Lovers of Vietnamese food will know that the Vietnamese are famous for their Phở or simply pho which is usually pronounced as “fər” by the locals. Pho is a Vietnamese noodle soup rich in its sweetness of broth and choices of herbs consisting of smooth rice noodle, known by the locals as banh phở. The noodle can be served either with beef or chicken.
This dish is commonly found along the streets of Vietnam, but in Malaysia and other countries, this delicious noodle is usually served in the restaurants. Both hubby and I fell in love with pho when we first chanced upon a shop that served possibly the best pho in Melbourne, which was located at Richmond Street (Super Bowl Pho and Bun Bo Hue). Since then, we desperately crave for the similar kind of pho and had tried numerous Vietnamese restaurant in Malaysia and Singapore, but couldn’t find one that came even close to it in taste.
Our search and crave for this noodle had at last yielded success when we came across a Vietnamese restaurant in Sri Petaling. As we were heading towards our favourite restaurant (Tou Tou Little Kitchen), we saw a huge banner that hanged across the shop that confidently displayed its success story of its first restaurant in the Atria Shopping Mall. The restaurant was fully packed and guests were waiting patiently for their turn to dine. New food outlets will always attract people to try but we were skeptical, for fear that it may be another disappointment for us.
However, as hubby’s birthday was just around the corner, I took this opportunity to celebrate the birthday boy’s special day at the Pho Vietz Restaurant.
Two major setbacks about this restaurant, firstly, they didn’t want to entertain reservations. As such, we both ended up waiting for our turn to be seated. Good thing was that the waiting time was shorter than I expected for such fancy restaurant. Secondly, there were no private rooms for guests who wished to have some quiet moments celebrating with their loved ones. However, their friendly and efficient service definitely gave us a good impression and we wouldn’t mind celebrating hubby’s birthday in such an atmosphere.
The moment one walks into the restaurant, there lies the local dried snacks, instant noodles, drinks and etc. right in front of the cashier, where guests can browse and purchase them while waiting for their food to be served. Those colourful packaging surely tempted me to explore all these items. Its interior architecture is simple but filled with warmth and very homely decorations.
Food ordering was very easy as its menu came with descriptive images and we needed not crack out heads to figure out what exactly was each and every item.
Too many choices to select from, hence, without wasting much time, we ordered following what was marked as Chef’s Recommendation. As I am not a coffee lover, we settled for the local Vietnamese Atiso tea instead. I truly loved this tea as it had a light taste as compared to the various Chinese teas but it was rich in its fragrant flower flavour.
Next, were its snacks – Vietnamese Spring Roll and Sugarcane Prawn, which were highly recommended by its chef.
This hot and crispy authentic Vietnamese Spring Rolls had chicken, shrimp and vegetables rolled in rice paper wrappers before it was deep fried. The fillings were just of the right proportion and the crispy skin made it the perfect dish. Another appetizer that one should not miss is none other than the locally-grilled Vietnamese Sugarcane Prawn. The sweetness from the shrimp paste and the sugarcane along with the nuts topping served together with the dipping sauce, was the best combination ever.
The Vietnamese Chicken Noodle Soup contains silky smooth rice noodle served with the smooth and juicy chicken fillet, which is best eaten during cold or rainy days. The clear minty broth with the silky smooth rice noodle was surely something we fell in love with. Being an Ipoh girl, I would say that this was many times better than the Ipoh’s beansprout chicken noodle aka nga choi kai considering the amount of MSG they put inside the soup nowadays that causes one to thirst so badly after eating them.
To me, the Vietnamese Beef Noodle Soup’s broth tasted exactly like the Vietnamese Chicken Noodle Soup (well, I may be wrong), just that it was served with a generous amount of thin slices of beef. By the way, this was one of the highly recommended noodles by its chef.
For those who crave for a combination of spicy, sour, salty and sweet flavoured food, should never miss eating this Hue Style Spicy Beef Noodle. The broth was so rich in its flavour, produced from the many hours of simmering beef bones as well as the flavourful lemongrass, that by just slurping the soup you would know the food quality. Spicy chilli oil was then added later on to the soup. The only setback about this dish was that it wasn’t as spicy that I would loved it to be. Trust me, the one we ate in Melbourne had the highest level of spiciness and that made me addicted to it.
All of the pho served here are generously served with raw sliced onions, lime wedges, cilantro sprigs, finely chopped spring onions, mint, basil and bean sprouts, which balanced out the dish very well. Both of us once again over ordered our meals, but we were glad that we were paying for something that was worth the money. Such reasonable price for each bowl of pho. Oh, just a gentle warning, for those who are small eaters, you may want to consider sharing the pho as its portion is super huge for a pax.
Address: No. 2, Jalan Radin Bagus 7, Bandar Baru Sri Petaling, 57000 Kuala Lumpur (+603 9055 4016)
Other Branch:
- T8 & T9, 3rd Floor, Atria Shopping Gallery, Jalan SS22/23, Damansara Jaya, 47400 Petaling Jaya (+603 7731 3020)
NOTES:
All photos and information on Daphne’s Escapades are copyright protected. Please do not use any of the images or content without any prior permission. Should you wish to share this post, please direct this post to its original source.
