pho pasteur @ george st., sydney

A week ago, I made a rather loud status update on facebook that 'pho pasteur has arguably the best pho in Sydney!' As someone that very infrequently updates their facebook status, I was rather surprised at the amount of people (from far and wide) that commented on my status update. There were those that agreed, others that could not disagree and finally those who had experienced a week's worth of food poisoning after eating at said restaurant.

Whilst I won't deny that food poisoning is a risk (but come on, you can get food poisoning from almost anywhere and everywhere!), I'm still of the mindset that Pho Pasteur offers Sydney's best bowl of pho. The soup is rich and served at just the right temperature, the ingredients are fresh and the serving size is satisfying. Note that they do offer two sizes, a regular bowl and a large - difference in price being $10.00 or $10.50 - I'd recommend going for the larger bowl; you'll gobble it up in no time.

If you can eat chilli, fresh cut chilli with pho is a must!

In hindsight, there was one error in my facebook update. Yes, Pho Pasteur does offer the best pho in Sydney but they do also offer some other tasty items on their menu. On this visit, we also ordered the Vermicelli with Spring Rolls & Pork - one word, faultless.

Sitting in the restaurant can be a bit of an ear-bashing. Orders are yelled across tables/heads/people, and this is magnified when you're sitting close to the register. J&I happened to be on the 2-seater right next to the register and consequently, our lunch didn't go for long. We ate quickly and were glad to walk out to the relative quiet of George Street on a Saturday afternoon. That's telling you something!

If cleanliness is your top priority when eating out, I probably won't recommend this place to you. If you enjoy good & cheap food, it's definitely a place to try.