Not really having anywhere in mind and with a lot of places yet to open we settled on the first likely looking place we came across, Hien Vuong 1 on Leeds Street. Other than a fair number of cheap eats stickers on the door looks wise there isn't much to distinguish it from many of the other places selling pho around town. White mirror lined walls, big glass windows at the front, menu in English and Vietnamese up high and an atmosphere that always reminds me a bit of an old school cafeteria.
But the most important thing of course is always the pho. Both Snooze and I headed for a beef based soup, beef with sausage and beef brisket with tendon.
What were they like? Well, as you'd expect for somewhere which has obviously lasted a while in a very competitive area pretty good. Nice delicate but richly flavoured soup, thinly sliced meat just past medium rare and considerable kick available from the accompanying chilli.
There were a few things which could have been improved. At other places the beef sausage used has come with a peppery kick which always goes down well but was missing here. The beef in my brisket was quite fatty, and both soups could have been a bit more generous with the meat. However, certainly better than anywhere we have tried in the city, generous in size and reasonably priced at $9 for a medium sized bowl (which was as much as we could eat).
There are also an interesting range of drinks available and as usual I made a beeline for my favourite three colours drink.
Overall
Good pho, reasonable prices, polite but very friendly service from what I suspect is a family run business, while we haven't tried any of its nearby competitors we were certainly happy with Hien Vuong 1 as a quick Sunday morning option.
Verdict
Food - 7.5
Service - 8
Ambience - 6.5
Price - 7.5
Address
37 Leeds Street
Footscray VIC 3011
Tel: (03) 9687 1470
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