Fresh is best

'Unherbed' pho

New to my list of Bridge Road favourites but already well discovered by many of Melbourne's pho lovers is Pho Chu The. I love the simplicity of a Pho Restaurant - Beef Pho or Chicken Pho (pronounced 'fer'). For those in the know, as there is not much of a menu as such, a few extra treats for your pho can also be ordered, like tripe; beef tendon or congealed blood! And for the really hungry or those needing textural contrasts, the other option is to start with a plate of crispy Vietnamese spring rolls - the ones that you wrap in the lettuce with a few herbs and dip into Nước Chấm.

As I was simultaneously inhaling the warm aromatic steam and picking fresh herbs into my broth the conversation on the next table, which is never very far away in such establishments, caught my interest. The mention of ex-students often draws my attention. This conversation is about how ludicrous the advertisement for a well known supermarket chain by a celebrity chef is. "I only want the freshest and the best", the Chef states. "What chef would want old and the worst", the young man jeered. It seemed a particularly relevant comment when I inspected the supreme freshness of the crisp mung bean sprouts which were about to follow the seemingly ‘just-picked’ holy basil into my bowl of fragrant broth. The essence of Vietnamese cuisine, as it differs from other Asian cuisines, is in it's defining simplicity and freshness. And certainly when I was shopping for food, cooking and eating in Vietnam, a few years back, the focus on these elements was paramount and seemingly far removed from the mind set of the 'one-stop' supermarket shop on a weekly/fortnightly basis that has become a common Aussie routine. So I say ditch the 'Big Two', shop local, shop small and shop often.

Pho Chu The  Bo Ga
270 Victoria Street, Richmond