PHO 26

We walked pass this place many times and hadn’t really expected much from it, probably because of its minimalist canto-vietnamese decor but it turned out to have some of the best Pho we’ve had in Hong Kong, full of the strong fresh flavors which make the dish so special. (We rank Nha Trang as the best and Pho 26 the second).

We believe that Pho should come overloaded with herbs and the version here didn’t disappoint. The noodles came with a huge pile of herbs and spring onion laid above the noodles. These slowly sank down into the broth giving it a really intense, earthy basil flavour that is so different from the water soup you get in a lot of places. There were also big clumps of lemongrass that added an extra, especially pleasing freshness and gave the broth more distinctiveness.

Some people might complain about the fact that this many herbs makes it harder to eat the noodles, but we’d much rather have this than loose all the flavor the herbs give. The pho perhaps could have done with a few more noodles in, but there was definitely enough to make is a satisfying porting. It also had a fairly generous amount of beef which, although not as tender as it could have been, wasn’t at all chewy like in some restaurants. In Pho 26, you can also get the special Kobe Beef Pho for only $52!

Alongside phos, the restaurant has a pretty good selection of other Vietnamese dishes, like rice paper rolls, spring rolls and milk buns. Their Vietnamese-style coffee is pretty authentic and tastes quite nice too.