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| - This was our first visit to Pho Anh. I went with my husband and son on a Sunday afternoon (around 1pm) and it was quite busy, with only 1 free table. We were seated as soon as we walked in and given menus.
Unlike at most Vietnamese restaurants in the area, we were each given a cup of tea as opposed to a whole pot. The reason I'm mentioning this is because about halfway through lunch, my cup was empty and it took me a good 10 minutes to flag someone down to have it refilled.
The dining room is fairly small, but they've packed in as many tables as possible without it looking too cramped.
The menu is no way near as extensive as most Vietnamese restaurants we frequent, but there are still some interesting options.
My husband had lemongrass beef and onion on vermicelli. He said it was really tasty and was a fair portion. My son had a grilled pork chop with rice and also really enjoyed it. I (by mistake) ordered Hanoi style vermicelli with grilled pork belly and pork meatballs. I say it was by mistake because I assumed I would be getting the usual vermicelli with lots of veggies and herbs, topped with grilled meat. However, it was served very differently and after looking it up online, I realise I actually stumbled upon a popular dish that I hadn't known about. This for me was very exciting since we've been eating at Vietnamese restaurants twice weekly for more than 15 years. So this dish was served with the meat actually IN the nuoc cham (sweet and sour dipping sauce) so that the meat soaked all of those flavours in as if it was a marinade. There were also lots of slices of carrot and daikon floating in the sauce. The herbs were served on the side and they were plentiful. There were also lots of large pieces of lettuce and the vermicelli was served on the side as well. Using my instincts (this very well may have been waaaay off) I used the lettuce as a wrap to enclose pieces of meat, some herbs and some vermicelli. Whether or not this was the right way to eat it, it was a very tasty dish and they were quite generous with the meat.
We also shared some deep fried spring rolls to start and they were quite good. I like that they were wrapped in a rice wrapper (as they should be) as opposed to a wheat wrapper.
All in all, we enjoyed our meal and will probably return to try another few dishes.
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