - just how I like my Viet!

REALLY DISAPPOINTING KIN!!!! We eat here at least once a week, we're locals and we often bring friends or tell neighbours to join us every time we come - we love the Pho - but your staff last night with their obnoxious and definitely smug response to not splitting the bills is just not cool! We don't understand what difference it makes for you whether we split the bill and paypass twice ( ie: put $25 through on two paywave eftpos cards) versus you just putting one through - it doesn't matter with your till if you've just rung up $50 as the till doesn't need to audit two paypasses....... and by the way... that is NOT an excuse for your staff to use... nor is it OUR problem as patrons!!! We've had lovely waiters there at Kin before that HAVE split our bill - and by the way - why is it OUR problem that your establishment won't split the bills -  as this has just caused angst so we've learnt that we won't bring friends with us as it's just too hard to split bills, and after the response to our wanting to split our bill last night - we will probably now only tell people THIS story instead of how good the Pho is! What a shame!!!It's called customer service!!! And splitting bills via paypass or eftpos is done at almost every other establishment - esp on Chapel Street which is a highly social meeting district where groups of friends come to dine together and usually split the bills - whether it's by cash, credit card or eftpos paywave.I've eaten at Kin three times just in the last ten days - last week i brought six friends, but now i'm disappointed with the outcome from our visit last night esp as the friend I brought last night was so upset by your waitress who wouldn't split the bill and my friend said she'd never go there again!!!

If you can't get to Richmond or Footscray, this place serves a pretty decent bowl of pho. Other menu items are decent as well but the place lacks character. Nothing else to say really.

Grabbed takeaway chicken pho and chicken rice paper rolls. Both were great. Pho broth was beaut... Quick and friendly service. Will be back

Lovely staff! Been a few times and they are always warm and friendly. I've only had the pho but it was delicious. Cosy atmosphere for intimate dinners 👌🏼✅

I feel like this restaurant has changed owners in the last 6 months, because it used to be great and now it's just good. The pho was a bit on the expensive side, the broth was a bit too sweet for my taste and the vermicelli noodle texture was overly soft. The chicken vermicelli salad was decent, with juicy chicken charred nicely on top of a refreshing mix of noodles and veggies. Beef ceviche salad was good, a good option for a lighter dinner.

Best Pho in Melbourne. I am so shocked to see so many negative reviews on this site. We discovered this gem about 7 months ago and have been going at least once a week ever since. I have introduced countless friends to this place all of whom are now obsessed also. We do always get the same thing, prawn spring or rice paper rolls and combination beef/chicken pho. Never fails to disappoint! I have noticed a few new staff so service has dropped slightly, but hopefully they are just them learning the ropes.

Service is lacking. Terrible service, went on a Friday night with two other customers in the entire place and 3 waiters, but didn't get served until we actually got their attention as they were too busy chatting behind the bar. Asked for water and didn't get any, food was not worth the price or the wait.

Wow I wish I had read the reviews! Don't bother. The food was absolutely horrible. Dry, flavour less, meat tastes like it was last weeks leftovers which had been microwaved, and considering the speed at which it came out, I wouldn't be surprised if that were the case. The vermicelli salad had zero (literally ZERO) dressing. Just a giant bowl of dry, lumpy, tasteless vermicelli. Furthermore I asked if my dish contained garlic as I am highly allergic, I was told it didn't. It did... Unfortunately I didn't realise this until I had gotten home, had a reaction and felt like absolute death the rest of the night. NOT ok to take allergy specifications so lightly and blasé. What a waste of stomach space. Also the waiter was nice enough, but seemed like he had no idea what was going on, no concept of the menu, and overall just awkward. Do not recommend. 0/10.

No good. Felt compelled to share that our experience at Kin was a dissapointment. The fishcakes are tiny and textured more like a flat rubbery sausage. The rice paper rolls were tastelss and consisted on a paper thin slice of dry pork, no mint or dipping sauce Grilled chicken was not breast as stated, hardly grilled and the rice wasnt any better. The best part was the vietnamese coffee, glad they got that right.

RNIS was invited by the owner to try many of their tapas dishes. As part of Bupa's best blog competition for 2015 Kin is a contemporary Vietnamese restaurant which is more like a bar. It is in Prahran near Greville st and not far from the train station. The outside table It was 12pm on Saturday and the place was dead quiet. But says a worker, "it gets busier later in the afternoon and at night". At 1pm a family of four came in and ordered pho. Which by the way I have to say it is really good. And they offer cup (smaller sizes) for people.  The broth was very meaty and sweet. But fingerlickingly good. Other things that I have had are the ceviche (in which the beef is cooked in the raw egg), grilled pork skewers (which tasted like sausage), rice paper rolls, tofu salad and vegetarian spring rolls. I really enjoyed the rice paper rolls. They were very fresh. But what would be even more fun is to have a roll it yourself dish for diners just like Baget. Rice paper rolls (left) and tofu salad (right) The tofu salad was equally just as good where all the vegetables were fresh and I enjoyed the dressing. Normally with dressings they are very heavy but this one is light and tangy. The pork on the skewer was tender. When people see this they think that it is raw pork, but in fact it is cooked. And it is fun to eat, just like a sausage. Or candy when holding it. The spring rolls too were fingerlickly good and not too oily. And it is easy to eat it with the lettuce. Yum. Rating: 18/20- really enjoyed the meal and most of the food would work well with a glass of wine. Do check out Kin for yourself. Many thanks to Kin for the invite

Another Disaster... I should really learn to read some reviews prior to trying these random places..<br/>A BIG BIG DISASTER!<br/><br/>My partner and I were walking around Chapel and High street looking for some place to eat,<br/>after walking around the whole block and finding nothing interesting - we found this interesting place <br/>that had nice decor (Cheap but effective) and decided to try it out.<br/><br/>1.The very first mistake was the weird waiter, who was a westerner.. don't get me wrong cos I am not racist but the waiter really needsto understand a thing or 2 about hospitality basics- he had a real weird uncomfortable vibe and was over friendly.<br/>He sat us down and forgot to give us cutlery until our food came out and we asked for them.<br/><br/>2. The PHO was served without the sauce and the bean shoots, it is only the most important thing in PHO..<br/><br/>Besides this below is what we ordered:<br/> Pho with beef, soft shell crab, beef skewers and Spicy braised Beef..<br/><br/>*BEEF SKEWERS - way too dry, I can tell they had pre-cooked and reheated it wasn't even hot.<br/>*SOFTSHELL CRAB - its the frozen type you can get from COSTCO.<br/>*SPICY BRAISED BEEF - no way.... presentation was ugly, the taste was even worse, all I could taste was the sweet chilli sauce.<br/>*PHO - Very Very Very bad tasting pho... you can literally taste the MSG...<br/><br/>It was all wrong in every angle..<br/><br/>The worst part of this place was that we drank a lot of water all night due to the MSG that we could taste hours after the meal.<br/><br/><br/>Will never go back here.

Don't waste your time or money. Bad pho. Really bad. I love my pho and was so dissapointed :(<br/>Weird service too. Overcompensating for bad pho.<br/>Oversweet and tasteless stock, really cheap tasting noodles, dry chicken, not enough garnishing. Blah

No pretensions here. This is a happy little cafe with Irish staff which seems quizzical. We lunched here, and the food was fresh and flavoursome. My papaya salad was generous, my partners chilli beef serve was skimpy, and quite tomato flavoured. It is a great spot for a quick refuel.

This place looked nice but was disappointing - both in food and service. It even started off bad... When we arrived we were enthusiastically told we had 10 more mins to order drinks in 'happy hour'. Great! But then spent the last 5 mins of happy hour trying to get the waiters attention. He finally came back to the table five minutes after the conclusion of happy hour and told us happy hour had finished. After an awkward few minutes I think he let us sneak in... But made some awkward jokes about it. <br/><br/>The issue stemmed from one waiter serving the whole place. Eventually the other bar man/ waiter helped out. That waiter later spilled one of the sauces on my bag when clearing the table. Never bothered to return to clean the spill on my bag or the puddle on the floor.<br/><br/>The positive was that the Pho was delish! Unfortunately in an effort to seem 'cool' or 'different' the pho cup was served in a take away coffee cup.<br/><br/>The other food was okay. Nothing special. I wouldn't recommend the fish cakes. The spring rolls were okay. <br/><br/>Not planning on going back.

Disappointed. Food portions were very small, flavorless and unless you want alcohol your soft options are not only limited but expensive. Not even close to authentic vietnamese food, tasted more like it came from a 4 ingredient cookbook.

Poor service. Bad service, portions were tiny , waited 30 minutes for 2 servings of chicken skewers when there was suppose to be 4 servings. Waste of time.

Tiny left over type portions. When this place first opened it was great. However now you'd be lucky to walk out feeling full from a main dish. The food looks like someone threw left overs together on a plate. The portions are tiny, the flavour minimal. Very disappointing. I think they're trying to save by serving so little not realising they're loosing customers. We won't be going back.

Cringe. Literally cringe worthy can't even tell you how terrible the service was the waitress was so clueless. Plain tasteless Vietnamese not what I'm used to in south yarra with miss chu and Hanoi hanna round the corner.

Excellent clean and great vibe!! Delish yumm super healthy food! Thank u! Om sanimti

What's happened??. Guys what's happened? When you first opened your food was delicious and full of flavour. I raved about it to everyone in the area. Got my usual chicken vermicelli the other night after being overseas for 6 weeks to find the serving size had halfed! Also brought some friends for dinner and you forgot one of our meals and the chicken skewers were cold.<br/>So disjointed as I thought I was on to a real winner!

D'lish. Great service and very helpful.<br/>quick enough for our dinner to come out and it was a busy wednesday night.<br/>really enjoyed our time. will be back again.

Found a little gem on Liven app. Found this new place though Liven App, gave it a try as we get 25% off using the app. Glad that we found this place, so cozy, and romantic with little candle lights. Even inside the toilet, there are little candle lights. The chargrilled prawn and the chicken salad are definitely recommended. So delicious and the staff are super friendly and nice too. Can't ask for more when the price is already very good and got further discount through Liven. Will definitely be coming back many more times. It gives that modern vibe nothing like traditional Vietnamese place.

A Fave. Great addition to the strip. Delicious food and staff that are great - Cal rules! Good cheap Vietnamese food, and the wine isn't bad either.

Great food and great service. The good is always consistent and the staff make you feel at home. A great addition to Chapel St!

Sub-average quality for a fairly average price.. Ordered Beef Pho and it came out in 10 minutes, slow for a bowl of pho and the restaurant was quiet. It came out warm, not hot like it should be. The herbs that came on the side look like they had come from the freezer. The soup stock was not very tasty, rather bland, compared to my experiences of Vietnamese cuisine around Melbourne and throughout the country of Vietnam. There was no free wifi, this is being nit-picky but when I asked about the wifi password for the visible network I was told it was only for staff. This implies a feeling of unorganisation and incomplete setup of the restaurant.<br/>The only thing the cafe had going for it was the atmosphere, layout design and friendly staff.<br/><br/>Overall not a highly pleasant experience and would not recommend this place, there are many better quality Vietnamese food outlets around.

Yum fresh food and friendly service will be back !

Me and my mates love eating here as it blends traditional Vietnamese food with a chill atmosphere and lovely decor. The menu may be a bit small but it is a small restaurant and this you know everything is made with the utmost attention to detail. 9/10

Awesome food great price. Good food, good atmosphere, great prices, good beers and good service. Very clean, I highly recommend kin.

Wow !. Went to Kin last night and cannot recommend the restaurant more - the best Pho in town, fresh hot and soooo tasty, huge delicious prawn rice paper rolls and outstanding Calamari entree. Also nice to be greeted and entertained by super happy engaging staff on such a cold wet night. <br/><br/>I will be placing Kin on my regular rotation, in fact a steaming bowl of delicious Pho sounds good for my lunch today !