TL;DR: Perfectly adequate is about the words I would use to sum up this place. You could certainly do a lot worse, and there is nothing per se that is wrong with it that needs improvement. At the same time, I keep in mind some of the great places I have visited and it does not quite fit that mold, without fault of its own. For what it is worth, this is definitely going to be a crowd pleaser and provide a warm environment and hot food for plenty of time to come.
Another one of the hidden delights that is in the much under-rated and overlooked Samuel Village rests a small hole-in-the-wall Vietnamese eatery. Like a little suburban inn, mixing itself with a soup bar, it has a cosy and appealing aesthetic that makes it a nice place to sit in but also wins in the case of being good for the budget. Essentially, this scores another win for Vietnamese cuisine around Brisbane and certainly should be tried out some time. It had an allure to me for quite some time, and that has culminated to this.
This was one that I knew had to be tried out sometime being a local and whatnot, specifically with my house mate becoming more and more of a fan of Vietnamese cuisine. Also, Camp Hill is definitely one of the places that is about to break through as a suburb for gourmands and this is one of the reasons why. As a matter of fact, a couple of times beforehand - going back a while now- with suggesting a place to eat, the idea of either it being Vietnamese or specifically pho - both of those instances ended up being at other places instead of here. While providing a story of how one gets there is always nice, what ultimately matters is getting here in the end - or trying food in some other way. That is the case this time around, and it was at least worth getting off the to-do list in the end.
My big sister was over from England with her husband and three kids staying over at the house, in which there was three bedrooms. Beforehand, the house has been this full and I am one to compromise; for most of the nights, I had slept on the couch and for there was a plan in mind for the last night. That was kind of until I was having to work late, and the lot of them were going to here for dinner; for after getting off work, she went to me for what I wanted and placing it forward it was a case of looking forward to a meal upon getting home.
To call this menu big is more of an overstatement than an understatement, even if it does contain a solid selection of dishes to select from. This is only said from previous experience at some places out in the Styx - i.e. Inala. As per what the name is able to imply, the main aspect of the menu is different sorts of noodle soups which includes different sorts of pho, along with laksa, and clear egg soup. In addition to that, they have a range of vermicelli salads and some rice dishes which include curries, and beef stews among others. Add onto that a few nibbles and it is substantial as is, but does not stop there. The whole affair is able to be ended on a sweet deal with a modest selection of desserts, or complimented moreso with the range of cold drinks on offer. They have a range of the old favourites in tow, including the lime sodas, and heaps of their specialty beverages.
Even if it is not that big of a menu, the selection is still pretty big and even whittling it down to one section makes it a task-at-hand to choose an item to eat. It was the rice dishes that I was looking at - figuring getting a soup would be a bit awkward getting home (if in the flesh there, it would be obvious what to go with) - and the mind was changed a couple of times before landing on something that sounded at least a bit unusual or different to normal. This landed on a pork dish, which had a grilled pork chop, shredded pork aplenty, and pork egg custard on top of a bed of rice. In addition to that, for a beefed up review and giving it more weight I also got a side of the crab spring rolls. And of course, after a couple of minutes I realised that it being a Vietnamese place - and I knew for sure this time the item was going to be available - that the whole meal would be rounded off by getting one of their signature coffees. That led to one solid and filling meal, quite satisfying for a fairly late Friday night after work.
First off were the spring rolls. There was definitely something different either about the way they were cooked, or it could have been in the wrapping, but it was possibly due to the texture. Maybe it is not the right analogy, but I was reminded a bit of puff pastry the way it had crisped up and expanded. What it was wrapped around was some delicious crab meat that was sweet and moreish. There were about five of these suckers, and each of them were simply delicious and solid morsels.
Going on to the main meal, in itself it was very good. The bits of meat were huge, very tender and were lightly marinated in a lemon kind of dressing. It was moreish, tore apart really well with mere chopsticks, and the egg custard on the side melded well into the rice mixture - that which itself was fluffy and had absorbed a good amount of sauce. This was a solid meal, and one which definitely filled me up and satisfied. Again, this was a nice treat to come home to.
Lastly it brings us to the coffee. This was a black coffee, and even without the usual condensed milk mixed in there was still that characteristic sweet aroma exuding in the flavour, and the texture and mouth feel were practically lithe. It was because of this that I knew just how good filter coffee can, where the texture and subtle flavours are the real winners here. By that surreptitious intricacy, this is one strong mother that will keep you awake.
Overall, it is not too fair to get too disappointed with this place as it was pretty filling, competently done and I am sure that both the interior decoration and the level of service are good in their own way. That might leave part of the review a bit astray, but ultimately what helped was to know that they have the food aspect of it all covered. This food was good quality, definitely had a whole lot of flavour, and was certainly filling - and this is one sucker who can eat a lot saying that. In the end, with so many other Vietnamese places being eaten at there have been some greats and this may not be up there, but that is nothing to it. For an analogy, it is like comparing that perfectly adequate enjoyable movie next to a few masterpieces that resonate in your mind. That is the case to me with Pho Inn.
All of that is being said, Pho Inn is still a pretty good place in itself and definitely fits itself as a local favourite. With all that is being said and done, the level of quality is definitely at a consistent level without an ounce of pretension about it. It is with a lot of good faith that I can consider it to be a safe and reliable choice, one that can be depended on in the middle of the week to deliver a solid meal that will both fill up any client's stomach and give mercy to their wallet at the same time. Thank goodness for that.
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