Wednesday, January 16, 2008

All About Pho

Pho is something we always love when overseas because it reminds us of KK's ngewchap (beef mix noodles) and KK's ngewchap is really something (if only they serve KK ngewchap with beansprouts, Thai basil and lime...). On our trip back from the Mornington Peninsula in Victoria, we ate pho in a predominately Vietnamese town called Springvale .

The restaurant in Springvale served Vietnamese and Cambodian noodles and was so authentic none of the waitresses/owner spoke any English, and the menu was also in their language. I just went this, this and that with my fingers, and the first bowl of noodles that came had my kids shrieking because Yi was sure she read somewhere that those egg yolks were straight from inside the chicken ie, not yet laid. They also speculated on how the chicken blood was collected. I had to eat the large bowl of noodles (but not the yolks) with some help from Hub, very composed but actually I had lost my appetite but tried not to show it. We were all very disappointed with the soup because it tasted sugar-sweet when it should've been umami savory-sweet. Or is that how real pho should taste? After this meal, we all totally lost our longing for pho.

P1000187
Chicken mixed pho, A$7.50/RM23

P1000188
Beefballs pho, same price

P1000191
Chicken beef pho

In Brisbane, my ex-colleague Stephen and family took us for pho too. Although the soup was better, I still found it sugar-sweet rather than umami-sweet.

P1180394

P1180396

P1180397
3-color drink. Too bad they used boxed coconut milk.

P1180383
Stephen & family & us.

On this trip, I met up with many Sabahans who are doing fine, their kids all well-educated and well-mannered. I am so happy for them.

9 comments:

Denise ^ ChickyEGG said...

yerr... I think I missed OZ ! eventhough I had bad experience of tasting the 'sweet' ngewchap !
I was so shocked ! when I first had my sweet ngewchap, with so many UNCOOKED beansprouts,mint leaves & lime... I felt so...e yucks... ended up i only had the meatballs & somenoodles..
But afterall, somehow we sabahan loves to go eat pho oredi! hahaha , cuz that's the only food that tasted "home"

p/s : Aunt, I had nitemare last nite ;p I dunnot why , I dream of your backyard & with many sabah vege growing there !my ..

Precious Pea said...

I love the Pho in Melbourne but sadly, I guess you went into a wrong one as Springvale got plenty of good Viet restaurant. Those eggs are collected from Old Hen. I dare not try it myself too but i got a friend who loves it a lot.

Bento Pet said...

You are amazing!! In Australia also have time to blog!! Awesome multitasking skills!

Anonymous said...

Greg was not very impressed with aust pho even though i raved so much about it before we left for melbourne. he kept on saying only so so.

I had cooked it a few times at home and the results is not bad. def enough to quench cravings for aust viet pho. will put that up soon and may b you can cook it and tell me how to improve.

Terri @ A Daily Obsession said...

denise: u didn't like it too? good, we aren't the only ones then. on a previous trip to Melb, I ate pho at Mekong (where Clinton reportedly ate 2 bowls) on Swanston St & i don't remember it being sweet. dreaming of me huh :D hey, can migrate to Brisbane. i attended a church lunch & this Sabahan brought a plate of fried sayur manis!

ppea: yes, there were many in Springvale but we chose the wrong one. didn't u find the soup somewhat sugar-sweet? it's strange i never tasted sweet pho before, whether in OZ or Canada.how was it in Vietnam??

bento: aiya, i'm back in good ole KK lah!

nee: welcome home! did u eat at tt place i recommended, u know the ma lai go??
yea, my hub said he prefers kk ngewchap altho i've noticed kk ngewchap's standard has gone down a lot, the beef & all cut very thin and small.yes, do cook & tell us the results. my girl cooked pho in Brisbane & i'd say it tasted better than the restaurants...

Denise ^ ChickyEGG said...

haha ! YES u can definitely " lived " in brissy =p
I stayed with a Sabahan family last time ( at Calamvale), and this aunt, she is growing Sabah vege at her yard!!!!! * Lolz *
and, they made pan mien u know!
( they bought the machine from KK) hahahahahha ... sooo lovely

Precious Pea said...

I have never try the Viet version but since those in Springvale are cooked by Vietnamese...maybe it's supposed to taste like that?

Terri @ A Daily Obsession said...

denise: yes, Bris is nice but a bit lautoo.

preciousp: time to visit Vietnam, its the in place for many Sabahans.

Smart Payment Plan said...

At least the pictures are nice! I'm very surprised authentic Vietnamese people are serving less than spectacular pho. Very surprised!

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...