I don't often go out to Gungahlin but I love Pho and so was drawn to this restaurant like a moth to the name. I was a little disappointed to see that the place had all the charm and ambience of a Subway (one of which is located next door, for those interested). But we were there for the food, not the decor.
When we ordered our pho, the waitress advised that they were out of bean sprouts and had not been able to source any more and asked whether that be OK. What the pho? We said it would be OK, but we didn't really mean it. Come on, pho without bean sprouts, really?
We spent a minute pondering this apparent Gungahlin-wide bean sprout shortage and the possible existence of a billionaire bean sprout trader attempting market monopolisation. I then walked the 30 metres to the supermarket DIRECTLY ACROSS THE ROAD. To my absolute amazement, about 10 bags of bean sprouts had magically appeared in all their leguminous glory. I purchased one bag for all of $2.20, returned to Simply Pho and advised the waitress of this unexpected change in bean sprout market conditions. As you would expect, she was as surprised as I was. So surprised, in fact, that we didn't see her again.
The cook delivered the bowls of pho to our table together with two of (and I am not exaggerating here) the most wilted shoots of Thai basil that I have ever seen embarrass a bowl of pho. And I have eaten a lot of pho.
The Thai basil proved to be the proverbial canary in the culinary coalmine as a gastronomic tragedy unfolded before us. This pho, even after adding the Sriracha and hoisin sauces, the chilli, lemon juice and the basil, was easily the worst pho I can recall having. Ever. I could name at least half a dozen places I have had pho in the last few months and Simply Pho is simply the worst of them all.
The broth, the key component of a pho, had the flavour of dishwater. Clearly, they do not add enough bones and/or do not simmer the broth long enough. Nor do they add much of anything else to provide any interesting complexity to the flavour. In fairness, the place is called 'Simply Pho', not 'Complexly Pho'. And, in keeping with their name, the pho is weak and one dimensional.
After consuming perhaps a quarter of it, we just couldn't see the point in continuing. This is the first time, in the dozens of times I have had pho of all kinds - from great pho, to good pho, to fair pho, and even to poor pho - that I have not finished my pho. Because this was not even poor pho. It was unpleasant pho.
On the bright side, we had ordered the regular, not the large. But even that was as or more expensive as similar or larger, but definitely better, pho elsewhere. Speaking of elsewhere, much better pho is available at (surprisingly) Majura Park. But the best pho in the Canberra region is still Sai Gon Pho in (again, surprisingly) Queanbeyan. So, if you live in Gungahlin, the Majura Parkway is your gateway to a better and brighter pho future. read more
