Never too keen to venture into the south west for Vietnamese food, we visited the well-reviewed Got Phở? in Carlingford as an alternative to our favourite Albee’s Secret Recipe a few shop fronts down.
The restaurant is a more visually appealing and hygienic version of the basic Vietnamese restaurants to which we’re accustomed but retains the casual vibe as diners choose their tables, peruse the menu and then order and pay at the counter.
With D’s mother rarely cooking beef phở — she prefers chicken phở — we try the Phở Tai ($12.50), described as a ‘thinly sliced rare beef phở’.
The broth has an enjoyable fragrance from the the spices with notable hints of star anise and onion, with the ginger masking the distinct beefy flavour that we enjoy. Broth aside, the slices of beef were tender and the noodles were silky.
Still curious to compare the restaurant versions to the one D’s mother cooks, this is the Bun Bo Hue ($14.50), described as ‘spicy lemongrass beef thick vermicelli noodle soup with beef brisket, pork sausage, pork feet and blood jelly’.
The flavour of lemongrass is prominent in the broth, but it is also heavy on the chilli without a similarly flavourful meatiness of the beef that we enjoy in homemade versions. We lament that the noodles are not the thicker, more cylindrical noodles and the scarcity of coriander, but the variety of meat is enjoyable. It’s out first encounter with blood jelly — and while we do not enjoy it — we’re not repulsed by its firm tofu texture either.
The noodles come with shredded cabbage, bean sprouts, mint, lemon and chilli on the side.
This is the jackfruit ice cream ($4.20). The pleasure of eating jackfruit for D and I lies chiefly in the texture, which gave it an overall flavour of a crunchy banana with hints of pineapple. As an ice cream, it loses any of this sought after texture and so tastes just like a tropical banana ice cream. That aside, the ice cream is incredibly creamy.
The food at Got Phở? is decent, but it’s not likely somewhere to which we’d return when we have our preferred flavours at home.
Got Phở? is located at 827 Pennant Hills Road, Carlingford NSW 2118.