Melbourne Trip 2019 – I Love Pho 264 @ Richmond, Melbourne

It is a common knowledge that Melbourne has a diverse and multicultural population especially the Asian immigrants. Evidently, I have experienced it firsthand by seeing and hearing lots of foreign languages being spoken during my trip there. One of the biggest Asian community is the Vietnamese populations where they have assimilated well within Melbourne since the outbreak of Vietnamese War.

The results? You can be sure to find good authentic Vietnamese food (outside of Vietnam) at Melbourne. With a significant Vietnamese population at Victoria, Melbourne, there’s a number of Vietnamese restaurants are making their mark in the Melbourne food scene. Richmond and Footscray are suburbs which are worth exploring for some affordable good Vietnamese food.

 

We found ourselves at I Love Pho 264 at Richmond for dinner after our road trip to Philip Island. Also known as Little Saigon for its huge Vietnamese community, Victoria Street Richmond is home to an abundance of affordable Vietnamese restaurants as well as a handful of Thai, Chinese, Japanese, and Korean eateries.

I Love Pho 264 is a fuss-free Vietnamese restaurant with simple setting. It wasn’t really big and the tables were cramped within the dining area but service was prompt and friendly nonetheless.

 

 

Photos of their happy customers.

 

Every table came complete with an array of sauces ready to be enjoyed and I particularly like the spicy sauce in the mason jar which resembled our satay sauce, nutty and tasty.

 

Spring Roll (AU$9.00/ 6pcs)

Served with fresh Iceberg Lettuce and fish sauce dipping, the fried spring rolls were pipping hot with pleasantly crispy skin and decent filling with choices of pork, prawn, veggie or combo.

 

Pho (Small – AU$12.00)

With options of beef Pho or chicken Pho, one can customize their noodles with the ingredients they want such as sliced beef, oxtail, beef fat, beef brisket, beef tendon, beef tripe, beef ball, shredded chicken, chopped chicken, chicken heart, chicken liver,  chicken giblet or special beef/chicken with combination of all offal.

 

A steaming bowl of soupy noodles was what I needed after being “tortured” by the cold wind during the penguin parade watching at Philip Island. :;(∩´﹏`∩);:

I had the Special Beef which  packed with beef goodness of sliced beef, beef brisket, beef tendon, beef tripe and beef ball. It was a rather princely serving of noodles with slippery smooth rice noodles in clear beef broth, not exceptionally strong in flavour but still packed with a lot of tasty notes with subtle hints of spice. I was consoled by this beef Pho in pure contentment!

(Medium – AU$13.00 & Large US$14.00)

 

The Pho is garnished with shaved onion, a flourish of coriander and comes with a side of Vietnamese mint, bean sprouts and a lemon quarter.

 

Com Tam – Broken Rice (AU$13.00)

Com Tam is a Vietnamese dish made from rice with fractured rice grains, and usually served with pork chop, Chả trứng (egg meat loaf) and Bì (pork and pork skin salad). One can choose to have pork chop or grilled chicken for Com Tam at I Love Pho 264, apart from the usual condiments, it was served with fried egg, pickles and a bowl of clear soup.

The Chả trứng (egg meat loaf) was soft with an eggy outer layer and the  meatloaf (mixture of pork, wood ear fungus, glass noodles and others) was quite bland tasting. The Bì had an interesting chewy texture which I initially thought was under-cooked vermicelli is actually made from thinly shredded pork skin and pork, tossed with roasted rice powder concoction. 

 

The pork chop was thick and well marinated, certainly provided big satisfaction for meat lover!.

 

♥Verdict: As far as the food is concerned, we have nothing to complaint for such a hearty and comfort Vietnamese dinner.

 

I Love Pho 264

264 Victoria St, Richmond VIC 3121, Australia

Tel: +613-9427 7749

Operating hours: 9.00am to 10.30pm, daily

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ilovephoRichmond

 

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