I Love Pho, Crows Nest

Matt and I head to I Love Pho, a Vietnamese restaurant in Crows Nest recently. It's an overcast day and Pho is on my mind. I've been to I Love Pho a few times and am looking forward to a high quality, flavoursome lunch.

I decide to sit outside on this particular day to enjoy the fresh air and also to people watch. I looked at the revamped menu which has beautiful photos that trigger all sorts of memories from my childhood. I Love Pho is a down to earth, casual eatery. 

Matt and I share a number of dishes, first off with the warm rice noodle roll (2 pcs, $7.60) with marinated beef, coriander and mint and lettuce. The warm rice noodle roll is served up with a tangy sauce, mint and chilli. I love the rice noodles as they are so thin, delicate, soft and delicious to eat. The beef is flavoursome and soak into the warm rice noodles. This is a great way to start the meal and I highly recommend.

I also couldn't resist ordering the entree platter ($20) as it has so much variety and I have fond memories from my last visit. The platter also comes with a series of sauces. 

The entree platter has spring rolls, pork skewers, prawn minced skewer, rice paper rolls, bao bun with crispy pork. The spring rolls are hard to resist so if you don't want the platter, i'd definitely recommend ordering an order of Spring Rolls. The Spring Rolls are crispy on the outside with that extra crunch. 

Matt loves the pork skewer (nem nuong) which is a popular street food in Vietnam. It's full of flavour with Vietnamese flavours. The prawn and pork rice paper roll is best eaten with the satay hoi sin sauce and will add a freshness to the meal.  The minced prawn skewer is mildly sweet from sugar cane and I enjoyed the minced prawn. I leave the bao bun to Matt as I've eaten most of the warm rice noodle roll. 

I also order the salt and pepper squid ($13) based on the recommendation from the staff. Khanh, the manager recommends this dish because of the lime sauce. The squid is covered in a light, crispy coating and Khanh is right - that tangy lime sauce is really tasty.  This dish would be very easy to share as well.

I also couldn't leave I Love Pho on this overcast day without ordering some Pho, the wagyu beef pho ($16) ! Make sure you ask for the chilli and hoi sin sauce so you can add this into the broth, I also rip off thai basil, squirt of lemon juice and bean sprouts into the pho. The pho is exactly what I'm craving on this particular day. I've enjoyed all the entrees so far and the Pho is a great way to finish the meal.

Summary: Overall, I had another nice meal at I Love Pho. It has a great range of traditional Vietnamese dishes along with some modern twists which was very tasty. I enjoyed all the dishes and my favourite were the warm beef rice noodle roll and the salt and pepper squid.

Price: Most mains are $12-20

Location: 47 Willoughby Rd, Crows Nest

Opening Hours: 
Daily 11am to 10pm

Weekend Food Escapes dined as guests of the venue or their representatives. All photos, opinions and words are my own.