Phat Phở is the lifelong dream of Hong Nguyen. Born on the little fishing island of Phú Quốc in Vietnam (where most of our fish sauce comes from), Hong moved to Australia as a small girl in the 1980s, where she grew up eating and learning the intricacies of Vietnamese cooking from her mother. Although Hong and her husband Angus Sutherland owned a takeaway shop in West End for many years, her true passion was to open a Vietnamese restaurant where she could showcase the authentic cuisine of her culture, but with her own Western flavour. Hong’s dream has been realised in Phat Phở, a quaint hole-in-the-wall restaurant on Commercial Road. The interior is modest and welcoming – photographs of the chaotic streets of Vietnam line the walls, alongside blackboards announcing lunch specials and drinks. From the counter you’ll spy fresh baskets of baguettes ready for banh mi in the bustling open kitchen, but it will be hard to go past the alluring scent of four-and-a-half-hours cooked pho.

Your pho choices are chicken or beef, which are served in a bowl with fresh pho rice noodles, and topped with fresh basil, bean sprouts, onion slices, shallots and lime. Hong uses her own secret methods, techniques and ingredients to make the pho phat – meaning pretty hot and tempting. On the lunch menu you’ll also find banh mi thit, Vietnamese chicken salad, rice paper rolls and Hong’s special Nem Nuong lettuce wraps among other traditional Vietnamese yums. The full menu comes in at dinner time, which also includes dishes such as caramelised pork belly, lemongrass chilli chicken and grilled pork chop with jasmine rice. Thirsty from all those spices and chilli? Order a ca phe sua da (Vietnamese iced coffee) dripped before your eyes or a fresh whole coconut drink – or you can BYO.

For opening hours and contact details, head to our Stumble Guide.