ZenViet — Restaurant in Göteborgs Stad

I love Vietnamese food. It’s one of my absolute favourite cuisines. Summer Rolls, Pho and dau hu kho sa ot will always mark the pinnacle of Asian food for me. A place by the name of Steamy Pho sounds rather suspicious, but one needs to try it before one denies it!

Steamy Pho is located right at Odinsplatsen, a rather quaint little area, close to the main roads for cars and Ullevi. So, it is kinda out of the direct path and you will likely only get here if you are dedicated to come to this area. For me, it took me around 4 years of living in the city before I started exploring this area as well. In any case, the locale is clean and has a modern and minimal decor. The menu is rather small, but offers all you might want. Your typical things such as Summer Rolls, Spring Rolls and Pho can be found, but also, with watery eyes, I can see dau hu kho sa ot on the menu. It’s spicy lemongrass tofu with vegetables stir fried. My absolute favourite and so far no other Vietnamese place in Gothenburg has it. Big big plus!

After ordering, the food comes quite fast. Summer Rolls and Spring Rolls are on point. Freshly made, have good tofu in them and are served with a fantastic and balanced tamarind-peanut sauce. It is clear, the spring rolls are not some frozen bulk food, but freshly made in the restaurant.

The mains, Pho and dau hu kho sa ot come shortly after. The Pho is a rich soup full of vegetables and nice tofu. For my taste, the broth could use some more kick from spices, but it is still a very good base. In the end, it’s Pho. But where it really blew my mind is with the dau hu kho sa ot. Perfectly balanced mix of sambal, sweetness and lemongrass with vegetables and served with rice. Now this is what I call a stir fry. The tofu is pre-baked and then cut in pieces to be stir fried. Good structure, no overwhelming taste and it nicely adapts the sauce into it. That’s how it should be.

All of that comes at a very fair price tag of around 154 SEK for a main. In total you will spend around 250-300 SEK per person for starters, main and drinks. And you will leave just full enough that you are content, but want to come back soon thereafter for more. Steamy Pho is the right place to go for something authentic and not super heavy.

Now this is a place for some proper Vietnamese food. Friendly staff, fast service and food that is on point. It really captures what makes Vietnamese cuisine so interesting and sets it apart from other South-East Asian countries. No weird Europeanised adaptations that could come from any other random place, but something unique is what you get. The best Vietnamese place...

English: I had a terrible dining experience at Steamy Phở last evening. My friend ordered a non-alcoholic beer and beef noodles, while I ordered a vegetarian Banh Mi. Although his beer came promptly, his food took 45 minutes to arrive. Unfortunately, my meal never arrived at all.

I waited for 5-10 minutes after my friend's food was served, but my order still didn't show up. The waiter told me it was coming, but it never did. I tried to ask another staff member, who didn't speak English, and couldn't get any help. When I finally managed to speak to the waiter again, he ignored me and wouldn't explain what happened to my order.

I left the restaurant hungry and frustrated, without any food or apologies. Since most restaurants in Sweden close their kitchens around 10 PM, we had no other dining options by the time we left.

I will not be returning to Steamy Phở unless they significantly improve their service and communication with customers. I strongly recommend everyone avoid this restaurant.

Swedish: Jag hade en fruktansvärd matupplevelse på Steamy Phở i går kväll. Min vän beställde en alkoholfri öl och nötnudlar, medan jag beställde en vegetarisk Banh Mi. Även om hans öl kom snabbt tog hans mat 45 minuter att komma fram. Tyvärr kom min måltid aldrig alls.

Jag väntade i 5-10 minuter efter att min väns mat serverats, men min beställning dök fortfarande inte upp. Servitören sa till mig att det skulle komma, men det gjorde det aldrig. Jag försökte fråga en annan anställd, som inte kunde engelska, och som inte kunde få någon hjälp. När jag äntligen lyckades prata med servitören igen, ignorerade han mig och ville inte förklara vad som hände med min beställning.

Jag lämnade restaurangen hungrig och frustrerad, utan mat eller ursäkt. Eftersom de flesta restauranger i Sverige stänger sina kök runt 22.00 hade vi inga andra matställen när vi åkte.

Jag kommer inte att återvända till Steamy Phở om de inte avsevärt förbättrar sin service och kommunikation med kunderna. Jag rekommenderar starkt alla att undvika...

Pay no attention to the name of the place nor the decoration and you will have a great meal.

I have to say that when I heard the name of this place I was very close to cancel. I also will like to mention that when I entered the place I had the same feeling again, but, since we were there already, I decided to suppress my fears of running away as soon as possible and give it a try.

The food was amazing. Super tasty and well served. Great seasoning and personality. A great option in the area.

The drink menu must be reviewed by the owner. Beer selection is not the best and only served in bottles. The wine was not good eighter.

Good prices. Good...