#1 Pho Thu The (270 Victoria St)

The first stop is just what you’d expect from a Victoria Street restaurant. Inconspicuous from street level, small in size, your standard easy -to-wipe-down tables and hard chairs. But the condiments…wow condiments galore! Brown sauce, red sauce, fish sauce, chopped up chillies, a mysterious jar of chilli jam and what is in here…sugar? It smells good too.

Up the back there is a bright sign across the back that looks like it hasn’t been updated since the 80s when fluoro was all the rage. There’s a red laughing cow (just like the one from the laughing cow cheese). I’m not sure that cow would be laughing if it knew its innards were going to end up in our soup. There’s an empty fish tank. Luckily there is no seafood on the menu.

The menu is on the wall. We encounter our first crisis. There is no number 27 on the menu. I question the waiter, “is that your whole menu?” “Yes we specialise in pho”, he replies and also points me to three specials on a laminated A4 sheet next to our heads. With some quick thinking we make a new rule: “If there is no number 27 we will order unlucky 13 (unlucky not to have 27)”. A brief sigh of relief as the challenge is back on track.

By the time Imogene arrives when have hit the stage of hunger where it feels like your body is eating itself. The jolly waiter had tried to take our order twice and now we can’t get his attention. Steph admits she had Asian soup for lunch (“I panicked in the Chinese shop…I didn’t know what to get!”).

When the meal comes out there is some confusion about the extra bowl of soup. Is it number 13? We question the non-English speaking server “13? Chicken giblets and livers?” We cannot compromise the integrity of the challenge. Our waiter comes over to help sort it out.

The pho goes down well, the broth is tangy and the meat is tender. As Steph says “they should do pho well as that’s what they do!” It’s not the best I’ve had but it’s pretty good. We ruminate that we may need some more experience in pho to truly judge. Never fear, there is plenty of that to come!





Next the giblets and livers. I am slightly overwhelmed by the richness of the liver and have to wash it down with tea. Steph takes two chews of a giblet and reaches for a serviette. “I felt like I was chewing on a ear,” she comments. Imogene happily chews and swallows her giblet saying “it’s ok, a bit like shithouse calamari.” Offal makes good broth though.

The Hanoi chicken soup (from the specials) is also tasty. The spring rolls are of the average variety but come with plentiful lettuce and a decent dipping sauce.

So as we sit there full of soup discussing hissing possums, testosterone and how everyone has gone a little crazy in this modern mixed up world, we conclude stage one of the Chopstick Chowdown Challenge has been a success.

Ratings
Special beef pho 7.2/10
Pork spring rolls 5/10
Special (Mien Ga Hanoi - Traditional Vietnamese chicken soup with vermicelli noodles, Hanoi style) 6.6/10
Number 13 (Chicken giblet and liver pho) 5.7/10

Cost per person: $13