Pho Vietnamese Covent Garden
Travelling around Asia is an amazing experience with outstanding scenery, awesome people and cracking food. The only problem with the latter is when you return to the UK eating any form of Asian cuisine often ends in disappointment!
With this in mind my travelling bud and I were intrigued to hear about Pho an authentic, family run Vietnamese restaurant with several sites in London (and even a couple elsewhere!).
We headed down to their newest branch in Covent Garden to check them out!
As you enter Pho has a relaxed easy almost market like dining feel, with wooden tables spread out and ambient lighting throughout.
Looking at the menu we decided to try an eclectic mix for the full Pho experience. Asking a waitress for her advice she recommended the sweet and spicy Pho which we chose to plop kings prawns in. We also went for a beef salad, vegetable spring rolls and the morning glory side dish (which apparently is the best on the menu!)
Reminiscent of our travelling days we nabbed a couple of beer Laos to wet out whistles.
We tucked into the steaming hot spring rolls which were nothing like you get in your local Chinese! They were super dooper crunchy and came with peanut and spicy dipping sauces. Opting for veggie sometimes leaves a dish feeling lacking but we didn’t miss the meat at all here!
Next we tried the morning glory with garlic and ginger. Oh my gosh it was AMAZONG! (A step up from amazing…) a sort of sweet garlicky flavour it transformed the basic morning glory into a culinary delight! The beef salad tower was a refreshing dish, light and crunchy. We did add a bit of Pho’s amazing plum sauce for dipping.
The pho itself was incredible. Served in a big bowl with a side dish of herbs and other delights. Our waitress recommended we try it before adding each element separately to change the taste. This idea worked amazingly! The pho itself was beautifully sweet and spicy, then I added Thai basil which added a light fragrance, then mint added a fresh taste, lime a zing and bean sprouts a crunch. There were different layers of flavours which are hard to come by in many English dinning experiences.
The waiting staff were incredibly helpful and jolly, which made our dining experience all the more pleasant!
Sadly our beautiful dinner left little room for pudding, which was such a shame as there were green tea choices which is my favourite dessert flavour! 
We finished our beers while sitting back and enjoying the atmosphere. We will just have to come back soon to try them!
Pho have restaurants in Balam, Islington, St. Pauls, Battersea, Leeds, Stratford, Brighton, Manchester, Westfield, Chiswick, Oxford Circus, Clerkenwell, Soho, Covent Garden and Spitalfields!
Twitter: @PhoRestaurant / #FreshAsPho
Reporter Aspen Glencross ¦ @Gollumcrackcorn ¦ #Caracastle
