REVIEW | Pho, Corn Exchange

PHO is a new restaurant in Manchester's Corn Exchange serving Vietnamese-inspired dishes such as soups, noodles and fresh juices. I’ve visited a couple of times now, and the food has been largely good and reasonably priced.

...it’s so comfortable that you’re liable to spend more money than you intended.

The restaurant’s chain credentials are clear from the interior which has that ‘done’ look that only big brands can pull off. Yet the cooking is more cheffy than at places like Jamie’s Italian. Ingredients are transformed into spicy, satisfying dishes that you’d need some experience to pull off.

The menu is divided into Cơm Tấm, soupy curries served with broken rice, vermicelli (bun) or wok-fried (flat) noodles, plus starters, salads and small plates to share. The restaurant is named after Vietnamese pho, pronounced ‘fuh’. These soup noodles, served in bone broth which has been slow-cooked to melting point, are a step above the fuh at similar places in town (pictured above).

Pho Manchester

Served with bunches of fresh herbs on the side, the aromatic house pho has the confidence of a dish that knows it’s special. Options include a mushroom spectacular (Phở nấm rơm, £8.25) including enoki, shiitake and button fungi, and one with tomato and crab broth, wafer thin steak, tofu and fried shallots (Bún riêu, £9.95). They’re all good, but I like the slow cooked brisket, served with more mushrooms and a raw egg yolk on top. (Phở bò nấm trúng, £9.75). Pho advertise this as a hangover cure and, sure enough, it’s impossible to resist when defences are down. I have similar affection for HOME’s devilled mushrooms on toast and could quite happily eat either of these everyday, hungover or not.

I order the thick ca-ri curry (£9.95) served with broken rice and more of the slow cooked beef brisket (mentioned above). This is not a style of cooked meat that I associate with Vietnamese cooking, but, boy, does it work. The unctuous meat soaks up the coconut milk sauce, turning a fresh, light curry into decadence itself. The crispy steak wrapped in betel leaves (Bò lá lốt, £6.95) is excellent too; salty, meaty, and satisfying, paired with refreshingly naked lettuce wraps.

Bún Rieu (£9.95)

Ca-ri curry (£9.95)

Others dishes fly by; soggy-ish baby squid popcorn (£6.75), a plain Vietnamese crepe with tofu (Bánh xèo £7.50), a reasonable pad Thai-like dish called Pho Xao with chicken and prawns, a slightly stodgy seafood spring roll (nem hai san, £4.50) and a huge green mango salad (Gỏi xoài, £6.25). They’re all okay, the only disappointment being the kids menu. Baby bun (£5.50) is just boiled vermicelli noodles with chicken while Pho Xao (£5.50) is a tiny chip off the Pho Xao (£8.95) which we also have as a main. Doubling up is pointless and everything ends up on the floor.

Pho Xao - a 'pad-Thai-like dish'(£4.50)

Gỏi xoài mango salad (£6.25)

Another blip is the green tea ice cream they serve children for dessert (£1 a portion). This actually tastes like bitter green tea and is a dark green colour. No one likes it. The honey and ginger fares better. I’d say skip dessert and go for a powerful Vietnamese coffee with condensed milk instead (£2.50). The children’s juices are a steal, though. Order a fresh apple and mint juice for £1 from the kids menu and you’ll get the real deal for £2.40 cheaper than the (only slightly) larger adult version.

Service is better than on previous visits. Our waitress is rushed off her feet but keeps eye contact. She does leave the children to cover themselves in ice cream for a good ten minutes before returning with a spoon. However you could give a toddler all the cutlery in the world and he’d still eat like a baboon.

The Corn Exchange is an unexpected bonus too. Against my initial instincts, I find myself returning time and again to this warm, central plaza. You can sit out with other diners under the domed roof, and, wrapped in a blanket of conversation, you feel part of city life in here, in a way that only ever seems to happen in summer in the Northern Quarter. Acres of space to run around in makes it ideal for dining out with young children.

We drink Saigon beer and the house ‘phojito’ (£6.25) made with Nếp Phú Lộc, a clear rice spirit. Around the room, neon signs, wood panels and trinkets make this a cosy space that echoes other blossoming chains coming out of London, like Dishoom. In fact, it’s so comfortable that you’re liable to spend more money than you intended. Choose carefully though, and it’s worth it for the pho.   

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Pho Manchester, 15 The Corn Exchange, 37 Hanging Ditch, Manchester M4 3TR. Tel: 0161 464 9779. 

Rating: Food (crispy steak 7, spring roll 6, squid 6, Vietnamese pancake 6, salad 7, Pho 8, Ca-Ri 8, Pho Xao 8, kids pho xao 5, baby bun 5, ice cream 6) – 6.5

Atmosphere: 4

Service: 3

Total:  13.5