noodlies Cabramatta Food Tour, May 2011

noodlies Sydney food blog's Cabramatta Food Tour came and went today and it was a wonderful success.  We met at a local temple and were greeted by the nuns.  Walter gave everyone a brief tour of the temple and read an exerpt from his book Destination Saigon.  And the lovely nuns and their volunteers whipped up a storm in terms of wonderful vegetarian food.



We were shown how to make our own Vietnamese rice paper rolls (goi cuon) adding our own filling which included several types of home made vegetarian 'meat', vegetables, mint, vermicelli and more!

"Pick 6 dishes that represent Vietnam"...

Says my new journo friend, Daisy Dumas, she's doing a story for CNNGo.com. Oh, and they have to be in Cabramatta and we need to eat them in one sitting... I was soooo up for the challenge!

I selected six dishes that transport me back to Vietnam, dishes that we commonly eat and one or two that are just so uniquely Vietnamese... What do you think of my selection? Leave a comment...

1. Pho: at Pho Tau Bay

No list would be complete without Pho, Vietnam's most famous soup. It comes in several types: beef, chicken, vegetarian, even seafood. And Pho Tau Bay was voted Sydney's best Pho in 2010.

Cabramatta Food Tour with noodlies - 21st May 2011

Noodlies is about uncovering authentic, diverse food and culture all around Sydney.  I've had so many requests to do a tour of Cabramatta which has resulted in this Cabramatta Food Tour with noodlies in conjunction with North Sydney Community Centre.

TOUR IS SOLD OUT, THANK YOU

Of course the Cabramatta Food Tour is about sampling authentic Vietnamese food, but it's also about giving you a unique insight into Vietnamese culture; you'll get to meet monks, speak to the owner of one of Sydney's leading Pho restaurants and go behind the scenes to uncover the real Cabramatta. 

Cabramatta House Temple

We'll meet at a house temple where you'll meet the Abbot and learn how to roll a vegetarian Vietnamese roll and of course eat some.

How to eat Pho noodles

Some readers of noodlies Sydney food blog wanted to know how to eat Pho, Vietnamese noodles. Here's video from noodlies youtube channel :)

Pho Hanoi in Hong Kong

Ok, I promise, I didn't go to Hong Kong looking for pho, this was a case of pho finding me.  Pho Hanoi is like any other eatery around the Jordan area, small and narrow, blink and you might miss it.  In my search for a laundry this morning I stumbled by this place.  The owner is Nguyen Thi Thao and she's had the restaurant for two years.

The pho tai (raw beef Vietnamese noodle) was pretty good quality, the soup colouring darker than I'm used to, but that doesn't mean it's a bad thing, the broth isn't particularly salty or sweet but but it still packed good flavour.  I'm used to basil and bean sprouts being provided on the side, here it's already added.  We're lucky to have great quality beef in Australia, this cut was a little thicker and a tad tougher than I'm used to, but it's not a fatal flaw.

They had Vietnamese coffee on the menu and I wanted to test it's authenticity. I was very pleasantly surprised, it came out just like Vietnam, dripping and smelling of Vietnamese coffee, the condensed milk nice and thick at the bottom of the glass.  The rest was up to me to finish, see the video below.

A great way to taste Vietnam in the heart of Hong Kong.  And because all eateries are tiny and easy to miss, this is what it looks like from the street.

Pho Hanoi
61 Parkes St, Jordan (off Jordan Road, TST end)
Hong Kong

Fortune Pho, Phnom Penh, Cambodia

A few seconds from our hotel in Phnom Penh is Fortune Pho a small eatery that is contained in the front outside courtyard of a house.  Herbert its owner is a German with a design background which shows in the minimal but stylish and functional interior.  He took the place over a few years ago, the cook used to be Vietnamese, now it's a Cambodian.  Would I like pho cooked by a non-Vietnamese?

Well actually, yes, very much.

The soup is really very good, nice balance of fish sauce and five spices.  The pho noodles fresh and perfectly cooked.  You get great variety of sides, including chilli, basil, extra onion, sore tooth mint (ngo gai) and bean sprouts.  It's the bean sprouts that gets me, someone has plucked the head and tail from every single spout... just like my mum used to do.

Highly recommended.

Fortune Pho
Street 178, Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Ph: (017) 866 672

Pho 54 Vietnamese Restaurant, Cabramatta

It's not Studio 54, but Pho 54 is as hip and almost as retro.  It's been around for at least 20 years and it has been continuously popular aided by a very loyal fan base that promote the restaurant through word of mouth.



Pho 54 gets its name in the usual Vietnamese convention of using the street number.  It's on 54 Park Road in the Cabramatta mall.  It's a small restaurant, but the owners have made the most of the space.

Video Guide: How to eat Pho?

The noodlies, mint and sprouts are clean and fresh, but as always, it's the soup that sets a good pho apart from the also-rans.  While Pho Tau Bay's soup is sweet and Pho Minh more salty from the fish sauce, Pho 54 is smooth and balanced and yet still very tasty.  And as you can see from the picture, extremely well presented, to the point of being mouth-watering!

2010 noodlies Sydney's Best Pho restaurant

Pho 54 Vietnamese Restaurant
54 Park Rd, Cabramatta
(02) 9726 1992

Local Pho Eateries in top 3

Local pho eateries in top 3 - noodlies Sydney's best pho 2010
Fairfield Advance, p3
1st September 2010

Best Restaurants in Cabramatta (updated)

Wanted to do a day trip to Cabramatta but don''t know where to eat? What are some of the best restaurants in Cabramatta?  What dish should I order to get the most of my Cabramatta adventure?  Are there any vegetarian options?  What is Pho noodle? How do I eat Pho?

All these questions and more are answered below... as we say at noodlies, happy eating!

Last updated Saturday, 7th November 2010.

Banh uot

It might sound flippant, but food is one of the main reasons we chose to live in Cabramatta. My partner and I are rarely home by 7pm - who has time to shop, cook, eat and wash up? Why cook, when we’re surrounded by good, honest, delicious food.

Over the years, so many friends have asked me to recommend places to eat in Cabramatta. So if you're wondering where to eat in Cabramatta, this blog is devoted to my favourite local restaurants; my version of the best restaurants in Cabramatta.

But first a disclaimer, which might save me from being lynched by restaurants who didn’t make the list: it’s a competitive market in Cabramatta – diners are fussy, if a place is not good, it won’t last. So just by being open, the restaurant is pretty good already!

Where did Pho An place in Noodlies Sydney's Best Pho?

Silver Medal treat for Noodlies (Sydney food blog)
The Canterbury-Bankstown Express, Tuesday 21st September 2010

Pho An
29 Greenfield Pde, Bankstown
02 9796 7826

Pho Mekong Vietnam, Melbourne CBD

At 10pm on a Thursday night, Pho Mekong Vietnam was still pumping.  The customers were a mix of late night lads and ladettes, plus the Asian clientelle.

I was grumpy because my plane was late and missed my booking at Hutong Dumpling Bar.  Stumbled across this place and since noodlies Sydney's Best Pho was only announced the day before, I had to give this Melbourne pho a try.. for professional comparison purposes, of course.  The exterior red neons attracted me like moth to a flame.

Sydney's Best Pho Winner Announcement! Fairfield Advance 15 Sep 2010

Fairfield Advance, Wed, 15 September 2010

Food fanatics have selected Sydney’s best Vietnamese noodle restaurant in an online poll run exclusively by Sydney food blog, noodlies with the winner announced today.  Over 50 Pho restaurants were nominated across 29 Sydney suburbs.

The online poll conducted by noodlies has awarded Pho Tau Bay restaurant in Cabramatta the title of Sydney’s Best Pho, 2010.

Pho Tau Bay
12/117 John Street (enter via Hill St), Cabramatta
02 9726 4583

List of top pho restaurants by area click here.
Listen to interview on ABC Radio about noodlies Sydney's Best Pho poll (ABC 702, 2nd Oct 2010)

Sydney's best pho in Cabramatta

IT’S the worst-kept secret among Sydney foodies and now it’s official - to sample the best pho you have to go to Cabramatta.

Our own little patch of Southeast Asia has claimed top honours in the Sydney’s Best Pho competition run by food blog Noodlies.com.au.

Loads of local restaurants were nominated in the online poll, with Hill St eatery Pho Tau Bay named the overall winner.

It came as no surprise to owner Khanh Giang, who opens at 7.30am six days a week to feed the masses of people who come to sample his Vietnamese noodle dish.

He’s been doing it for more than 25 years and believes his pho restaurant may have been the first of its kind in the country.

“My menu has a lot of different things but the favourite is the beef noodle soup,” he said. “My wife - Thi Nhu Pham - is the cook.”

More than 200 people voted for their favourite eatery in the Sydney’s Best Pho competition, which kicked off early last month.

No less than 50 restaurants were nominated; with eateries in Bankstown, the city, Parramatta and the inner west rounding out the top five.

Noodlies founder Thang Ngo was thrilled to have a restaurant in his hometown of Cabramatta claim top gong.

He said he had been a regular at Pho Tau Bay for about 12 years.

“Most people said that they loved the soup in the pho here,” he said. “They also said that they liked the fact that when the soup came out it was very hot.”

Mr Ngo said the competition aimed to get everybody talking about pho, a traditional Vietnamese noodle dish.

He said there was no better time for punters to sample pho than at this weekend’s Moon Festival in Cabramatta.



You may also be interested in:
What is Pho?
Video Guide:How to eat Pho? 
Noodlies Cabramatta's best restaurants
Round up of Vietnamese desserts

Noodlies Sydney's Best Pho was supported by Cumberland Newspaper Group, GoTalk, Allen & Unwin.

Election 2010: Everyone's voting for Sydney's Best Pho

Candidate for Fowler (which includes Cabramatta) votes for his favourite pho in Noodlies Sydney's Best Pho search! Fairfield Advance, 18 Aug 2010.

How to eat Pho...

Shot today at Saigon Pho, Footscray.

Saigon Pho, Footscray, Melbourne

The intrepid search for the best pho continues, but this time in Melbourne, where I'm spending a relaxing weekend. Footscray is authentic, raw and exciting; it's one of the most culturally diverse suburbs in Australia; boasting not only the Vietnamese community but also newer migrants from Africa.

It was so exciting to see such a wonderful mix.  We walked down the 'African' street which was so fun.. I wanted to go in and eat everything in sight.

But we settled for Saigon Pho, just off the main strip, but looking bustling and authentic.  I was a little worried when the basil and sprouts came out, because, well there wasn't much basil and what there was, didn't seem to fresh.

Any misgivings changed when my pho tai nam came, the broth was, for me, the perfect combination of sweetness and saltiness.  Maybe, just maybe the broth could have been a little clearer, but it's a minor gripe. The pho rice noodles were fresh and the cooked meat particularly good.

Liking Saigon Pho a lot!

Author of Destination Saigon Votes for Sydney's Best Pho

Walter Mason, author of Destination Saigon votes in Sydney's Best Pho today.  Fairfield Advance, Wednesday, 11th August 2010

Noodlies Sydney's Best Pho Poll comes to Parramatta, Parramatta Advertiser

Parramatta Advertiser, Wednesday, 11th August 2010

Sydney's Best Pho Search is Launched! Vote NOW!

Fairfield Advance, 4th August 2010

If you have a favourite Pho restaurant in Sydney, now's the time to vote for them!

POLL IS NOW CLOSED, WINNER ANNOUNCED ON NOODLIES 15TH SEPTEMBER 2010

Vote for Sydney's Best Pho

Photo: Nick Andrean

Noodlies is looking for Sydney's Best Pho noodles, 2010 and we're asking you to tell us.

By voting, you will help choose Sydney's Best Pho restaurant and you could win great prizes, too.  And the winning restaurant will get the recognition it deserves!

You'll also get the chance to tell us what's important for you when deciding what restaurant to go to.

So if you have a favourite Pho restaurant or you like eating out, vote now and be in the running to score yourself some cool prizes including:
- Prepaid wireless USB modem and data SIM with 500MB data so you can surf the net, send emails, download music and stay in touch where you want with gotalk Prepaid Wireless Broadband, valued at $79.95!

- A signed copy of Destination Saigon: Adventures in Vietnam by Australian author, Walter Mason and published by Allen & Unwin.  This new book offers a real insight into contemporary Vietnam and its people.

POLL IS NOW CLOSED. WINNER ANNOUNCED 15TH SEPTEMBER 2010

Noodlies Sydney's Best Pho is supported by:

What is Phở (Pho)?

Pho tai nam

Phở is the name of the most popular Vietnamese noodle soup dish.  Outside Vietnam, it's anglicised to simply Pho.

This dish is simply the pho noodles in soup with usually beef and topped with onion, spring onions.  Sides that comes with a bowl of pho include basil, bean sprouts, chilli and a slice of lemon or lime.  Hoisin sauce, fish sauce, and sometimes even sugar are added to taste at the table.

Pho is believed to have originated only a century ago in the north of Vietnam.  These days there are noticeable regional differences, with Pho tasting different in the north, central and southern Vietnam.

Many believe it's relatively young origin mean Pho is a Vietnamese adaptation of Chinese Hu Tieu noodles, which uses very similar noodles, but is less intense in flavour.  Pho is also the name of the the rice noodle used in the dish. 

What comes with Pho?

Beef Pho is by far the most popular form of Pho and offered in a bewildering variety of options - Pho nam: pre-cooked beef, this would likely what you get if you just asked for pho, Pho tai: thin uncooked slices of beef which the customer cooks using the pipping hot soup,  Pho tai-nam: combination of both cooked and uncooked, Pho gan: added beef tendon, Pho sach: with added tripe,  Pho bo vien: even beef balls and of course Pho dac biet: the special with everything.

Chicken Pho is a second most popular form and from my observations seem to be more popular with women.  Vegetarian pho pho is also relatively popular during ram (full moon cycles). While fish pho and prawn pho can be found in some regions of Vietnam, although it is almost impossible to find overseas.

How to eat pho?