When it comes to Vietnamese cuisine, I have to admit I didn’t have Pho Hoa at the top of my mind thanks to a humdrum experience with them when they first opened at the Curve. However, when Sidney extended an invitation to join in a food tasting sometime back, I decided to see if they had improved since then and was pleasantly surprised.

The interior or the outlet is pretty standard, although I’m not quite sure why they decided to combine bamboo and lanterns in the décor…*shrugs*…but that’s not why we were there, right? On to the food!

For drinks, we were free to pick from the menu, so I decided to try their Blended Fresh Avocado Juice (RM7.95) while others went for the Vietnamese Drip Coffee with Ice (RM5.95). My avocado drink came ice cold and thick – I had rather a fun time sucking up the thick creamy (get your minds out of the gutter!) slush. The drink brought back childhood memories of eating an avocado treat my grandma used to make for me with mashed avocado and honey…loved it!

Since the Vietnamese coffee was meant to be served with ice, after it had finished dripping the coffee was decanted into a glass of ice. I was so taken with it that I succumbed to a glass after my avocado drink – the coffee wasn’t too sweet despite the thick layer of condensed milk at the bottom, which suited me to a T.

Another favourite was the Salty Plum Soda (RM5.95) which was touted as a thirst-quencher – it may be just humble salty plums mixed in with soda water, but the combination makes for a refreshing drink.

The food started appearing shortly after drinks were served and we were served some of Pho Hoa’s specialty dishes – first up was the Vermicelli with Vegetables and Grilled Chicken (RM12.95) which comes served with a tangy and slightly sweet sauce.

I remember reading somewhere that the more (naturally occurring!) colour your food has, the better it is for you. Healthiness aside, the vegetables were nicely julienned and gave some great texture contrast to the vermicelli noodles and sliced chicken. I wish I could have finished it, but as it is they warned us there were more dishes to come…

Summer Roll (RM3.95 per roll) is a typical Vietnamese rice paper roll with shrimp, chicken, salad and rice vermicelli. This was pretty standard served with a peanut and fish sauce paste.

Next up was a mix of three appetizer dishes usually sold separately – Fried Roll (RM3.25 per roll), Lemongrass Chicken (RM7.95 per plate of 4 sticks) and Sugarcane Prawn (RM7.95 per plate of 4 sticks). My favourites would have to be the lemongrass chicken which was exceedingly tender and fragrant, and the sugarcane prawn – I was gnawing rather unladylike at the sugarcane after devouring the prawn meat…oops…

Last but definitely not least was the highlight of Vietnamese cuisine…how could we leave without having Pho?? This is from the Adventurer’s Choice – Beef Pho with combination of Steak, Brisket, Flank, Tendon and Tripe (RM16.95) which was served with beansprouts, mint leaves, lime wedges and birds-eye chillies on the side. If I hadn’t been absolutely stuffed to the gills by this point, I would’ve actually quite enjoyed this as the soup stock was simply delicious. Prices for the Pho dishes start from RM13.95 upwards.

You know what they say…there’s always space for dessert right? Not knowing much about Vietnamese desserts, I was quite surprised when the Net Spring Roll with Ice Cream (RM5.95) was served – the combination of crispy fried yam served with ice cream was something interesting and even for someone who isn’t a big fan of yam to begin with, I ended up finishing every morsel.

Overall, I’d say this experience at Pho Hoa has managed to change my impression of the chain – the ingredients were really fresh and service has improved drastically since my first experience at the Curve outlet. I’ll definitely be returning for helpings of the Vermicelli and dessert for sure!

Thanks go out to Dennis and team for the hosting as well as Big Boys Oven for the invitation! I thoroughly enjoyed myself.

Pho Hoa
Lot L-52, First Floor,
Tropicana City Mall,
3, Jalan SS20/27,
47400 Petaling Jaya
Tel: 03-7728 1714
** Prices above are not inclusive of GST and service tax.

Rating: 4.5 / 5
Value: $$