Mama Pho — Restaurant in London

If I had a choice, I would always choose the original Mama Phó in Deptford, but it is such a trek to get there, so here is the next best place at their South Ken Branch. It is good, but just not as good.

Here they don’t have Bánh Cuốn (Steamed rolls) or the larger sized bowls of pho, like they do in the original.

Anyway, I needed my usual Mama Pho fix and so there I went for lunch. As you can see the food looks good, but with a slight problem with one of the orders. I ordered the chicken wings and Phó Tái Chín.

The chicken wings starter was a little greasy, but flavourful. As I was eating the wings they brought out the pho main as well, so the timing was a little rushed. You need to eat the noodles when it is hot as the texture will change, but then the wings will start to get cold. They should have let me finish the starter before bringing the main to make it a better experience, as the flavour of the chicken wings will affect the flavour of the Pho if you try to eat them at the same time. It was not too busy at the time.

The Phó Tái Chín (Well done beef and raw beef) was the issue, as you can see there is no raw beef. I called over the waitress she kept explaining that the soup had cooked the beef (the soup was only warm), but having eaten at both this and the Deptford branch so many many times, I know that they had just let the beef sit in the soup when it was hot, instead of bringing the Pho to me when the soup was ladled into the bowl.

It was all about timing, everything is a little rushed here. They should have let me finished the wing starter and only THEN ladled the soup onto the beef and THEN bring it to the table (like I said it wasn’t busy with maybe 4 covers at the time). It doesn’t take long to put soup in a bowl. Like I said, rushed.

The lovely waitress (Phoebe) was very accommodating and patient and brought over a few more pieces of raw beef when I asked. As the soup was only warm, by the time the raw beef was brought over the soup got colder still. It took a bit longer than normal to cook the new pieces of beef, but it was worth it as it was very very tender. That is why I order Phó Tái Chín!!!

I also ordered a Pork Bánh Mì for takeaway as per normal. It was perfect. The bread, soft and flavourful. The filling just right. I could eat 10 of them!!

So overall, good and bad points. I would still keep going as when they get it right it makes it all...

They opened at 12pm, we were one of the early birds, so there were many seats. We went in, but the weather outside was freezing cold, they had the door half opened. When I went to close the door, they opened it again, saying it’s hot in the kitchen, but we as customers were freezing inside the tiny shop, they didn’t seem to care.

Food was ok, had better. Waited a long long time for it. As I mentioned we were there early, and the dishes came later than the customers who ordered after us.

Other customers kept on closing the door too, and they kept opening again, it really was freezing inside the tiny restaurant. They really should be considerate with the customers. It’s not a good experience to be freezing cold and trying to eat. The food got cold quickly too.

Servers were slow to serve and make sure we had plates, in the end we got up and went to get the bowls ourselves.

The restaurant is really small and cramped, all sitting so close together , no space to put your coats and bags.

Overall not a good dining in experience, freezing cold restaurant, inconsiderate staff, cramped, no space to eat and enjoy.

Wouldn’t...

We were fortunate enough that the wait time was not too long, even on a Friday evening. The service was average and good. Things that we tried:

(1) Pho (6/10) = decent anise flavor...can't put my finger on it but something is missing...this was served with wider rice noodles and a plate of lettuce, sprouts, mint, and lime. Although it was missing vietnamese basil the pho itself was..ok...I would rate it slightly higher than the restaurant chain Pho.

(2) Bun bo hue (5/10) = the broth was more dull than the pho. Bun bo hue traditionally has a rich shrimp and chili flavor, and is served with sliced banana blossoms (this is the sign of a legit bun bo hue). Instead of the round noodles that is typical for bun no hue, thin vermicelli noodles were used instead, and there were no herbs. There were only slices of meat, bereft of pork knuckle and pigs blood. I was very disappointed.

(3) Spring rolls (4/10) = greasy and a bit burnt on the ends. Not particularly moreish.

The search continues for good vietnamese food...