Phở 236 – Newtown, Sydney

[dropcap]As[/dropcap] Sydney’s night weather starts to cool down a little, it’s only natural for our tastebuds to crave warm comfort foods, and there’s no better strip to satisfy this craving than in uber-cool King Street, Newtown (Sydney). Considered a food utopia, King Street (aka Eat Street) is comprised of a myriad of eateries and watering holes, and if you’re looking for tasty and affordable Vietnamese/Chinese meals, there’s one restaurant that you need to know about/must check out, if you haven’t already done so.

Phở 236 (located at 236 King Street/Princes Hwy) is an unembellished Vietnamese/Chinese restaurant that has been serving the locals/die-hard fans wholesome/flavoursome meals for over a decade now. Having haunted this place many times over the years, we’ve witnessed a consistency in the quality of the food, service and price, and it’s easy to see why this charming/no-frills eatery remains popular and successful, even if the decor is a little tired. With most meals at around the $10 mark, and a special beef noodle soup for $9.50, can anyone really complain? Besides, I’m here to eat phở/pho gawdamit, not contemplate furniture.

Don’t judge a book by its cover, and what this restaurant lacks in pretty decor/interior design, it delivers in delicious/satisfying meals. Phở 236 is well signed and well lit up, both inside and out. Located right under a King Street streetlight, it’s an easy place to find and get to, whether by bus, train, cab, car, foot or pedal. If you’re driving, finding a parking spot can be tough, but if the parking gods are on your side, and you happen to find a spot on King Street or in the Lloyds IGA carpark (hint) – be sure to be vigilant of the ticket time, for parking inspectors run a muck in Newtown – gawdamit.

Phở 236 is conveniently located two doors up from Vintage Cellars and across the road from Coopers Hotel, should you decide to purchase alcohol to have with your meal, or carry on with your merriment afterwards. Phở 236 is a popular eating house for a mix of people, including wise/budget diners, students, travelers, couples, families, etc. In fact, all sorts of people/everyday Newtown folks – eclectic and non-judgmental – just good folks enjoying good food.

On Saturday night, when the weather was comfortably cool, we revisited Phở 236 to satisfy our craving for good Vietnamese/Chinese food – pho specifically. We arrived at around 8.30pm and surprisingly, there were only 3 other tables occupied at the time, but that quickly changed. We felt lucky to get a table as it’s not unusual for a queue to build up outside on busy nights. If you can’t get a table, consider ordering takeaway instead and you’ll be rewarded with 10% discount (except for the steamed rice).

The handy pictorial menu offers a spectrum of tasty dishes to choose from, and we’ve tried many but not all of them over the years. From our humble experience, all of the dishes that we have tried, tasted delicious/satisfying (especially considering the price).

This time round, we ordered some of our favourites – fresh spring rolls, special beef noodle soup, and mixed vegetables and bean curd hotpot with rice. Other dishes that we’ve tried and recommend include the seafood laksa, steamed chicken with ginger rice, crispy chicken with egg noodle soup, and sizzling Mongolian lamb.

After placing our orders, we opened our bottle of wine which we had purchased from Vintage Cellars just prior. I don’t know my wine very well, but I do know what I like to drink, and forecasting the heat and flavours of our meal, we decided on a icy cold white – Tyrrell’s 2013 Chalkboard Semillon – which was light, refreshing, crisp and very tasty too.

By the way, there’s no corkage charge at Phở 236. A few other tables were consuming alcohol as well, including a couple of mates who had brought in a six pack of bevvies which they enjoyed straight from the bottles without any complaints from the waitstaff. Awesome!

The food came out fast – very fast and all at once. Customarily, we ate the fresh spring rolls first. If my memory serves me correctly – the waiter said that they’re normally made with prawns and pork (or was it chicken?) in them, but we politely asked for ones without pork/chicken. Because of our request, I guess that our rolls were freshly made, and they certainly looked and tasted so – plump rosy coils of prawns resting on a bed of sliced lettuce leaves/julienned carrot and vermicelli, wrapped and pressed firmly within a still-sticky translucent skin of soft rice paper.

They tasted delicious! The flavour was light and mallow with hints of saltiness from the prawns and rice paper, and sweetness from the crunchy lettuce leaves and carrot. They were moreish by themselves, eaten nonchalantly with our nimble fingers, but greatly heightened by dipping them in the sauce (not too sure what this sauce was either, perhaps satay x hoisin? or maybe it’s a home brew?). It’s such a tasty dish and a perfect start to a meal – simple, fresh, healthy and oh so easy to eat. Nom – next please.

To my happiness- my much loved/missed special beef noodle pho arrived without disappointment – pipping hot, hearty and just plain pho-fect (slightly funny, no?). It’s a generous bowl of rich beef broth coloured by hours of brewing/boiling/stewing – infused with beef bone/meat flavours, aromatics and seasonings. If you’ve made pho broth before (I make a pretty mean one – stay tuned for recipe), you’d know that the secret to a tasty broth (besides the aromatics, etc) is the length of time in boiling the bones – the extended time ensures more flavours are extracted from the meat/bone/marrow, creating a sublime broth that is simply a joy to eat. So if my theory is correct, it’s best to eat pho at a restaurant in the arvo or at night, because this means that the broth has had hours of brewing time (assuming it was made in the morning and just in one pot), ensuring a rich flavourful soup for your enjoyment. You know what – I’m probably wrong on this, so please don’t quote me and simply eat pho when your tummy beckons it.

Back to my pho – the bowl of broth was glistening with droplets of oil/fat, and filled with tender rice noodles, and a mix of different types of meats – including fresh/pink (still cooking in the broth) and cooked fatty slices, beef balls, and pieces of tasty sinew and tendon – yummm!

On top of the beef and noodles were garnishes – including slices of white onion, coriander and shallots. After one smell and one sip of the pho, it’s easy to eat this heavenly dish as it is without any alterations or other additional ingredients, but the complementary plate of sprouts, basil and lime is there for a reason, so I added them to the pho (minus the lime – personal choice). While I’m at it, I also added some of the condiments – a few pieces of the chopped fresh chilies and a generous squeeze of the hoisin sauce too. By now, it was ready to eat, and believe me I did – like a pho addict madman let loose. Thank heavens we’re in Newtown.

The mixed vegetables and bean curd hot pot also arrived beautifully. A marriage of fresh vibrant seasonal vegetables – broccoli, cauliflower, carrot, snow peas, bok choy and wombok, with spongy/juicy tofu chunks – smothered and glistening in its sauce. The sauce was flavoursome and rich and it dressed the fluffy fragrant steamed rice very well. It was a simple and tasty dish – crunchy and nutritious.

Conclusion:

If you’re looking for tasty and affordable Vietnamese/Chinese food, including pho in Newtown, then Phở 236 will satisfy your hunger. It is understated in appearance, but if you’re after good food without the gloss, this is definitely a place to consider and try. To some pho connoisseur, the pho at Phở 236 might not compare to the pho of Marrickville or Cabramatta, but you know what – if it looks like pho, smells like pho and tastes like pho – it’s more than good enough for me.

Pros:

• Affordable tasty Vietnamese/Chinese meals with most meals at around $10
• Located at 236 King Street, Newtown – easy to find and get to
• 10% discount for takeaways (except for the steamed rice)
• Great pho and fresh spring rolls
• Free BYO

Cons:

• Understated decor
• Cash only

Did you know?

There are two prevailing theories on the origin of the word “phở” and, by extension, the dish itself:

1. French – from the French beef stew “pot-au-feu” (literally, “pot on the fire”).
2. Cantonese – an abbreviation of “lục phở”, which is a corruption of “ngưu nhục phấn” (literally, “cow meat noodles”), which was commonly sold by Chinese immigrants in Hanoi. ¹

Phở 236 Vietnamese – Chinese Restaurant
236 King Street, Newtown, Sydney NSW 2042
Phone: (02) 9550 2480