Phở Hung Vuong

Phở Hung Vuong

128 Hopkins St
Footscray

Phở (pronounced like ‘duh’ rather than ‘toe’) is a Vietnamese noodle soup, with rice noodles and sliced beef/chicken/meat in a clear broth, served with assorted items such as chillies, Thai basil, lemon wedges, and bean sprouts.

When me, Cam, and our housemates moved to the west-inner-city, I griped a little at the inconvenience of taking public transportation to the Queen Victoria market to do our fruit and veg shopping. However, we discovered that if we rode the 402 bus (which we normally take to and from uni) to the very end of line, we arrive at the suburb of Footscray. I was extremely pleased to discover that Footscray not only had it’s own farmer’s market, it also had a large population of Filipinos (meaning I could thus buy some products which I miss from back home), as well as a large population of Vietnamese people (for the phở.)

My current favourite phở restaurant is in Footscray, called Phở Hung Vuong, and is just around the corner from both the Footscray train station and the end of the 402 bus line. Phở places are, in fact, not that different from one another. There is not a whole lot of variation to the phở dish. So why have I (and the Cheap Eats Guide 2009) singled out Phở Hung Vuong? Because their broth is absolutely delicious and the price which they charge for it makes my wallet happy.

This place gets completely packed during meal times

Sizes come in baby, small, medium, and omg-my-stomach-cannot-possibly-fit-all-that-but-it-cost-less-than-10-dollars-so-I-thought-it-wouldn’t-be-that large. The different phở choices only vary in what sort of meat is used. Word to the wise: Beef Combo might sound like a great idea for someone who can’t decide on what to get, but just stick with the simple sliced beef unless you like tripe and random meat balls. Make sure you squeeze some lemon juice as well as put in some thai basil (the leaves that smell vaguely minty.) And go nuts with the beansprouts.

Clockwise from top left: baby size, small size, a drink with crushed ice and sweet beans, items to put into your soup, and medium size.

I’ve always been a bit of a big eater. That said, I’d like to take this opportunity to discourage overeating, as it causes a rise in the insulin your body produces, which has been correlated to a shorter life span, among other complications (if you’re a pragmatist, it’s being too fat, if you’re religious, it’s burning in hell.) Anyway, I thought I would order a large bowl. Here’s a picture of the bowl in comparison with a standard tea cup.

Large size vs tea cup

Phở Hung Vuong, delicious broth in overly large bowls. Yum. I hope that if you’re ever in the general inner west Melbourne vicinity that you’ll have a try of this place

~~Hsiang~~

P.S: If you are a University of Melbourne student and have never had phở before, do go to Saigon Noodles at Union House and have some. It’s what got me started on phở in the first place and I hope it will generate a similar interest for you.

P.S.S: Another hotspot for great phở is the suburb Richmond. Will let you know about it when I get around to eating there. But if you’re really hungry for phở and you’re in the middle of the CBD, go to Mekong Noodles on Swanston st.

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~ by studiousfoodies on January 16, 2010.