A few weeks ago, I pointed my car towards Hume Hwy and bippity, boppity, boo.... eight hours later, I arrived in Sydney.
Wanting something relatively healthy for dinner, the Lawyer suggested that we go to Pho Pasteur. He had been there a few times and thought the food was okay but warned that it wasn't the nicest place to go to. With that in mind, I figured, it'd be them cheap and cheerful sort of places - low on comfort/style but big on flavour. From the outside, it certainly looked popular.
However, the moment I stepped through the entrance, I thought... 'uh oh'. This was squishy, noisy and chaotic (no matter) but it did not look clean (a big no-no).
As we sat down at our table, I couldn't help but feel the grottiness of the place. Rubbish and dirty marks on the tiles, the sticky menu, the piles of dirty dishes, and most disturbingly, the clean drinking cups on a plastic tray that was sitting directly on top of cleaning products and insecticides. The harsh fluorescent lighting didn't help the place look and feel any better.
As with almost any Vietnamese place that we go to, the Lawyer and I will order our usual, preferred dishes. For him, he got the beef and brisket pho. An average-ish sized serve, with a reasonable amount of beef and various offal-y bits. (As an aside, the Lawyer always amaze me with his ability to eat offal-y bits from places that don't seem terribly clean....)
I got the grilled pork w vermicelli. This looked promising. Four plump pork 'sausages' and quite alot of vermicelli. This was okay but wasn't anything exceptional. However, I definitely did not like the fact that the pork was loaded with MSG. I didn't finish my dish.
Verdict
Food - 5.5
Ambience - 5
Service - 6.5
Price - 6.5
Overall
Pho Pasteur holds the dubious honour of being the grottiest place that I've ever eaten at in Sydney. I can't understanding why it's that popular - lots of couples, young families, uni students and office workers were there. The food isn't that great nor is it particularly cheap (although, it may be cheap for Sydney standards), and it's not the most comfortable or cleanest place. My message to you is to avoid this place.
Address
Pho Pasteur
709 George St
Haymarket 2000
Telephone: 02 9212 5622
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