King of Pho — Restaurant in Sydney

BEST PHO EVER! Listen up if you are Pho lovers just like me. I have been eating Pho for years and I have to say that this is the BEST ever and I do not say it lightly. This beats other pho community like Cabramatta, Marrickville, Bankstown including the infamous Pho An by miles. My wife and I came here by accident as I went to head to fix the luggage next door, so I went to see what to eat nearby this morning for 'brunch', and saw this very attractive title and saw this MASSIVE positive reviews (over 1000+) so I went to read what the fuss is about, probably over 10 minutes. The photos I saw are quite different from the traditional pho you have, so I am confident we will like, but exceeded our expectation. We decided to come in and that was around 11:30am. We were the only couple before the table are almost full by midday!

I had the signature King Of Pho while my wife had Chicken Pho. Both of the broth are different and both are just as good! The King Of Pho is the best pho I have had. The broth is very rich and sweet and it is filled similar to a hot pot stone bowl. This is something I have never experienced before as the traditional pho, they are presented in the white big bowl. I like this very much keep it hot at all times. At the same time, premium waygu/noodles/bean sprout are given separately. I am always very fussy with broth (as this is the main soul, while noodles are 2nd) but the broth and the beef is to die for....really, everything is so good. Even the noodles are very silky too. The premium waygu is out of the world, so tender and juicy, felt like it was in heaven!!! The yolk also came out in its own broth which is very interesting and nice too..kinda like the Japanese miso soup, but Vietnamese version, I guess

I mean overall, for sure, the quality, quantity, everything is so good. Hell, even the hoisin sauce is very good too, very different from the others I had, more like handmade rather than from bottle, so I dipped the beef lot more than usual! The chicken pho my wife had, she and I thought the chicken is very soft and tender....not like very hard to chew or dry and the broth is good too. Unfortunately, because her doctor advised asked her to quit beef for a while, otherwise, she would have the same as mine but she tried mine a little bit and thought it was super good too!

When I have pho, I usually have combination. What's interesting is when I had pho with my wife 2 days ago, she asked "do you want to try this (pointing the menu) Waygu beef pho"? I said, 'I don;t think so, even the beef is just so so I will stick with the combination as usual" given only the broth is good......BUT in my mind, I still wanted to try one wagyu beef pho, but is super hard to come by. Boom.......2 days later, I came here eating the best premium waygu beef pho finding it by accident. Call it fate and I am glad I found one!

The owner, Anton is very friendly and nice, willing to have a chit chat. I just couldn't help and approached to him telling its the best I have ever had as I don't normally do that. The lady who served us in the beginning (probably her daughter or employee) was very polite with smile during the order process.

This is definitely a hidden gem and for sure, we will be back in no time and would like to try the remaining crispy friend chicken side dish! Even now, I am still thinking about the pho in my head as I am writing it, so you know this tells something.

As a conclusion, the King of Pho really deserves the title in Sydney, or even in Australia, no doubt about it, so try it, you will not regret it, 100%!!

Food: 10/10...wait maybe...12/10 Customer service: 10/10 Satisfaction...

Flight was cancelled so made the effort to come from Sydney airport based on the 4.9 score out of 1214 reviews. I'm trying to be factual because this is a family-run shop, but I think the score can be balanced a little.

Ordered the KOP signature ($33): I understand that there are different styles of pho - Northern style being typically clean and clear, and Southern style being slightly sweeter. KOP's style kind of branches out into its own - dark and cloudy, with quite heavy accents of soy sauce, star anise and cinnamon/cassia. It borders on being a braising stock.

As stated on their poster, they don't provide lemon or lime to highlight the broth made from stewing bones for hours. My understanding of Vietnamese food in general, is that flavours and textures should be balanced - this is a little on the saltier side so needs that acidity (IMO).

This pho experience is $33, which is quite expensive owing to the use of wagyu. Now I don't eat a lot of wagyu, so dunking the thin slices in the salty, herbed broth masks any flavour that I might appreciate from the Jack's Creek 500-day-grainfed-purebred wagyu that has won Champion and Gold medals. Although, time the cooking right in your hot broth and you'll find it is quite tender.

The only other condiments provided were fresh bean shoots and shreds of spring onion, sprinkled everywhere - in the broth, on the noodles, on the beef. There was also chilli oil, chilli sauce and hoisin sauce to dip your award-winning wagyu into, just in case you want to enhance the world's best wagyu flavour. Just in case you ask for lemon - the reason they don't provide it is on the wordy poster on the wall.

Service was friendly though - dishes came out quick and complimentary drinks were provided (can of soft drink or bottles of water) - complimentary drinks is up to their discretion though.

Atmosphere - The restaurant itself is very casual. It was a warm day and there is an open kitchen, so the giant pots of boiling broth were adding to the humidity and fragrance in there.

Anyway, my recommendation if you eat here is skip the KOP signature and just get the homemade. I got a meal compensation for a cancelled flight so didn't cough up...

I love pho and this is quite an interesting place. 1st time here and they must be very confident with their dishes. Only 4 dishes on the menu - $35 king beef pho, $27 beef pho, $24 chicken pho & $14 fry chicken. There’s no washing room for dine in customer (may require key to use the building’s WC. We didn’t ask so we don’t really know). There’s no tap water to clean our palates in order to appreciate the taste better. (Depends on your dish, we’ve been to places where dishes come with sparkling water or sorbet just to do that). My boss ordered the $27 beef pho & I had the $24 chicken pho. Both broth are good, kinda clean sweet taste but not “wow”. Still one of the best broth we had around Sydney area. Beef is good, juicy, sweet & tender, but we can’t tell for sure it’s wagyu. Chicken is good too, juicy, lean with just a little skin (personal preference: skin & fat are the most favoured part). We also can’t tell the difference of using “organic bean sprouts”. They don’t use lemon/lime. But we found lemon/lime enhanced the favour, increases layers & depth to the taste. That’s why usually we 1st add bean sprouts, taste the broth, then add lemon/lime, taste the broth again, then add chili w/o touching any other sauce thereafter. We used all the sauce this time here and still missing something. Size is a bit small. Usually my boss would ask me to finish her beef pho. Not this time. Naturally I still got room for a Big Mac after I finished my chicken pho. (Must be fine dining… everything taste better as long as you’re still hungry, ha ha! XD) Unique? Yes. Expensive? Yes. Better than others? Maybe, depends. Will we be back? Maybe, with so many good choices around this neighbourhood, I wouldn’t expect revisiting any time soon. Would I recommend them to pho lover like me? Yes. Taste is very personal T4 you gotta try & see for yourself. I would have no doubt this chef had put his/her heart in their cooking (while others put their foot instead XD sorry for my...