Restaurants / Reviews
Pho – restaurant review
Street food continues to be big business in Bristol. In the same week that Bertha’s Pizza – best known for serving splendid sourdough pizzas from the back of a converted canary yellow Land Rover – announced it will be opening its first bricks and mortar operation in what used to be Mud Dock Deli on Cumberland Road, fast-growing Vietnamese street food chain Pho has opened on Clare Street.
The first Pho opened in central London in 2005 after owners Stephen and Juliette Wall travelled to Vietnam and fell in love with the food.
Since then, Pho has opened almost 20 restaurants around the capital and up and down the UK from Brighton to Manchester, unsurprisingly specialising in the noodle soup known as pho, as well as other Vietnamese dishes, coffees, beers, cocktails and juices.
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Dating back to the 1880s, Pho in Bristol takes up an imposing corner building that was originally built for Sir George White as the Tramway Co. headquarters, before becoming a bank and most recently The Birdcage cafe, bar and vintage clothes shop.
The Birdcage’s former shop area is now Pho’s kitchen, out of which came for us as starters cha gio (£4.95), four a little two peppery crispy spring rolls served with crunchy lettuce and a creamy peanut dipping sauce.
For mains, over the other side of the table were wok fried noodles, or pho xao (£7.95), with tofu and mushrooms.
My pho was a pho tai lan (£8.75), with flash fried steak and garlic, a delicious and hearty broth but not quite enough food to justify that price tag.
For those who want more seasoning, there is a side plate of herbs, bean sprouts and hot chillis to add, so every dish can be different. I found that the addition of some lime juice really benefited my own broth – all of which are made by slowly simmering bones for 12 hours.
You no longer have to go outside for street food in Bristol. And now you don’t have to go to Vietnam to taste the country’s national dish.
Pho, 28 Clare Street, Bristol, BS1 1YA
0117 9119 739
www.phocafe.co.uk/locations/bristol/
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