In Melbourne, pho is concocted southern style, subsidiary plate of beanshoots, lime wedges and Asian basil accompanying the soup. The stock is sweet. All the hallmarks of a Saigon noodle soup are here in Victoria Street, Richmond, an inner city suburb of the city, ten minutes by tram from its heart.
This street is a Little Saigon, Vietnamese businesses - mostly food related - lining both sides. There's a tired and tacky Ben Thanh Market re-creation, a far cry from the French colonial number in Big Saigon, there's eateries with names like Halong Cafe, a dozen CD/VCD/DVD retailers, their windows and doors papered in CD covers and a myriad of other small business operators catering predominately to expat Vietnamese. It's a nice reminder of my own expatriotism and not a bad strip of asphalt to nose poke around.
The Vietnamese don't have a long history in Australia. In fact, they hardly registered on the Australian census prior to the fall of Saigon, a meagre 1000 having put down stakes on dirt downunder. According to the 2001 figures, about 175,000 Vietnamese-born Aussies, plus their offspring, were on the books. Now, Nguyen is second only to Smith in the Melbourne phone book. As far as Asian cuisine goes, Vietnamese would rank second behind Chinese in terms of number of eating houses. Of course, the Chinese have been in the country virtually since the beginning, and in large numbers since the gold rushes of the 1850s.
Enough of the history lesson!
How's the Melbourne pho? As you'd expect in a street teeming with Saigonese, it's bloody tasty. I couldn't fault it.
Price Hike
One bowl of pho bo (beef noodle soup), one of pho ga (chicken) and a serve of prawn and pork spring rolls - AUD$21 (258,000VND, USD$16.15)
Chu The Pho Bo Ga
270 Victoria St
Richmond
They have another branch in Footscray, at 92 Hopkins St.
One of the weirdest things that I've missed since I've been living in Cambodia is good Melbourne pho, which is quite frankly, insane, considering my physical proximity to pho country and the abundance of it over here.
Quality ingredients make a whole lot of difference.
Posted by: Phil | 11 May 2006 at 12:17 PM
I don't know if I just happened to strike it lucky with this joint or not. I've eaten a lot in Victoria street over the years but never with a view to compare it with what's on offer in 'Nam. This place was good. Did you have a regular haunt?
Posted by: Sticky | 11 May 2006 at 12:28 PM
You should check out Phong Son on the corner of Swanston and Lonsdale. I've eaten there a couple of times and the food is fine, but I'm mainly giving them a plug because my girlfriend works there :)
Posted by: Ben | 11 May 2006 at 02:20 PM
Ben - Thanks for the tip. When I hit town again, I'll check it out.
Posted by: Sticky | 12 May 2006 at 07:04 AM
I'm not sure how they compare to vietnam but I think thanh ha on victoria street and viet star in hawthorn are great. Melbourne institution Thy Thy however, not so fresh or tasty. Thanks for the Chu The Pho Bo Ga tip - there are so many places on Victoria street I never know which to aim for.
Posted by: curiousbutton | 12 May 2006 at 07:52 AM
One of my favourite eateries in Melbourne is Mekong on Swanston St. A meagre $7.50 gets you a very tasty medium beef phö and all the condiments. A sign on the windows says Bill Clinton apparently ate 2 bowls of soup there, and according to the photos on the walls there, Jackie Chan and the Tokyo Shock Boys have eaten there too.
I love to just smother the stuff in Sriracha and chili oil... yum, I'm making myself hungry.
Posted by: martinpribble | 12 May 2006 at 01:51 PM
Righto! I'm set for my Viet quota of meals in Melbourne - thanks guys! I have to pull in the purse strings a bit here, even though it's cheap compared to other cuisines, isn't it?
Going Thai tonight for a change ;)
Posted by: Sticky | 12 May 2006 at 03:40 PM
Mekong on Swanston St was one of my regular lunchtime haunts. I noticed a "Bill Clinton ate here" sign near Benh Tan Market last time I was in HCMC, so the ex-president is obviously quite keen on pho.
Posted by: Phil | 19 May 2006 at 11:29 AM
Anyone know where you can get decent Hanoi-style pho in Melbourne? The Saigon stuff just isn't cutting it for me...
Posted by: mutemonkey | 28 July 2006 at 03:28 PM
MEKONG MEKONG MEGONG!!!
On Swanston Street, Melbourne; impossible to get a table and no fancy linen. Perfect!
Great food, quick and very tasty. My poor throat suffered at the hands of the chili oil though, those cunning little seeds can really get stuck!
Posted by: James Leckie | 02 October 2006 at 01:17 PM
Dear Mr or Mrs Rice -- I'm not sure. I'm so disappointed to hear you visited Melbourne and I did not have the opportunity to meet you. Perhaps if I had read your blog more attentively, I would have known you were coming. Now you're in my Google Reader subscriptions. I have linked to this blog, stealing your photo in the process sorry, at my blog about Abbotsford in Melbourne. Hope you don't mind about the photo.
Posted by: Trappedinauit | 12 November 2006 at 12:41 PM
Do you put MSG in your food?
I was in love with Mekong till I found out they were cheating.
Posted by: Andrew | 31 January 2008 at 05:23 AM
Do you put MSG in your food?
I was in love with Mekong until I found out they were cheating.
Posted by: Andrew | 31 January 2008 at 05:25 AM
By cheating, do you mean Mekong were actually using MSG?
Tell me it isn't so....
Posted by: Paul | 31 January 2008 at 05:28 AM
Dear Paul,
Thank you for your interest and concern.
I confirm it is so.
The good folks back in Ho Chi would be disappointed.
Posted by: Andrew | 31 January 2008 at 05:33 AM
I used to eat there quite a bit until they were shut down subsequent to a health inspection finding that the kitchen was filthy and food handling practices likely to cause contamination.
http://www.theage.com.au/national/filth-bugs-cost-city-restaurant-owner-10000-20081218-71lv.html
Posted by: Mark Micallef | 19 December 2008 at 07:40 AM