WHAT THEY THINK: "Stephen and Juliette Wall opened Pho, London’s first Vietnamese street food restaurant, in Clerkenwell in June 2005 after they travelled to Vietnam and fell in love with the food.
"They made the decision to start a restaurant serving pho (Vietnam's national dish - pronounced fuh) while sat on high stools, slurping pho bo, around the shopfront of Pho Quynh in Ho Chi Minh City. Ten years later, Pho is still a family-run business serving great value, authentically prepared Vietnamese street food, with restaurants in London, Brighton, Leeds and Manchester."
Go easy on the thai basil (unless you love anise) and chillies (unless you love sweating)...
WHAT WE THINK: The truth is this whole piecemeal approach to the £30m relaunch of Manchester's Corn Exchange, the city's new 'premier food and drink destination', has become a bit of a headache. Over the next few months twelve new restaurants are planned for the rejuvenated Grade II-listed building, each with individual (and fluid) launch dates and PR teams jostling for attention. Chuck in a new restaurant by Gino 'Just-a Like-a Mama Used To Make-a' D'Acampo and you've got a recipe for muddlement.
Pho, the London-based Vietnamese noodle soup chain, have got in there early. Canny. Good on 'em. Because Pho are one of few amongst the dozen capable of piquing our interest. Of course, Manchester's had a sniff of Vietnamese cuisine before - from the likes of Vnam, Saigon Lotus, and, most recently, trendy Vietnamese baguette (banh mi) merchants Viet Shack - though none on this scale. Loomed over by Manchester Cathedral, the umbrous Pho is a hefty, 240 cover, three-floor restaurant of distressed bricks, darkened timber and pipework. Sounds gloomy, but it works. The place bustles with punters trying their darndest to order mực chiên giòn (fried squid) and bún nấm rơm huế (hot'n'spicy soup) as staff whip around the tables with steaming bowls of aromatic noodle soup.
Pho ManchesterWHAT TO ORDER: Pho's menu revolves around pho - a twelve hour bone-boiled noodle broth you'll find bubbling away in all Pho kitchens - but you'll also find vermicelli and wok-fried noodles, curries, spicy salads, summer rolls, spring rolls and even a few chicken wings, you know, for the bairns.
Order Gỏi cuốn (£4.95) to start, a popular snack in Vietnam comprised of noodles, beansprouts, herbs, shredded carrot and chubby prawns, tightly wrapped in a soft rice paper. Slap around in hoisin. Delicious. The gỏi đu đủ (£7.75), a green papaya salad with chicken or prawn, lime, chillies, mint, basil and a bunch of other 'elfy stuff creates a beautifully spicy, fresh medley of flavour. Still, you're probably here for the pho, and the biggest crowd-pleaser is the phố bộ nam trung (main image) - a piping-hot bowl of beef brisket, enoki and button mushrooms and creamy egg yolk served with a side plate of fresh herbs and chillies to lob in as you go. It's a deep, earthy thing, presumably brought on by the boiling bones. Take a good slurp of the broth before adding anything (just to savour), then fill yer boots. Go easy on the thai basil (unless you love anise) and chillies (unless you love sweating), with a splash of fish sauce. Just a splash mind, there's a lot of graft gone into that broth.
...AND BOOZE? Of course, most Asian beer is utter bobbins. Still, Pho's Saigon (£3.95, btl) is light and inoffensive. There's six cocktails on offer (from £6.50), the most appealing of which is the Ha Noi Mule with Vietnamese vodka, fresh apple, giner, mint and lime (£7). There's a solid wine selection too, including a Malbec, Malborough and Pinot from £4.50 to £5.95 a glass (£14.95 - £21.95 btl). Pho also stock Nếp Phú Lộc, Vietnam's World Spirit gold medal-winning rice spirit (38%), for those wanting to put hair on those knuckles.
Pho's belting prawn summer rollsWHAT ELSE? London-based Pho was actually founded by a Manc, Worsley-born Stephen Wall and his wife Juliette. The pair originally planned to set-up their first Pho in the Northern Quarter over ten years ago before settling on London - because they had already had a flat there. Fair enough.
Pho has just completed a recruitment drive in Harpurhey's Factory Youth Zone to give the disadvantaged yoof a stab in the hospitality industry. The scheme produced nine successful candidates. They're good eggs this lot.
WHEN TO GO? Book sharpish and you can score 25% off your bill between Friday 28 August and Monday 31 August - book here.
Pho's table sauces: (l-r) garlic vinegar, hoisin, fish sauce, sriracha and chilli & garlic pasteWHERE IS IT? Unit 15, The Corn Exchange, 37 Hanging Ditch, Manchester, M4 3TR. 0161 464 9779.
WHEN IS IT OPEN? Monday to Saturday (midday to 11pm) and Sunday (midday to 10.30pm).
FIND OUT MORE: phocafe.co.uk/manchester, @phorestaurant
SHOW ME...
Pho served with herbs
Green papaya salad
Blending the salt, pepper and lime dip for the squid
