It’s hard to get motivated to go to the gym. A few weeks back, we decided to make a regular effort to go on Sunday mornings, which has been working except when Saturday nights have been too… hectic. We’ve also been talking about going after work. It’s become a predictable topic of conversation when Sunday sessions have failed to happen, but hadn’t borne any fruit until last night. What made it a more palatable idea was the opening of a new Vietnamese restaurant opposite the gym, so the plan became gym/swim then eat. What works for getting me to the gym might just work against achieving overall results.
An An is the third branch of a small chain that has outlets in Glen Waverley and Box Hill. The decor is a cut above the typical pho shop: it has two dining sections separated by a central bar with some comfortable booth-style seating. Still, it’s a new fit-out; seeing how these things age and are maintained is the real test.
On a Monday night, the place wasn’t exactly pumping. It wasn’t difficult to get a table and there seemed to be at least one staff member on shift for each of the tables that were there, so service was prompt and efficient.
The menu is reasonably extensive. The usual suspects are there; on offer is a number of pho dishes, bun bo hue, bun, canh chua and broken rice, as well as some less common dishes, such as a goat hotpot. The one-dish standards were all around $9, which is pricier than equivalents further down Swanston Street or in Victoria Street or the Scray, while the some of the larger dishes were approaching the $30 mark. Clearly these are meant to be shared, but it’s still a price point you don’t often see in day-to-day Vietnamese restaurants.
It’s always difficult to go past a pho – for a start, it can be a good baseline to judge a new place. On the other hand, restaurants that aren’t pho specialists can sometimes fall short. What did catch my eye, though, was a bun option that you don’t see very often in the more accessible Vietnamese places: one with the lot. The lot? Pork skin, pork, spring rolls and salad as well as the fresh rice noodles and sauce. I couldn’t go past that. We also ordered iced coffees which came out with the dripper over a mug and a glass of ice to pour it over. Nice.
Unfortunately, just after the coffee came out, the waitress returned to let me know that they were out of the pork skin. Okay, so that’s not a show stopper, but I would have thought the shredded pork would have been a staple item in the kitchen. (More of the other ingredients were added to make up for the lack of shredded goodness.)
Verdict? The noodles and salad tasted really fresh, the cha gio were crunchy and delicious, and the sliced pork was tender and tasty. The sauce was a bit on the mild side, but sometimes I don’t mind if they lean off the garlic for a bit. All in all, it was a pretty good Monday night dinner and I didn’t feel as though I’d undone any of my extreme cross-trainer work. Next time I might go for a small pho…
I don’t think it’s going to be too long before we see a $9 price point for the standard Vietnamese dishes.
We used to be regulars at Tranh Tranh on Victoria Street in Richmond. Their prices started to creep up, which was fine. But what wasn’t fine was they also started to skimp on their portions. The last time we went there, things like their pho had hit $8, if not $8.50. It’s wrong to go to a Vietnamese restaurant, spend $40, and still feel hungry.
My favourite place right now is Hoa Tran in Springvale. Their prices for pho are now $8.50, but the portions they offer and the quality of the ingredients is still the same. I did notice that they did change their spring roll recipe from chicken and prawn to chicken and pork, and I’m fine with that.
I know. Prices were fairly steady for a long time, so I expected $7 pho to last for ever. Once somebody gets away with $9, others will follow suit.
I wish Springvale were in easier reach for us! Must be good to get you driving all the way out there. Although, having said that, Footscray’s so close by and we never trek over, despite the far higher standard of pho compared to Vic St…
Cannot even remember having a $7.00 pho. Which reminds me I must send you a link to a really good ramen place in china town, Sydney. Not that I have been there yet. But the foodbloggers rave about it.