Review | Restaurant review: noodle soup and great drip coffee for under US$12 at Pho Mot Vietnamese Restaurant in Sheung Wan
- The subtle, flavourful broth with fresh herbs was spoiled by not being hot enough to cook the beef
- The sliced chuck beef was the best meat, and the Vietnamese -style coffee was creamy smooth and rich
On a cool Hong Kong afternoon, we visited Pho Mot Vietnamese Restaurant, about a minute away from the MTR station in Sheung Wan. It’s easy to spot the small restaurant because of its bright lime green exterior.
The menu of this semi-self service restaurant features six combinations of pho, along with three raw beef upgrades if you add HK$5 to HK$20 (US$0.64 to 2.58). We ordered pho with raw tenderloin (HK$73), another with raw chuck, well-done beef and beef meatball (HK$96) and a third bowl with chicken and Vietnamese sausage (HK$68).
In less than five minutes, the three bowls of pho, with plenty of onion, fresh coriander and bean sprouts, were brought to our table. But to our disappointment, the broth was not boiling hot, which meant the meat slices remained quite raw after being poached. The Vietnamese sausage lost its bouncy texture because it was sliced too thinly.
Still, the clear broth tasted subtle and slightly sweet, and was even better with the herbs we added. We found the chuck slices more tender and flavourful than the tenderloin.
While we were about halfway into the rice noodles, deep-fried brisket (HK$38) and hot Vietnamese coffee (HK$20) were also served. The brisket was quite fatty, just like in the pho and the oily batter added to the greasiness of the dish and wasn’t balanced by the tart dipping sauce.
The coffee was worth the wait. The coffee slowly dripped from a small metal filter into a cup lined with just the right amount of sweetened condensed milk. The creamy, smooth, rich and sweet coffee was a nice ending to our Vietnamese lunch.
Pho Mot Vietnamese Restaurant, 49 Bonham Strand, Sheung Wan, tel: 2668 6966. Open: 11.30am to 9.30pm
