Foodview 1.3 Pho Hung Vuong, Footscray

For the foreigner in Melbourne, the word "Footscray" wont mean much to you, you might probably pronounce it as foots cray. However, Melbournians know that Footscray was previously the people's republic of Vietnam. That's right, especially on Barkly street in Footscray, the signs are even in Vietnamese.

So what to do in Footscray? Well the no.1 thing not to do is to park anywhere along Hopkins street. The great city council of Maribyrnong will slap a fine on you in a heartbeat. Grab a taxi, ride your bike or even run there. Just don't park there!

Back to my question, my reply is as the saying goes, "When in Rome, eat like the Romans". So when in Footscray, eat Vietnamese food. Now I am not too familiar with Vietnamese food, the only things I know are Broken rice and Noodle soup with leaf branches.

Again, I employed the "go to the restaurant that's full of customers" approach. Surprisingly, there are quite a number of restaurants with only one or two tables filled. Then I found the one, Pho Hung Vuong, (please forgive me for not including the apostrophes), the place was packed! I knew I made the right choice because on their windows were the following words, "you've tried the rest, now try the best". Only great cooks can be that confident, I reckon.

Chinese tea was free flowing (every table had thermos) and was hot. Serving free chinese tea that tastes great is an absolute must in my food reviewing book! So that's already a plus. I notice alot of the Footscrayans were eating noodle soups and there wasn't leaf branches in them!

I guess it must only be that Vietnamese restaurant along Swanston street that serves noodle soups with real brances with bark that float on your soup. Yes, if you are wondering which restaurant, its the one that claims the former US president, Bill Clinton had two bowls at their establishment.

Back to my review, I decided to try their version of Broken rice, CatBeef ball soup and Pork springrolls.

Nice big portion. I was happy when I saw this. If only I could call it a McHappy meal.

Click for bigger view

The pork was great but I felt that it could have been better.

Free soup with the rice is always a plus. Fish sauce is standard.

Next up is pork springrolls. Now I genuinely thought the cabbage was a garnish, but when I solved one of life's mysteries when I saw Mr.P wrap a piece around a springroll.

Fish sauce.

For you to dip these into. YUM

Beef ball soup with bean sprouts and leaves! I wonder why Vietnamese use leaves in their food.

Close up. The taste of the soup comes from the beef balls. Not salty. Taste just right.

Bean sprouts a'plenty

A definite recommend by gundamhotel. The only problem would be parking. Apparently noodle soups are the best as 99% of the customers were eating them. So give them a go @ 128 Hopkins street, Footscray.

Verdict

Taste : 4 out of 5 stars

Value : 4.5 out of 5 stars