Pho Hong Tam — Restaurant in Adelaide

Pho Hong Tam is my favourite Pho restaurant. It is undisputed in the quality, service, cleanliness and taste.

This restaurant serves more than just Pho, and whilst they’re all solid dishes, this review is focusing on my favourite item on the menu.

With the size of this place, and how busy they can get during peak times, it can sometimes be hard to find a table and unfortunately they don’t reserve tables. With that being said; the average turnaround time of patrons is fairly quick, and if you’re willing to wait, you’ll be glad you did.

Even as the building is small and the strip looking dingey, it actually houses some of the best food in Adelaide, including the Vietnamese and Thai places on either side.. which will definitely be getting their own reviews.

The service is always friendly, with the staff always serving with a smile. it may be difficult at times as the employees aren’t native English-speakers, but they do their absolute best, and the service and quality they do provide is more than exceptional.

The prices here are more than fair, with a small costing you around $11, and a large costing around $14. I still haven’t found anywhere which can match in comparison.

The Rare Beef Pho, which is my go-to, always continues to impress and deliver quality taste. With a modest amount of beef and noodles, the bowl sizes are more than big. The small they serve is the size of larges in most establishments, they include heaps of bean sprouts, coriander, onions and chilli. They provide bottles of sauces on the table to add as much as you want; which is harder to come across nowadays.

Out of all my friends and family that I’ve referred to this place, not one has been able to find one better, and it continues to take the cake. With all the employees being local, they understand the environment and clientele.

The only short-side of this business is the takeaway Pho, as the one time I’ve gotten it, you still have to make and prepare it all at home. And they only provide you the ingredients and warm broth, it definitely doesn’t replicate the experience and quality of eating in.

All-in-all, a must try in the area, and a place I’ll continue to frequent...

2025 update: Still the best Pho shop in town and possible all of Australia. I've tried many places in Adelaide, and also 3 places in Melbourne claiming to be 'the best' but they all don't hold a candle to the broth and fresh noodles at Hong Tam. All my friends also agree and do not go any where else now.. it is far too 'risky' to try any new place claiming to have the best Pho... we've been burnt many times with how mediocre some places are. Hong Tam is also very consistent, I think I've only had 1 time the broth wasn't great in 100 visits, and that was probably due to the end of the evening because they ran out of broth. It is also true that the old lady owner is moody and scary, but I find it somewhat charming, she is the epitome of a classic Vietnamese lady running an old school small restaurant. No fake smiles, gets your order out with no fuss, and just let's the fantastic Pho do the talking.

Old review below: Hong Tam Pho is my go to Pho shop in Adelaide. Fresh noodles: check. Broth taste is divine and full of flavor: check. Lots of meat: check. Good prices: check (although alot more than I used to pay.. thanks inflation!), Quick service and cooking time: check! There is no other places in Adelaide that can best this place.. don't even bother. Only issue is that since its a small shop.. staff are sometimes moody and the menu items are rather limited. But I prefer such small places, get in, eat and get out. Perfect for rocking up after a night of heavy drinking in your trackies and ugg boots. No fancy dress or other...

It's still the best pho, not just in Adelaide, but everywhere I've ever had pho. The meat is juicy, tender, and a good amount in each bowl. The noodles are soft but chewy and perfectly cooked. The condiments are on point (all original sauces and nothing watered down). The small bowl of pickled onions is an amazing addition. The fresh chilli certainly has a kick. If you don't like spice, avoid this. The chilli oil is still spicy and adds another element to every slurp. However, the real start of the show is the broth. The most intense and flavoursome broth I've ever had. The depth of the beef flavour is out of this world, yet you still get the flavour of the spices and aromatics that have been used to make the broth. Everytime I come back to SA I visit this place as much...