Pho Hung Vuong 2

Phở-​king great Phở
Cash only
on Victoria Street
So I have been looking for good Phở for awhile, and it turns out that I had to travel to the Southern Hemisphere, no, not to Vietnam, but to Victoria, Australia, Melbourne ways.
So after a long day of sight seeing, our guide took us to this quirky area of Melbourne full of Asian markets and Vietnamese restaurants on Victoria Street. There is street parking but we had to hunt around a bit. I didn’t notice any car parks around, which is typical of any older area in a city.
So we were greeted immediately when we walked in and luckily there was one table available. The clientele was pretty mixed with Vietnamese speaking to English speaking which always makes me feel good about a place if the clientele is from the country of origin of the cuisine.
I ordered the number 2 beef brisket along with an order of veggie spring rolls. Our order came out pretty quick and the consommé was amazing. Clear and very meaty tasting. The noodles were cooked firm, and the brisket wasn’t to thin or thick. The side of veggies to mix in the soup was fresh, especially the bean sprouts. I donno, maybe because I was hungry it tasted so great. The spring rolls had incredibly fresh veggies inside and the wrapper wasn’t dried out in the corners, like they make these to order.
Glad they took cash so I could use some of the Australian currency I exchanged. Too bad this place isn’t near my house.

Upgraded from I Love Phở 264 to this place. The beef special with ALL THE THINGS is still my favourite, medium is the best size to avoid too much of a post-​Phở-​food-​coma.
Get the soup, chuck in the bean sprouts, lemon, basil, eat the stuff, pay the moneys (CASH ONLY), feel the love.

Ga simply geat bowl of phở!!! The phở has the right soft texture. The broth was beautiful (although I would prefer it to be less salty — my personal preference). Really a tough act to match, especially in this part of town ie phở galore. The spring rolls were also good too. Cannot go wrong with this place

I reckon these guys are now the best in town. Followed by Chu The (Richmond), I love phở, superbowl. Like most restaurants I am finding that the successful Phở joints always encounter inconsistency issues.
This place however has been one of my favourites for a while. it was nvr one to be striking or out there in terms of flavour like the I love Phở (when it was first started) and the superbowl. They have a distinct broth. These guys use a sweeter broth and u don’t need a gallon of water to hold down ur forced msg addiction. it maybe b masked but they sure do a good job of making it taste ‘homely’.
Phở Hung Vuong 2 and Chu The (Richmond) have been quite consistent in my weekly Friday eatings.

You guys don’t know how good you have it here on Victoria Street. When you don’t like the Phở you had last time in Adelaide you drove 10 – 15 minutes in the opposite direction only to get something hit and miss…
Here you just walk 5 metres…
And… The competition here means the serving sizes, pricing, and ingredients are all right on the mark. $ 9.50 for a ‘medium’ tub of Phở.
I lapped it once freestyle then flipped to butterfly on the return. It was delicious.
Recommended.

I almost don’t want to say how good the phở is here because this place is already pretty busy and I want to keep it for myself. How often do I come here you might ask? Probably once a month for the last 5 years. More when I’m hungover. Less when it’s hot.
They recently refurbished it here and I prefer the old layout but it looks newer and cleaner. Phở still tastes great.
The price recently went up so now it’s $ 8 for a small, $ 9 medium and $ 10 for a large.
I always get the rare sliced beef and the odd occasion will add tendon or tripe.
Pretty much tried every single phở place on Vic St but always end up back here. Others have better atmosphere, tea and service but for the phở itself. This broth is the best and I will always come back here.
Warning: Be prepared to be really really thirsty after you have a bowl of this deliciousness though… Like really thirsty. And maybe in a msg coma…

I do not usually venture past my westside doorstep for Phở but a trip to Richmond lands me here. There was not a huge amount open at 10:30am on Victoria street but this place was packed so I thought it was worth a try and I was’t let down at all. I ordered a small beef phở no noodles as always (yeah yeah I am used to the strange looks) The broth was lovely, clear and fragrant and the meat was thin and lean. What more could I ask for? Oh friendly service? Yes I got this as well. Whilst I will probably not drive this far for my usual phở fix this is a great place that I will not forget!

Very good phở in Richmond. Grabbed a bowl of the beef combination and was quite happy with it. The broth was full of flavour, the noodles had good consistency, and the various meat items were all good quality. Would happily go back.

Let me explain something to you here — when walking down Victoria Street and confronted with the fact that there are over 120 394 792 837 410 240 phở shops lining the street, it is hard to make a well-​informed decision.
So… here you are, grasshopper. Prepare to receive advice from the master of picking out a good restaurant from something much less savoury. This advice can also be applied to any trips you take to Asia.
HOW TO SPOT A GOOD PHO RESTAURANT:
~ Tiny.
~ Nearly no effort will be made to create a nice ambiance. Could be someone’s house with tables and chairs for all that matters.
~ Shit customer service. As in, they don’t really smile — «Give us the money and we’ll give you the food» mentality.
~ Brimming with Asians slurping up their phở.
I guarantee such a place will serve up the best phở you will ever have. Why? If you’ve ever played a videogame such as the Elder Scrolls series or something similar, each restaurant receives a certain amount of mastery points they can stack in a specific skill. A good phở restaurant decides «fuck it» to ambiance and customer service and just stacks their points in making some damn delicious noodles.
Also, I do place an emphasis on the fact that the characteristic «brimming with Asians» is actually important. Think of it as a rule of thumb — who knows authentic and delicious phở better than the Vietnamese themselves? Their tongues are trained to seek out only the best, and now it is our jobs to follow their lead.

I don’t know what goes on in the kitchens of these phở places, but I always visualise an ancient Vietnamese lady stirring an industrial-​sized vat of phở with a rowing oar. Having said that, I have a theory that said vat (which may or may not exist) needs the seasoning of age to produce killer phở.
Hear me out here. Phở Chu The up the street used to be the joint. Then they got fancy, changed the name to I Love Phở and moved two doors down. Now hipsters slurp soup from a presumably clean, new vat. As soon as they moved, quality dipped. And I’m putting it down to hygienically clean kitchen appliances.
Little Saigon was also killin it. Then the place burned down. As soon as they reopened (with a new kitchen), I noticed a decline in flavour. This can’t be a coincidence.
Meanwhile, Phở Hung Vuong are still servin’ soup from the same old stained, dirty vat (which may or may not exist). And the result is the tastiest phở in the street. I just hope this place doesn’t burn down. Or the old lady with the oar doesn’t keel over and drown in the vat.