Old Man Pho Emporium - Vietnamese Restaurant — Restaurant in Melbourne

Sunday early afternoon, pretty busy, I was on my own and hungry. Id seen this place had a high rating so I had walked for 15 minutes and searched the shopping centre to find it. Clue: its on LG not G. I'm not a fussy person and I've cleaned up plenty of tables myself, but I walked away. Every table had a pile of used plates and rubbish. When I went to the counter and asked for a table to be cleared, rubbish was removed from one table which wasn't wiped, leaving food on the table top and a dirty napkin on one of the chairs. There were only 2 staff. One frantically making food and another helping and covering the till despite the tables having QR code ordering. I waited patiently. Asked again for what I needed. And then waited and then left. If I had to guess, the owner knows Sunday trade can fluctuate with the weather and Sunday wages are double time or time and a half or something. Disappointing. Doesn't deserve a...

Old Man Pho was a pleasant surprise to find in Emporium - this restaurant delivers with their traditional authentic Vietnamese food.

The Girl with piercings who served me was stellar - she recommended the:

1. Crispy Pork Taco Bao
2. Roasted Pork Broken Rice
3. Beef Pho

I have visited multiple times and her recommendations have been on the mark. The 3 dishes above had such depth in flavor and you can tell they had nailed the traditional elements whilst also being able to add that fusion spin for a variety of dishes.

Review of Refreshments:

I tried both the Lemon Grass Iced Tea ( if you are a sweet tooth - you will love it as you will taste the sweet lemon tea complimented by lemon grass notes) and the Avocado Shake had the overall texture in the mouth and flavor profile really resembled the Avocado Shakes I drank when I lived in Southeast Asia but with more premium Australian Avocado!

Great Value for Money...

Happy and well fed! American visitor in Melbourne, first time. Wandering about CBD on a cold rainy late day... feeling a bit "meh". Time to look for food. Walking past Old Man Pho. Very friendly and welcoming young man at the counter assured me the Old Man Pho combo bowl isn't spicy. It was perfect. I didn't know how much I needed a bowl of this goodness. Served with a nice bit of fresh sprouts with lemon and basil...and just a tiny bit of red pepper. Plenty of fresh self-serve water at the ready. It's in a mall. I give the location 5 stars because it's well laid out, comfortable chairs at the tables. Old Man Pho took good care of me. It'll take good care of you, too! PS: Sorry I didn't add a photo...I was ready...