At the risk of quoting Austin Powers in Goldmember, when I see the smiling face of the man at Pho Bac Hai Duong, the first thing that one notices is, aside from his smile, is the mole on his face and the good 2-3 inches of hair growing from it. In Vietnam, it is said to be unlucky to trim the hair from a mole and having hairy mole is said to be good luck – indeed the longer the hair, the luckier you are. And with a full restaurant every night, perhaps he is.
The famous Pho Tai
The Pho is where we are feeling lucky, and the broth is said to be amongst the best in Sydney with the flavour deep reaching with a dizzying array of spices and herbs with star anise featuring prominently. Tonight we’re dining with The Second Wife, Gravy Beard, Tess, Naomi and Francesca. And the most popular vote is for their signature dish, Pho Tai – the raw beef noodle soup. The menu is full of the usual delicious Vietnamese offerings like Crispy Pancakes, Bun and Pho but there are also offerings like a Sea Snail Noodle Soup (I so wanted to order this but I chickened out going for something more familiar and recommended to me). Surprisingly, there’s also an offering for Pho with Free Range Chicken for $10.
Milk and Soda with egg yolk $3.50
My drink is the Milk and Soda with egg yolk which I buy out of curiosity hoping that it will be good. Luckily it is good – like a sweetened condensed milk with soda water with a slight tinge of yellow from the yolk.
Lemon Soda $3.50
Spring Rolls 6 for $7
We start with some Spring Rolls-the Second Wife tells us that they’re better than the fresh ones and she ought to know, being a local and a regular here. These are crunchy and delicious.
Salt and pepper Squid $13
One of my favourite items to try ever is the salt and pepper squid. It’s slightly chewier than I’ve had but it is well seasoned and eaten greedily by moi.
Combination Broken Rice Special $8.50
My plate is a mysterious mix of layers that I can’t wait to discover. There a fried egg on top, a slice of a meatloaf and a grilled pork fillet. It’s all sitting on a bed of “broken” rice which are when the rice grains are broken when rice is milled. It’s delicious and whilst I leave the rather forlorn looking butter lettuce leaves, I eat every last piece of the rest of the dish.
Pho Tai $7.50
Large red melamine bowls make their way out from the kitchen and everyone digs in. There are nods and murmurs of contentment. My husband is a Pho enthusiastic, if not quite the expert but what he lacks in Pho experience, he makes up for in enthusiasm. The soup is delicious,much more flavoursome than the other ones I’ve tried before and the delicious aroma of star anise is the prominent flavour here.
Pho Chicken $8.50
Seafood and beef stir fry
It’s time to close so the owner dims the lights, in hope that people will leave but the restaurant is still a third full. He then brightens the light noticeably perhaps in the hope that we’ll go then and then the music is turned off. We leave at that point, raucously happy at the good company and good food. And no hair protruding mole between any of us.
Pho Bac Hau Duong
304 Illawarra Road, Marrickville, NSW
Tel: +61 (02) 9559 5078
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32 Comments | Add your own
fantastic photographs! Interesting the mole thing
All I can think of is “Moley moley moley moley mole!”
Pho Tai is one of my fave vietnamese dishes!
That Pho looks Phobulous!
-jealous you ate Vietnamese food- I so miss them
-jealous you ate Vietnamese food- I so miss them
I used to go here all the time for a quick pho! Haven’t been back in ages.. the milk & soda with egg yolk drink looks interesting – i’ve seen it on menus at vietnamese restaurants, but never dared to try… glad you had a pleasant experience
I love the subtle or not so subtle games the restauranteurs play when it’s closing time. Almost want to see whether I can push it to the point where they just ask you to go
This looks like a reasonably good place for Vietnamese.
That soup sounds beautifully fragrant. The milk and egg drink sounds interesting too – especially if it tastes like condensed milk. My mum used to give me egg flip, which I guess is a similar idea.
ditto to that Pho Tai looking sensational! I do love me some Vietnamese food
milk and soda with egg yolk? I think I would have been too scared to try it
The spring rolls look nice and crunchy!
Funny how cultures have different beliefs (and I can’t believe you mentioned his mole!). Your photos are fantastic – I can almost taste the depth of flavour in that delicious pho tai.
Ahaha I don’t think I would be able to stop staring at the mole if I saw it! I’m always searching for a better pho place, thanks for the recommendation! I wonder what the sea snail snail soup would have tasted like, sounds fascinating!
The stir fry beef and seafood makes me drool all over my keyboard. Any comment on that dish? Did my blurry eyes miss your description?
We used to go all the time when we were living in the area. Food was always reliably good.
It used to be run by this Vietnamese couple, but then maybe some four years or so ago, they were gone, and replaced by this current owner. Naturally, we asked what happened to the previous owners, and was told they are on a break and will be back! Which even at that time, we suspect to be a lie. I guess from that time, I did not really like him very much.
Anyway, there does not seem to be any significant change to the food, so that was OK. However we go there much less now having moved further from Marrickville.
Ew about the mole hair. About as appetising as long pinky nails (or any long nails for that matter) on men.
I had the sea snail soup there – tasty soup but the snail was a little too rock solid for my liking. I think you did well with your choices
the milk, soda, egg yolk combination is certainly one you don’t see everywhere…I don’t know if I would have been brave enough to try it
Yum! The way you’ve described the Pho here is very tempting, I might have to make a trip into the inner west to see if the pho is better there or in the south-west! Any opinions?
I love Vietnamese food and pho is one of my favourites. Your pics are amazing. It’s making me want to drop everything and head down to Marrickville for a serving of pho.
Hi snookydoodle-Thankyou! Yes there must be a reason why they do it-I don’t think it’s for looks!
Hi Blond Duck-Hehe that was me too!
Hi ArtemisIII-Cool! Well if you find yourself in Sydney, this one’s a goodie
Hi Bethie-Haha it was indeed!
Hi Betty-We had a great time, helped of course by great company
I’ve never seen the milk and soda drink before-perhaps I
should keep my eyes peeled for other interesting drinks!
Hi Simon -Hehe when I was a waitress during Uni the kitchenhand used to strap a vacuum cleaner to her back and vacuum around
patrons-not subtle!
Hi Arwen -It was very deliciously fragrant!
Yes I suppose it is a very similar idea!
Hi Tiffany-Me too! That and Japanese are two of my favourite cuisines
Hi Anita-Hehe it was surprisingly nice but yes not everyone’s cup of tea.
Hi belle -Hehe how could I not? It was the probverbial pink elephant in the room!
Thankyou!
Hi Steph -It was very…prominent and long!
Yes perhaps I need to go back and try it!
Hi Tuty-Hehe sorry your eyes do not deceive you. I didn’t try it and I wasn’t really sitting next to Francesca who ate it so
I couldn’t ask her what it was like
Hi pojaya-I can imagine it’s a very handy local eatery! Ahhh ok, I wonder if they sold it to him or whether they were related
as the Pho doesn’t seem to have changed?
Hi Forager-Yes both are not hot! Ahh ok good to know, I always imagined it would be squishy but I guess not!
Hi Alexandra-No I haven’t seen it anywhere before but perhaps I’m just blind
Hi Chris-It was really good with that delicious broth. I can’t really say I’m a Pho expert so I don’t know if I can compare but I really liked this one the best of the ones I’ve tried
Hi foodie-central-Thankyou so much! If we lived closer we’d be here all the time I bet
Hee hee awwww no close up of his moley moley mole? Mmm haven’t had Pho in agggesss
There’s a place in Chatswood that serves the broken rice combo too – love breaking the egg yolk over everything, you’re right about the lettuce, it doesn’t really add anything! I can’t work out why but the broken rice has a much nicer texture than ordinary rice and is lovely with the different types of pork!
That looks like a neat place!
I was wondering why didn’t you try the special vermicelli? I used to mark Vietnamese restaurant for the vermicelli topped with spring roll, beef, sugar cane prawn or meatloaf with sweet and sour sauce, but it’s a summer food rite? I was dreaming of pho because of this post
Looks delish! Although I have to say, I do prefer good homemade pho. Nothing beats that!
Hi FFichiban-Haha no! That would have been a bit much I think
Hi Moya-Ahh they have it sunny side up do they? This one was fried. I would’ve loved to have tried it with a runny yolk. Maybe I need to ask for that
Yes the rice texture is really nice!
Hi Blond Duck-It was!
Hi Lilia-Haha because I only have one stomach
They’re known for their broken rice and although I love Bun I always try and order what they’re known for! Hehe Pho dreams-how fantastic!
Hi Jenny-It was! Ahh you see I don’t have a good Pho recipe, if I did, I’d try and make it at home for sure!
Just wanted to report back to say both my hubby and my friends thoroughly enjoyed the pho at this joint ~ thanks for the recommendation! Def worth a drive from the north. Also made a trip to Reverse Garbage on Addison Rd after, plus a trip to Alfalfa House as you also recommended. Purchased the dutch cream potatoes and some vanilla beans…and a very expensive cauliflower which I hope will taste as good as it was worth…. ($7!) Anyways, was a good experience. Keep up the good bloggin’ and live the dream! Bless ya! x
Hi Eve-Wonderful! I’m so glad that you liked the Pho and thanks for letting me know! Sounds like you made some good purchases-I’d love to know what the $7 cauliflower is like!
Such beautiful photographs! Makes me want to visit this location myself – too bad I’m here in the US.
Want to let you know that we recently launched a Pho Restaurant Directory for Australia and Hai Duong is included:
http://www.phofever.com/restaurants.php?rid=2893
Please drop by and review your favorite pho joints!
We drove past Pho Bac Hai Duong yesterday-it’s closed – though for renovation or permanently is not clear.
Still closed as at Feb 28. Think it’s gone forever. Gutted.
Oh well at least u have 1000 other places to have Pho! I’m living in Peru and there is not 1 Vietnamese restaurant!!! Lucky there is alot of other things to eat. But still that didn’t stop me from making my own. Check it out… http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.215430771808731.62273.174418105909998&l=087505fa48
Jason
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