I Love Pho, Crows Nest

Proposing to eat Vietnamese on the North Shore usually attracts gasps of horror from pho enthusiasts. Alas, I'm not a pho enthusiast and I just wanted something soupy for dinner. Having said that, I Love Pho appears to be distinctly more authentic than the other Vietnamese eateries situated in Chatswood - their egg rolls are made with rice paper, pho comes with hoisin sauce, that sort of thing.

We visited I Love Pho without a booking around 7pm on a weeknight, and it was absolutely packed. We were fortunate enough that someone was finishing up at the time, but some people entering a few minutes later had to stand around for quite a while.

 The crispy Vietnamese pancake was labelled under the chef's recommendations, and no wonder! I loved the crunch of the batter and how it was chock-full of prawns, pork and beansprouts. And though it costs about as much as a bowl of pho, it's pretty big and I could probably have eaten one plate of pancake as a meal.

Banh Xeo ($12.60)

This meant that by the time the pho arrived, there was little of the noodles that I could stomach. I ordered the pho chin, or pho with well-done beef flank. The beef was a little tough and they were overly generous with the rice noodles, but the soup was quite tasty.

Hoisin/ chilli sauce with garnishing

(Pho Chin - approx. $12.50)

My conclusion? Yummy pancakes, generous portions, reasonable price for Crows Nest. After this experience, I'm keen to come back and taste some of their banquet-style dishes.