Pho Phi Truong

UPDATE:  This restaurant is closed; Nhi Huong (2 Sisters) is now at this location.

My plan of expanding my children's tastebuds is working...sort of.  They have moved on from grilled chicken to pork chop on broken rice, but they are now all so obsessed with it, they all insist they want it.  Unfortunately, the photo-hungry food blogger in me is always trying to convince them to order something else!

Pho Phi Truong is a great place in Sunshine to feed their obsession.  It specialises in pho (apparently MSG free?!) but also has a full menu, right up to banquet-style live seafood.  I like the decor - modern but not cold, still with a bit of welcoming kitsch.

Grilled pork shop, shredded pork, egg, pate, broken rice $9

A fine example of com tam dac biet - crisp marinated pork chop, a well-fried egg, a slice of pork/noodle "cake", a tangle of bi (shredded pork skin) and a few pickled vegies.  My only complaint was that the pork chop was very thin.  The kids loved it though.

Shaking beef red rice $9

Great bo luc lac or "shaking beef".  This is cubes of beef, quickly "shaken" in a searing wok with just a little garlic and soy, maybe a bit of onion or capsicum.  This beef was really tender and tasty and had just a lick of sauce, the way we like it.  Billy wondered if the garlic might be a bit too overpowering, but I liked it.  Garlic fiend, moi?

Seafood coleslaw $18

One of the high points of Vietnamese food for me is Vietnamese coleslaw.  It's just heavenly with lightly pickled, sweet vegetables like shredded carrot and white daikon radish, lots of fresh mint and coriander, the crunch of roasted peanuts and golden fried shallots and your choice of protein.  This seafood coleslaw was superb, with fabulous fresh calamari, good prawns and yummy, thinly-sliced fish cake.  Coleslaws are often relatively expensive, sometimes up to $29.  I'm not sure why, maybe they're a sharing thing for a whole table.

Salt and pepper chicken ribs, egg rice $10

After disappointing fried chicken recently at Mr Lee in West Melbourne, these chicken ribs were sublime.  The chicken was really fresh and juicy, covered in tongue-tingling, ultra-crispy batter that was just divine.  If you get in quick and pick off any fresh chilli before it soaks in, the kids love these.  They came with white rice cooked with a little egg (not seen this before).

Vietnamese white coffee (iced) $3

My fix - Vietnamese iced coffee.  Wakes you up like a cold shower!  Pho Phi Truong have pandan tea as standard in the thermoses on the tables.  It's very floral and a gorgeous South Vietnamese touch.

Ooh, eyeing off that dau hu nhat rang muoi - salt and pepper tofu.  Oh yeah!  Goi ga farm is coleslaw with free range (ie, "farm") chicken.  Bo tai chanh is a great dish, kind of like Vietnamese "crying tiger" salad (a Thai dish) but the beef is cured in lemon juice before being served in a salad like the coleslaw above.  If you can help with any other translations, or if I have my canhs and chanhs confused, let me know!



Pho Pi Truong
255 Hampshire Road, Sunshine
Phone:  9311 6522
Hours:  7 days, 9.30am-9.30pm


View Footscrayfoodblog reviews in a larger map