December is the month of glorious food and maybe one too many tipples and I'm totally on-board with that. Getting friends and family together at this time of year is my favourite and with plenty of Christmas set menus available, you just need to choose where to go.
One place you should definitely add to your list is Pho, now open in Gunwharf Quays. The family-run restaurant first opened its doors in 2005 after owners, Stephen and Juliette travelled through Vietnam and fell in love with the food.
They serve healthy Vietnamese street food which is all cooked daily in their kitchens. There is a huge range of gluten-free dishes accredited by Coeliac UK as well as many choices for those with dairy and egg allergies. The majority of the dishes can be made vegan too so it's pretty much the perfect place to go.
We visited Pho to try out the Christmas menu for ourselves recently and can confirm it is pretty bloody lovely! There are two menus available, the standard Christmas Menu and a Vegan Christmas menu which is great to see. We tried the menu with meat available which features a choice of five starters including my favourite, Nem nướng - homemade pork & lemongrass meatballs. We also ordered the Cánh gà, seasoned, crispy chicken wings served with sriracha and Chả giò, crispy pork spring rolls.
I've tried a number of dishes at Pho now and I find each and every one bursting full of flavour.
It's always such an enjoyable experience for your tastebuds and I don't know what they do to the Cánh gà but they're the best chicken wings I've ever had.
I couldn't resist that peanut dip again - it's so scrummy!
The menu has a great selection of dishes to try including my favourite, Cà-ri Chicken. I opted for the Cà-ri again because it's just so good and I'm rubbish with change. It's a rich, fragrant curry filled with veggies and mushrooms, topped with nuts and served with broken rice. You can choose to have it with chicken or tofu and mushroom. It's a really great dish and it always hits the spot for me.
My grandmother ordered the Phở chín, tender beef brisket slow-cooked in beef broth, a classic rice noodle soup served with fresh herbs. There was so much of it, the portions are super generous at Pho so it meant I could try some too and it's on my to order list next.
The beef brisket was the best I've tasted in years and mixed with the herbs and broth, it was the perfect warming dish on a bitter cold day.
I really love the mix of dishes on the Pho Christmas menu, it features some firm faves and it's a great way to try something little different. I don't know about you but I can only eat so many turkey dinners in the run-up to the big day and a Vietnamese feast is a fabulous alternative!
You can view the Christmas Menu and Vegan Christmas Menu online and all booking information including prices is just below:
To make a booking visit www.phocafe.co.uk or e-mail hellopho@phocafe.co.uk
