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2017-02-02
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Don't want to read the long post?Food: Good taste (minus the soup), Portions were enough and presentation was nicePricing: A bit on the high end Environment: Clean and tidyIt's been a while since i have found a decent bowl of Pho in HK. Don't get me wrong, there are many places that offer bowls that feature the very best of ingredients from wagyu beef Pho to just a normal bowl but offered at a 5 star environment etc. but that just isn't exactly what I like. How do i define my perfect bowl
Food: Good taste (minus the soup), Portions were enough and presentation was nice
Pricing: A bit on the high end
Environment: Clean and tidy
It's been a while since i have found a decent bowl of Pho in HK. Don't get me wrong, there are many places that offer bowls that feature the very best of ingredients from wagyu beef Pho to just a normal bowl but offered at a 5 star environment etc. but that just isn't exactly what I like.
How do i define my perfect bowl? Soup base has to be flavorful but not bombarded with MSG, portions should be regular sized and not "tea time combo" sized and there has to be 金邊粉 as a noodle option. Some places called it vermicelli, others flat noodles, and to be honest i'm not sure how to describe it but the simplest way is that it's essentially the same noodles used in Pad Thais. The noodle texture is slightly chewy, and much more of a mouthful than standard Cantonese rice noodles but nowhere near as large as flat "Hor Fun".
The pricing was no surprise and didn't come as shock when we took a look at the menu for the first time. The cheapest option for a beef pho option was 68$ with the "supreme" option which we opted for being priced at 88$. There was a lot of customization allowed ranging from noodles types, condiments to additional toppings instead of just "extra meat". Extra toppings were 15$ each and we both opted for 3 each, Noodles, and 2 other meats and that brought our individual orders to 133$. This makes it much pricier than a standard bowl at our old "go to" pho venue but it was worth a try.
The appearance of the prepared bowl was nice and appetizing but it did take too long. We went for dinner and there was maybe 7-8 people, but the long wait makes me wonder how lunch service would be. The soup was the major issue i had with this bowl, It may just be that the flavor isn't what i like but it carried a sour flavor throughout. I doubt it had anything to do with ingredients going bad, and instead probably due to the use of a lot of lime. The sourness took over the bowl and it wasn't before long that i had to add siracha to the soup to attempt to mask the taste. Portions were healthy, even without adding noodles i believe it would have been a satisfying amount for lunch or a smaller dinner. The toppings were plentiful and we couldn't really identify how much each "15$" really added so either the 88$ bowl is amazing value or the 15$ extra is amazing value. One or the other.
On a side note, their full menu is not available yet as we wanted to sample the Pho poutine but were dissapointed when told it was not available. Only a few items were currently available so you may want to check with the waitress early to not be dissapointed at the time of ordering!
Besides the sourness of the soup, the noodles were great, the toppings were plentiful and the overall taste of EVERYTHING but that sour flavor was great. The location was nice, a nice sushi bar concept with high bar chairs was a nice change to the traditional pho restaurant. Pricing was a bit expensive but adding toppings is not a must! so i would consider the range fair for Causeway Bay.
I am willing to give it another shot but if it happens again, I'll continue on my search for HK's best bowl of Pho.
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