Pho 128 — Restaurant in Melbourne

We've been in a bit of a Vietnamese food pilgrimage lately, and decided to try this place. Last time we were in Werribee, we walked past and made a mental note to come back and try the food.

It's located in the main street, directly opposite Coles and has a flashing sign, so a bit hard to miss.

First impressions. It was 12 midday and the place was empty. There was a large screen TV blaring out modern music video clips, so a quiet lunch was out of the question. If they have to play music, they would be better off playing more neutral aged music ie not for the young or older generation. It was very off putting.

The lady behind the counter who served us was pleasant enough, and the food came out quickly. 10/10 for that.

First, we ordered the San Choy Bou for entree, which came out nice and hot and was delicious. Still batting 10/10.

For mains we ordered the Seafood Pho and Chicken Pad Thai, along with a hot Vietnamese coffee. Both mains came out quickly and hot. Couldn't fault the service there. The music still blaring at us.

I was so looking forward to trying their Pho as it's one of the main Vietnamese dishes I look for. It's so hard to find a good Pho these days and I always cherish those little golden places that pull this dish off.

Unfortunately, on this occassion the Pho was underwhelming. It was pretty much tastless seafood, noodles and sprouts in hot water. That summed it up. Some of the best Pho I've tasted was served in a flavoursome "broth". Not plain old hot water like on this occassion.

The Pad Thai was nice enough. Not great, but not bad either, just average.

The coffee was nice enough and I would recommend trying Vietnamese ice and hot coffee to anyone who's looking for something different.

We left around 1pm and there was only four other diners in the place. Maybe that says something?

They need to improve their Pho, as well as decide what clientele they're targeting. If it's the older generation with money, then they're way...

Me and my family have been here quite a few times since we moved to Melbourne in late 2019. Food taste and presentation has been good.

However, my 3 most recent visits perplexed me a little. I think my family has been here at least a dozen times prior but now not so sure about returning.

First strange issue: Payment Method We've always payed by credit card since we first started coming to this restaurant. However my last 3 visits, the payment methods were: Cash only - strange as i always paid via credit card in the past Allowed to pay by credit card as we normally would Cash only - again strange as i paid via credit card literally one day prior. Since Covid started earlier this year, most businesses have moved to "tap and go transactions" which makes sense given Covid remains active on surfaces for weeks. So being asked to walk over to an ATM after many visits where card was readily accepted was a real question mark. Another customer with young kids in fact left the restaurant when asked to pay via cash and commented he always paid by card for numerous visits in the past so clearly i am not alone here.

Second issue: Covid preventive measures Most retail and restaurant outlets have their staff wearing masks which helps reduce the spread of Covid and other illnesses. However, today the staff i saw were not wearing masks at all which in my opinion adds a layer of risk for illnesses including Covid. This really perplexed me given its only been around a month since restrictions were loosened.

I do not have any issues with the food and the variety is quite extensive. But the payment issues and lack of masks being used by staff is enough for me to not go back anytime soon.

My rating is therefore a mix of the pretty good food offset by some questionable decisions made by the business...

2022-I had to come and change my review, I came to them since 2016 as a repeat customer. Today I ringed wanted to get pho take away, asking for extra soup because they offer less when you get take away and the mount in take aways doesn’t even cover the noodle, as wanted the extra I just want to have same amount of soup as how I eat in the restaurant.

The lady on the phone was very annoyed and told me to charge $5 extra for the soup, I was asking her why and explain my opinion above.She says extra soup with extra money with an annoyed tone, follow up saying she is gonna cancel my order. This is ridiculous, I’d like to din in and have my regular soup but they are not open for din in. I still wanted my order and don’t understand why she says she is gonna cancel it. She then explain because we had to use an extra container for the soup, I was like how much does a container cost, 50c? She says yes but you still have to pay $5. Terrible customer service! Keep that attitude with your business.

Can someone investigate why this place is cash only, dodgy.

2019-My regular restaurant, probably the best PHO place in Werribee, cash only place but the price has gone up in the last couple of years. Would be better if you could...