A name as literal as this along Joo Chiat Road means that the café sells one, and just one, cuisine. What cuisine it offers is not a difficult one to figure out. One thing, thank goodness Pho Viet Nam is not as literal as it has taken itself- otherwise there'd be nothing else but pho on the menu. :)
Even so, they'd serve up a really good bowl. I know that for sure. And it wouldn't be just one kind of pho. On the menu they've got three kinds. Beef, Chicken and Special. I don't know what the Special is and I've not tried the Chicken pho either- I've tried just the Beef- and it is really, really good.
So I know that there are many other places in the area, and around town that offer beef pho, and maybe someone would say that having a bowl of rice noodles served with slices of medium-rare beef, bean sprouts and mint leaves really isn't as big a deal, but there is just that lil bit of difference here that is not anywhere else. And I don't really know what it is- I haven't asked- maybe it is the fish sauce.
They've got quite an extensive offering here at Pho Viet Nam.
They've got fried rice and salted fish. They've got rice served with grilled pork and egg. Then there're all the vegetables prepared different ways, meats that you can order prepared on their own, and I think there's a bit of seafood too.
There's stir-fried pho- which I had once, and was rich with a smattering of flavors- and then there's beef stew chock full with beef slices and carrots and which you can decide to have with either rice or baguette.
There's chicken curry that they also serve with the choice of rice or warm baguette. May I say that the chicken curry is as unusual a chicken curry that I've ever eaten? Let's just say that the gravy belongs to the sweet side, that it is not as spicy as Indian curries are, and is pretty different from how the Japanese curries are.
Oh, and they've got small bites like spring rolls and fish cakes and the like which could be appetizers or snacks alike. The sauce that came with the fried spring rolls was really lovely. I liked its rounded flavors, its tartness on the tongue and all of its naturally-salted peanuts.
It is a lovely, cosy, family-friendly, place, Pho Viet Nam, with her quiet, street-style décor, her serene environment, her hippie-friendly vibes, her soul food, and in all sincerity, I am glad for it being here.
And I won't be needing to have my clean meal beef pho fix anywhere else for hopefully a long time. :)