The contents of this blog are matters of opinion formed over one more visits. There has been some artistry applied and metaphors and similes should not necessarily be taken literally.
We’ve eaten at Pho Vien, sister restaurant of Madam Ky (RIP), a couple of times in the last few weeks. Here are my thoughts.
The Pho Dat Biet – special beef pho($19.90) was pretty good, a large bowl with a flavourful soup and a generous helping of rare beef, beef brisket, and beef balls. Missing, unfortunately, was any hint of slightly less widely palatable yet still important inclusions such as tripe and tendon, which would’ve elevated this good bowl to the level of an excellent bowl. The first time I had this at Pho Vien I found that, unlike the time we ate at Madam Ky, the soup was adequately hot to handle the inclusion of mass bean sprouts. The second time we ate here my partner’s dad asked for cooked bean sprouts on the side, which to be honest was revolutionary. They came only slightly cooked, raw enough to remain crispy, but warm enough to not thermodilute the soup. What a next level move.
The Com Suon – tomato rice with grilled pork chop ($19.90) is really more my partner’s thing. It was not bad, just generally not what I’d pick overall. The quality of the tomato rice was good, however. Not too dry.
The Canh Ga Chien – deep fried wing ($7.50) came after a long wait and were very salty. Added to that – though the menu said wings, we got four drumsticks. Respecting that many would prefer drumsticks over mid wings due to their greater meatiness, I am not one of these people. I did not enjoy this.
The Bun Bo Hue ($19.50) that we had on our second visit was tasty and inoffensive, again lacking components like pork trotter and blood jelly that usually round out the dish. My partner, normally someone who doesn’t like bun bo hue, enjoyed this bowl, probably for the same reason that I found it lacking.
The Banh Xeo – pancake pork and prawn ($22.50) was crispy and tasty, well filled on the inside. I didn’t find any bugs in my vegetables, which doesn’t seem like a high bar, but seriously considering the last few banh xeos I have at different restaurants in Sydney, this counts as a plus.
Overall we had a couple of pretty good meals at Pho Vien, but I do wish they would add some of the more controversial ingredients to their soups (or at least the option to have them).
Pho Vien 283 Liverpool Rd, Ashfield NSW 2131 (02) 8057 8668
I’m alone at home in Sydney at the moment (partner being away in Wollongong without me) and with very little food in the fridge that I can actually bring myself to eat (the fourth beef burger patty in the pack is truly not something I want for the fourth day in a row) I took myself out for a late dinner at a recently opened local Vietnamese restaurant.
The Combination Pho – Pho Dac Biet (Medium – $21.90) is one of the better bowls I’ve had, and definitely the best I’ve had within a 5km radius, having tried multiple. This bowl is a true Northern style pho dac biet, with a clear though slightly salty soup, and a real combination of all the bits of the cow – rare beef, beef brisket, beef balls, beef tripe, and beef tendon. The majority of restaurants in Sydney miss out on one or more of the tripe or tendon, though I suspect the calculus was made that Burwood locals are likely to be less squeamish than most about non-meat parts of the animal. Either way, both components were enjoyable additions – with no weird aftertaste to the tendon like I experienced at Jacob’s in nearby Ashfield.
The pho was served with only a small serving of bean sprouts on the side, offered directly by the server as apparently not everyone likes them. Though the serving size was smaller than I expected visually, they ended up being enough, and more servings are available as a no-cost option on the menu.
The bowl was topped with a large serving of spring onions, which didn’t do anything special for me but also didn’t hurt me. The brisket was deliciously fatty and umami, though importantly not too fatty. I felt it was superior to the rare beef, a rare compliment from me. It’s interesting to note that the restaurant offers bowls of soup and meats without noodles as add ons – possibly an option for those lowcarbing among us. (Should be me).
The spring rollsCha Gio Chien (4 for $8.80) didn’t do anything for me. Though freshly fried and crispy, their filling of minced prawn and pork was hard to appreciate, with a very loose texture and a non-distinctive flavour. I wouldn’t get them again.
I never have sauce with my pho usually, but available tableside was quite a nice assortment of a tangy chilli sauce, a sate sauce, and thinly sliced pickled garlic, amongst other things. They were all delicious, and helped to save the spring rolls a little.
Thoughts Pho Hanoi 1979 is now my favourite source of pho in my local area, with truly top notch non-meat additions in their PDB, not available elsewhere. They offer a 30% discount between the hours of 9PM and 11PM, which means that the actual cost of the 2 dishes I had was a very reasonable $15.33 for the pho and $6.16 for the spring rolls.
Will be back.
SUBSEQUENT THOUGHTS I walked past the restaurant again one night (23rd July 2025) in Burwood. They’ve changed the discount percentage for night time, but now there are different discounts for other times of day. What kind of person would eat during their peak times?
VISIT 2: BANH MI I went back this morning to take advantage of the 50% off offer for banh mi between the hours of 7 and 10AM. It’s difficult to write this review and decide which price to base it on. As someone born without generational wealth, my feelings about food linked to both the quality of the food and the price paid. While some (mostly paid influencers, I suspect) might argue that good food is good food no matter the price, I think that as it’s something you pay for, the value proposition is inherent in the decision making process when you go out to get a meal.
I will try to assess these banh mi based on the price that I paid for them rather than the full price, however it’s very possible that some people might come and get their banh mi for lunch after 10AM and be charged twice what I paid.
I had a series of 3 half banhs mi, cut professionally so that readers don’t need to be subjected to photos of my teeth marks (as of this point I suspect I’m 100% identifiable based on my dental record alone).
The Classic Pork Roll – Banh Mi Thit Heo ($4.50 half price, $9 full price) will be the first to be discussed, even though it was the last to be eaten – the reason being is that it is the only roll that I have a representative side profile for showing the size of the banh mis on offer here.
This cold cut pork roll checked all the boxes. It had a good ratio of salad to meat to bread with each bite a mixture of salty umami meat, fresh crispy and tangy vegetables and soft yet crispy bread which both had a good crunch but also didn’t cut the mouth. I didn’t ask for extra pate but the amount of pate and Vietnamese mayo given was very good and probably equaled the amount of pate given when I ask for extra pate at most Vietnamese bakeries. An instant classic.
The first banh mi that I actually ate was the Crackling Pork Belly Roll – Banh Mi Heo Quay ($5.75 half price, $11.50 full price). This roll was absolutely loaded with crackling pork belly, pâté and Vietnamese mayonnaise, making it an extremely decadent pork roll. The pork crackling was actually extremely crispy, a far cry from some of the pork belly I’ve had recently in other settings. The only complaint I would have about this roll, apart from the fact that it felt like it was of a level of decadency that I didn’t deserve, was that there was the fact that the pork itself was a little bit too salty. This wouldn’t have been a problem had they just filled the roll up with a normal amount of pork, but the serving was so generous that the sheer volume of pork meant that the whole roll ended up leaning towards the more salty side. An odd problem to have. Still good.
The BBQ Pork Roll – Banh Mi Nem Nuong ($4.50 half price, $9 full price) was really good. Unfaultable. There was a generous amount of nem nuong which was a little bit sweet and a little bit salty but certainly not too salty, avoiding the problem that the crackling pork belly roll had. This was well balanced by the large amount of salad as well as the large amount of pate and Vietnamese mayonnaise. I literally couldn’t fault this roll, it was one of the best I’ve had, for $9, let alone $4.50
The lemongrass beef banh mi – Banh Mi Bo Xao Sa ($5.75 half price, $11.50 full price) I didn’t love so much. The lemongrass flavour was too strong for my personal liking, and caused it to be a bit bitter. Perhaps others would still enjoy it.
My palate is not so refined in the Vietnamese arts to really differentiate the MeatBall Roll – Banh Mi Xiu Mai ($4.50 half price, $9 full price) strongly from other pork based rolls. The pork meatballs were soft and warm and fell apart, producing an almost pate like consistency that permeated the entire roll.
THOUGHTS of BANH MI All things considered, the banh mi at Pho Hanoi 1979 are very good. They’re a clear winner in terms of being my top banh mi in the area, and will likely likely usurp Thuan Thien Bakery in North Strathfield for my go-to banh mi on the way to work, as long as I’m able to find street parking nearby in the morning.
Whilst $4.50-$5.75 for one of these banh mi is an absolute steal, I think they’re so good that I honestly wouldn’t be in opposition to paying the full $9 for the nem nuong banh mi, for example, especially as local competitors are selling their inferior version for $10.
It’s rare to find stir fried pho in Sydney, and for our first tasting we had a simple medium special beef pho ($19), with beef brisket and stir fried beef. The beef, stir fried before being mixed in the broth, added a heightened degree of oiliness to the bowl, not normally seen. A degree of tenderness that normally accompanies rare beef pho is lost with stir fried beef, and the flavours somewhat overpowered by the liberal helping of onion. The lack of bean sprouts also hurt me, and so whilst I respect that some people may prefer this version of the bowl, it’s just simply not for me.
The red wine beef with bread roll ($18) felt a lot less like the Vietnamese food I’m used to and a lot more like a beef bourguignon. I say this as a non-Vietnamese person, though and if I am told in the comments I’m wrong then I guess I will be wrong.
This donut / fried dough cruller / you tiao ($2) was quite good, freshly fried, crispy, and probably better than a lot that I’ve had at actual Chinese restaurants. A surprising strength.
The salted coffee ($8) was an interesting and valuable experience. It was a bit salty, a bit sweet, and actually quite enjoyable for someone who doesn’t normally go for a salted caramel type thing. Something to try, even if not something I’d have on a regular basis.
We found, with significant and surprising difficulty, a pho establishment in Marrickville that serves pho dac biet with all the neccessary trimmings of tripe and tendon.
My friend PMR and I each had the combination beef fuh ($21), which unlike many nearby competitors added tripe and a healthy serving of tendon to each bowl, along with rare beef, brisket, and beef balls. In tribute to the behaviour recently witnessed by my partner’s father, I ordered mine with slightly cooked sprouts so as to not dilute the thermal mass of the hot bowl.
The price of this bowl was generally higher than others in the earea, though it was generous in its size and quantity of beefy proteins. The herbs, lemon, and bean sprouts were served on top of the noodles rather than in a separate side dish, taking away a degree of autonomy from the diner, though they did not go so far as to squeeze the lemon. Though my dining friend paid a particular compliment to the flavour of the soup, I had difficulty appreciating the same depth that he could.
Surely Eat Fuh’s neighbours can add some more fringe bits to their pho?
The seafood spring rolls ($12) were good, with a dense and umami filling covered in a light and oily external shell. Just as they should be.
The special beef noodle soup/pho ($18) had a bit of everything wtihin the usual suspects, and was pretty good. I didn’t love the beef balls, but it’s rare to find a place that does every component well.
I have absolutely no problems with the food here. I think it’s a good pho for Parramatta, especially since my previous favourite Lee Chef has been closed for years now with no signs of anything good popping up in its place.
I have no problems with the service either – we rocked up quite late after work, essentially 15 minutes before their listed closing time, and they served us with speed and friendliness.
What I did think was unfortunate was the restaurant’s location and parking situation. My first visit to Tam Tam was actually the second time I tried to go. Its location in the centre of Parramatta means that there is no free street parking nearby, meaning that any meal here necessitates a snake-like crawl through the nearby Eat St parking lot and a minimum extra $3 charge. And I know that a lack of free parking disincentivises private car usage and incentivises public transport, resulting in what is probably a net environmental and economical good for society. It’s just annoying when you work in the next suburb and have to pay $3 to park to eat a $18 bowl of pho.
Tam Tam 41 Phillip St, Parramatta NSW 2150 0466 222 699
