Vietnamese – Ha Noi Pho

This little Vietnamese restaurant can be found in one of the little alley ways in Fortress Hill. It's a very small and cozy restaurant – maximum of 10 people inside with a few tables outside to accommodate half a dozen more. We were greeted by a friendly yet older couple – whom I assumed owned the restaurant. The menu was quite intensive with your typical Vietnamese cuisine – although – I was a little surprise that they did not have fried chicken with tomato rice!

I didn't have to guess what hubby was going to get – he usually get the same – Pho! He thought he would be 'different' this time and get special beef pho – 'special' being the different types of beef (beef balls / tenderloins / beef strips). I have to admit – I usually order the same thing fried chicken with tomato rice, but they didn't have this, so opted for the pork with lemon grass and rice.

Hubby's pho came very quickly – not a surprise really – it would have to be one of the quickest meals anywhere! It came with thin rice noodles, and lots of different types of 'special' beef. It wasn't the best pho I have ever tasted and hubby agreed with me on this one. The fact that I was extremely thirsty after dinner indicated that they would have used a lot of MSG! The noodles and beef were fine, I think it was more the soup – it wasn't as good as the one you could get back home at either Bankstown or Cabramatta. It was lacking something – I wasn't sure what. Chilli perhaps? Or Lemon? I don't know – it just wasn't the same. It wasn't bad, but I am sure there are 'better' ones out there.

My meal came and to my surprise it wasn't what I ordered! Chicken wings came with the rice instead of the pork! I was too hungry to make a fuss over it… It could probably have been my fault when ordering – but surely I couldn't have gotten chicken / pork wrong! Anyway, it was better than I thought! Chicken wings can be a little messy at times, but this was definitely good! It was crispy on the outside and you could still taste the lemon grass in between the bones of the chicken wings - definitely well done. I have to admit – I think they over did it with the spring onions / shallots. I needed a strong drink or mint to get rid of the spring onions / shallots taste! (not a massive fan of after taste, but at the time – it was definitely good!)

Overall it was a quick / cheap place for dinner. It would definitely good if you wanted something quick for either lunch or dinner. Was a little disappointed that I didn't get my fried chicken with tomato rice, but I am sure I will find it somewhere!

Ha Noi Pho – Fortress Hill.