Restaurant Review - Pho Viet
Monday 04 March 2013
Due to the long French occupation of Indochina, Paris was always the best European city in which to experience good Vietnamese food from Vietnamese people who had settled there. I was rather excited then at the idea of a dedicated Vietnamese Restaurant opening in Dublin for, apart from the odd nod in Thai restaurants to their neighbour’s cuisine, we’ve not experienced an abundance of this interesting and aromatic food. As it transpired the parents of Tri Quoc Nguyen of the new Pho Viet had also left their homeland to come to Ireland as ‘Boat People’ in 1979 when the Irish Government allowed over 200 refugees to settle here. “ I was with Royal Bank of Scotland”, he told us chattily, “until I lost my job and here we are.” On three floors, the Pho Viet is minimalist white kitchen style, absolutely gleaming from head to toe, including the loos downstairs having posh soap. It was clearly proving popular on our visit as interesting arty looking people poured in including a group of Doctors from the nearby Rotunda Hospital.
Everything at Pho Viet is incredibly well priced. One thing that was on my agenda were Goi Cuon Spring Rolls - big chunky Vietnamese staples of rice paper filled with crisp greenery, herbs, and prawns, with a dipping sauce had been in my head from the minute I heard “Vietnamese”. I was drooling at the thought of putting these in my mouth again, and at €3 a brace we could certainly rise to a second portion! With a hot chilli dipping sauce they lived up to my expectations, whilst a cracking starter Tom Nur’o’ng - six jumbo prawns absolutely exceeded all expectations. “They come in their shells, it’s the way we eat them” warned our host. Slightly chargrilled, lined up spoon fashion, they were simply great, as we got down and dirty shelling and dipping them in sweet chilli sauce, and simply great value at €6. Cha Gio (€3) - a trio of crisp spring rolls similar to the more familiar Chinese spring rolls - completed our little starter selection and we were in bliss.
So, where do we go from here, we pondered, sipping a Mathilde Lafleur Pouilly Fuisse (€11) we had brought with us, as the Pho Viet wine license was not yet in place. Pho Bo €6.90/€7.90 are a selection of ten varying Beef Noodle soups and a real treat. You could have the Pho Viet Special Dac Biet of rare steak, lean well-done brisket and beef meatball noodle soup. After that it’s a combination of the various ingredients in different ways. I opted for Bun Tom Thit Nu’o’ng (€7.90) – and no, I wont remember these names in a million years – it will be No. 16 please! Anyway No. 16 had grilled prawns and pork in a noodle bowl filled with rice vermicelli, a crisp clunk of fresh lettuce, crushed peanuts, beansprouts, carrots and cucumber. Vietnamese food is so light and healthy as well as tasty, I just love it. Eschewing a trio of rice platters, Mary opted for Ca Ri Tom (€7.90) – a good bowl of Vietnamese prawn curry served with boiled rice – or you could have it French style with Baguette. Tres chic!
Che Ba Mau (€3) was total Sundae Parlour kitsch fun having a tall glass filled with three colour sweet jelly beans, jelly and fruit, topped with coconut milk. Kind of fascinating in that it had no sweet tasting element at all. Whatever you do, try the Ca Phe Su’a Nong (€2.50) – Vietnamese rich almost chocolatey coffee that drips through a cafétiere on your cup onto condensed milk. Almost orgasmic. Our food bill with 10% service charge came to €44.38 making our dining and wining experience at Pho Viet just €55.38.
Why was it that when I was growing up, every other country in the globe seemed to have more divine food than we did…… I will be heading for another adventure in Parnell Street soon again.
Pho Viet,
162 Parnell Street,
Dublin 1.
Tel: (01) 878-3165
www.lucindaosullivan.com