FOOD TYPE
Vietnamese
FOOD QUALITY
Three of us dined on a scorching summer’s eve in Jan. To cool us down, we started with a couple of drinks: a coconut juice and a Little Creatures Pale Ale for the twins and a refreshing Peroni for me. That dispensed with, we were all feeling a little cooler. And so to the food. For entrees we choose the rice paper rolls (three rolls for $11) and the crispy Vietnamese pancake ($16). The soft rice paper rolls with chicken and herbs, contrasted nicely with the crunchy pancake filled with vegetables, tofu and bean sprouts.For mains, we decided on two dishes only, and that was a wise decision, as serving sizes are generous and the pancake especially, with it’s crispy fried outer coating is filling. We choose the sizzling beef hot plate ($23) and the Shaking Chicken ($19), plus rice at $3 a serve. The sizzling beef was lean, well cooked and finely sliced just the way we like it and came with a generous amount of fresh vegetables.The “Shaking”chicken was another winner. The chicken was plump and tender and served with garlic, butter, onion, black pepper and capsicum. The dishes were infused with those subtle, delicate and aromatic Vietnamese flavours that makes this kind of cuisine so popular in Sydney. Unfortunately there are no desserts. A sticky rice pud with lychees or mangos would have gone down well! Still what we had was all tasty and delicious and we finished it to the last mouthful.
ATMOSPHERE
Atmosphere is casual, laid back and relaxed. Tables are neatly arranged in two long rows running north to south. The walls are adorned with bamboo pipes and vintage black and white pics of the motherland. The stylish, low-hanging lanterns add to the oriental theme. When we arrived at 6.30pm, the place was fairly empty, with just a smattering of other guests. We were so focused on the food, that we hardly noticed it filling up, and by the time we left, it was full to capacity, creating an energetic and vibrant atmosphere, with all diners seeming to enjoy themselves.
SERVICE
Service was fast, polite and efficient. When we arrived, our booked table was ready and waiting for us in a cool spot at the back. Orders were promptly taken and the food came out quickly and in the correct order. The maitre d’ was especially friendly and welcoming and he made sure that we had everything we needed, including continuously refreshing our water bottle, a much needed requirement in this humid weather.
COMFORT
Chairs are firm and comfy, and the table was large enough to fit all the dishes, although it might be a squeeze with four. Last time we dined here, about four years ago, it was also in the middle of summer and I remember it being uncomfortably hot and sunny with a strong glare in our eyes. This time though, I noticed it was shadier and cooler, presumably from the awnings which they must have installed.
MENU
The menu is well laid out and easy to follow on colourful sheets enclosed in plastic laminate and bound in a sturdy wooden binder.
TOILETS
To get to the toilets you need to step out the back door and traipse along a series of rather grimy and slippery rubber mats. There are separate male and female ones. The male one had a rather dangerous low hanging wire connection to the outside air con, which meant that there was nowhere to plug in the hand dryer (see pic). In any event, those 1980s style hand dryers are next to useless, unless you are prepared to spend 20 minutes waiting for your hands to dry. And there were no hand towels. The door was pretty grotty, just like the rest of the toilet block.
ACOUSTICS
I’m not sure what it is about the acoustics, but despite the fact that it was full, we had no trouble conversing. Perhaps it was because most other diners were in small groups of two or four and all were well behaved. The high ceilings, leather-backed chairs and bamboo pipes on the wall may have helped things too.
COST
With our 25% Ent Book discount (up to max $35) we paid a modest $72 for three drinks, two starters, two mains and three serves of rice. Nothing to complain about there.
BOOKING
This place has clearly become a favourite with the locals, so booking ahead is recommended, especially for weekend dining.
PARKING/ACCESS
Parking is never too much of a problem around here. There’s the nearby Hume Street council car park, which you can access off Albany Street. Further down the road (if coming from the city or east), there’s the Crows Nest Plaza car park, where there are always plenty of spaces and never anyone to take your money at night.
SUMMARY
We had an enjoyable evening and everything went off smoothly. In the period since we were last here, I Love Pho has developed into a popular, neighbourhood eatery, with first class food, service and a lively and fun ambience.We signed up for the birthday club so we’ll be back for our free meal before the year is out. It would be nice though to see the toilets cleaned up and modernised. The website too needs a bit of an overhaul. I struggled to navigate through it. For the record, you won’t find the menu under the most obvious tab which is menus. That’s the takeaway one only. The eat-in one can be found under the “reservations” tab. Go figure!
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