Pho

We visited Phở for our staff Christmas party. The waiting staff were attentive without being overbearing and made our experience an enjoyable one. Food arrived promptly and all at the same time which is becoming something of a novelty in city centre restaurants, where the new culture of sending food as it’s ready seems to be taking over.
The only thing that prevents me from giving Phở 5 stars is the slightly stingy portion sizes of meat that was served.

I love Phở. My favourite restaurant in Manchester. It’s hard to find healthy options when eating out at such a reasonable price, so Phở is my go to! Lovely, wholesome & authentic.

I could have been back in Vietnam! Lemongrass as far as the eye can see, and generous helpings of coriander! All the dishes we sampled were spot on!

We went here during it’s soft launch period and I must say I was very impressed. The services ce was ‘work in progress’ but I guess to be expected on soft launch. It was over attentive rather than under though.
The food was fantastic, Vietnamese at it’s best. Our starters were fresh and zingy and then we both followed with the Phở noodle soup. The broth had amazing depth of flavour and a little tip would be to add the birds eye chillies one at time as they were very spicy.
Can’t wait to get back here for more Phở!

Just had to try phở having missed out on the Unilocal event & seeing the pics of the food. We ordered off the Xmas menu 2 courses for £13.95 or 3 for £15.95. I opted for 2, starter & Main. we were seated in the outer restaurant in the exchange which I liked felt like I was on holiday… food came lots of things I had not tried before but always wanted to & Never had Vietnamese food before .It was amazing lots of different flavours loved it .we definitely come back again to try more of the menu. And I must say our waiter Luke was very attentive and couldn’t do enough for us.

Christmas night out for myself and Paula started at Phở restaurant at the corn exchange. Our fellow Unilocalers had an event here sadly we missed it so we thought to give it a try. So glad we did the service was first class (thanks Luke) the food was absolutely delish. Will definitely return and recommend to every one.

This weekend was my second visit to Phở, the staff are good although I do wish we could get a small tutorial in seasoning the traditional broths as I think it would help those of us who have not grown up eating them everyday.
On this trip I had the starter pork & lemon grass meatballs which was super and full of flavour and for main I had the Ph tôm — king prawns in broth, it was good but largely due to my lack of ability to experiment needed a salty hit that was missing.
I will ask the staff next time for some advice, but they seem to know what they are doing and are very polite, the friend I went with is a fairly fussy eater and they put up with her requests fairly well. I will be back, but will leave my friend at home :)

I was excited to see a new ph joint opening up in Manchester. There aren’t many Viet joints in town, so I was looking forward to some classic grub… maybe some phở and a bánh mì.
Went in and instantly liked the environment. Modern décor, very open with friendly staff and large windows. Browsing through the menu I saw they had no bánh mì, but several options for ph. They didn’t have my favourite (tendon and rare steak) but they did have one with just rare steak so I picked that.
Typically the broth is hot and will cook the meat while it’s being served, so the ph is served with the thin slices of beef on top of the noodles. I don’t know if it’s a UK safety thing or their own choice, but it seems the meat was actually cooked in advance. Shouldn’t be a major issue, except the result was a lot tougher, not the delicate thin strips that usually go along with the dish.
The noodles were too firm, again I think a poor choice by the restaurant. Based on the quality of noodles and meat I wouldn’t return, but the saving graces were the delicious broth and the fact they had Huy Fong brand Sriracha sauce! The sauce bumped it up a star on its own, because I’ve never been able to find it in any of the markets… plenty of Sriracha out there, but only one Huy Fong rooster sauce!
Overall, would go again if the notion struck, but certainly not the best ph I’ve had.

Every time I feel like I’m going to get sick my go to is a big bowl of phở! My friend was getting sick so I suggested we should eat Vietnamese food for lunch so we went to this place.
There was no wait for lunch and we were able to sit in the courtyard area of the corn exchange. The menu is 80% phở and the rest are appetisers or other types of noodle dishes, so if you come here, you should really get their phở.
We did order shrimp chips which was pretty good cause it was thickly cut with a sweet and sour sauce.
There’s many types of phở on their menu, but really they all have the same broth and noodle. The only difference with their phở is the type of meat they include. I was disappointed they didn’t include protein like fish balls, tripe, pork.
I opted for a phở that had a mixture of three different types of beef– meatball, thinly sliced beef, and shredded beef. It came with the traditional mixture of bean sprouts, mint, coriander, lime, and chilli slices. Wasn’t really impressed with the veg side cause it wasn’t a lot and I’m use to getting a big plate of it. The flavour was good, had a rich deep beef stock flavour. It was well seasoned and had the same taste as other phở I’ve had in the past.
The dish was only £8.95 so that was cool and definitely filling. It was more than enough for one person. The staff was pretty helpful and welcoming. The restaurant is clean, sleek, and trendy. If you’re in the area and hungry after shopping or just need to warmed inside, this place is a good spot for Phở.

A little birdie from London told me thus chain Vietnamese restaurant was opening up in Manchester at the end of August, much to my delight (as I do miss the variety of Asian restaurants one gets in London)! I managed to get a 25% off soft-​opening offer and had been browsing the menu the week leading up to it. The restaurant is one of the many new ones making home at the Corn Exchange, which is now becoming a trendy hub! We ordered the Nem (Vietnamese spring rolls served with fresh fragrant herbs and lettuce), I wanted the steam rolls called Bahn Cuon which was absent from their Manchester menu! Later their Twitter account informed me it was cos their kitchen here is too small. That’s was okay as I ordered one of their giant spring rolls and we were both happy with their fragrant brothy raw beef phở! Can not wait to come here again after they’ve fully settled in… maybe next week?

Phở-​nominal, is all I have to say about this place (and not just for the sake of using the pun). There are so few places that you can get Vietnamese food from in Manchester, that when a good one comes along, you really can’t put it down.
Being located in the corn exchange already gives it extra umph as you can have the feel of outdoor dining yet still be tucked in a warm cozy environment. Especially since it’s coming up to the winter time now, the comforting meal plus friendly ambience paired each other wonderfully.
My friend ordered the curry rice, I had the prawn, beef phở special and we shared a classic summer roll wrap. Food arrived so quickly we were worried it wasn’t fresh… but nope! Rolls were crisp and aromatic and both are meals were pipping hot just like a home cooked meal ought to be.
My noodles were quite close to authentic Vietnamese phở but maybe not quite there yet (hence the 4 stars) but the curry was delicious and enhanced with a lovely coconut flavour.
Price range wasn’t too bad — on the upper range but still reasonable. All in all, if anyone is ever craving some South East Asian cuisine, this is the place to be.

Went here for lunch today. Almost everything on the menu is gluten free and dairy free so I was a very happy bunny! I had pork spring rolls and peanut sauce for starter and garlic steak soup for mains. It was delicious but really filling so I couldn’t finish all the rice noodles. I can rarely have a pudding so was disappointed that I was too full to have one! The service was a little lacking. I had to wait a while for my bill even though it was quiet but the staff were friendly. I’ll be coming back for more

I do love a good Vietnamese dish… after missing out on a night here, I decided to come and investigate.
Stepping through a massive glass door, we settled near the window. It was only then a waitress came over. Flipping the menu over exposed a small selection of beer, and unheard of cocktails. When I enquired about a beer, i was informed it tasted like Carlsberg… that put me off. I chose a phoito instead, very like a mojito but made with rice wine.
Starters were limited, a few spring roles, chicken wings, squid and prawn crackers. I went for the baby squid while he had the chicken.
The baby squid was delicately battered, which came with a pot of dried seasoning and chillis. The waitress instructed me to squeeze the lime into the lot, to create my own dipping sauce. Nice touch.
The chicken wings were apparently succulent in the middle, encased in crispy skin and seasoned well.
These were not the cheapest of starters. the chicken was probably the best value for money.
Starters scoffed we went for the ramen. you could choose the standard, more delicately flavoured broth, with steak, meatballs, prawn, tofu? With a choice of chicken or veggie stock. These came with flat noodles.
I chanced the spicy prawn ramen, which offered flat rice noodles or another like ‘spaghetti ‘.I mourned for udon. strangely enough you can only choose what noodles you want when you order the spicy ramen. othrer places I have dined let you completely tailor your dish.
When the massive bowls of soup arrived, they looked tasty. the crimson broth looked nice and leathle​.how​ever​.it was tasty but not spicy for me at all… even after chucking in almost all of the chilli oil and sauce condiments in on the side… a smaller plate was laid next to this, which held mint, beansprouts, chilli and other fresh seasoning to add. The waitress even offered me a bib, she must have known I was a messy eater. This bib saved my white dress from the chilli splashback.
My other halfs Ramen was unfortunately the wrong one. He had meatballs instead of the ordered steak… this was quickly swapped over.
Overall, the meal was good. Service was okay. however I found this very expensive for what it was. at the end of the day ramen is not an expensive dish to make. and £46 was a lot for Vietnamese food…
I won’t be back to this one, as I do know other tastier and cheaper places.

Whilst there are a number of places you can buy Phở already in Manchester, one of the the things that makes me really happy about Phở Restaurant opening it that it will bring the delights of Vietnamese cooking to a new audience.
Situated in the newly refurbished corn exchange in Manchester the restaurant is perfectly placed to attract a city crowd looking for a nice restaurant and for the tourist crowd to stumble open.
The starters were excellent with my favourites being the Nem hi sn (Large crispy spring roll of tiger prawn, crab & pork with nc chm dipping sauce). I would have also rated the Mc chiên giòn (squid /​calamari) higher, but having just returned from a holiday in Greece i’m not sure any restaurant in Manchester would have compared.
For my main i went with Ph đc bit (Tiger prawns, tofu & flash fried steak with garlic in beef stock). For newbies to the world of phở… its like a broth soup with noodles, veg and meat chucked in. However its also important to know that every phở broth should be adjusted to your own preferred taste using the array of sauces and spices you’ll find at the table.
All in all i think the opening of Phở in Manchester is a good thing. Its perhaps not the most authentic of Vietnamese restaurants, but it comes close and is suited to most palates and makes the cuisine much more accessible. The other phở restaurants in Manchester may be more authentic, but they are also more canteen like and not somewhere i’d want to go dressed up for a posh doo.
Phở Restaurant has opened to great reviews and quite deservedly.

High street Vietnamese — not quite authentic street food but great for groups
Everybody WILL find something good here, but it’s not the most authentic Vietnamese: simplified for Western palates and with great service.
In the beautifully refurbished Corn Exchange, this is the first joint I’ve tried in its new incarnation as a food and drink hub. Phở is a classic Vietnamese dish, made interactive with a selection of side dishes to personalise your meal. The restaurant Phở simplifies this so the phở you get served might seem bland at first but you need to add stuff to it.
The service is amazing which is why I gave them four stars. The staff will explain what you’re getting and their recommendations have been great so do ask for suggestions.
Great atmosphere on three levels — I haven’t been when it’s busy so I can’t say for sure what the wait might be, but they also offer take out so if you’re prepared to assemble your own noodle soup, give it a go.

Manchester doesn’t have an amazing track record for asian cuisines, so I like to see anyone trying to have a go at this.
The restaurant is in the newly redeveloped Corn Exchange though it’s not on the main square but around the corner which I hop doesn’t detract from their business too much. I quite like the look inside at least on the ground floor with a large hallogen tube sign informing that you are indeed in Phở and lots of dark wood pannelling on the walls.
Upstairs where we ate is a little less interesting even though it looks out over the large triangular plaza in the middle of the corn exchange it lacks a little soul, but you could say the same about every other restaurant in the exchange form what you could see from the balcony. Unfortunately makes it feel a bit too much like you’re eating in mall. Though this could well change as the other venues fill up. At the moment only about half of the Corn Exchange new restaurants are open.
We received a selection of nearly all the starters. I won’t go through them all in detail as others have already commented on them.
I really liked the summer rolls, lovely fresh bundles of vegetables and prawn wrapped in a rice noodle parcel. a bit of peanut sauce, they were great.
The pork spring rolls were really tasty, a great mix of spices and even through they were fried they didn’t feel too heavy which is great.
We also received chicken wings served with sirachi sauce they were great but on their own nothing special, so if you don’t like heat you’d want to skip those.
I really love phở which is a traditional and extremely popular vietnamese noodle soup. It’s known for it’s fresh fragrant ingredients and tasty broth. I ordered the beef brisket phở. It came out in a large bowl and a second plate stacked with the fresh herbs, bean sprouts, some chopped chilli and a large spoon. The phở was quite okay, not as fragrant or spicy as I would like personally but you have plenty of chilli oil, sirachi sauce and vinegars on the table to pep it up a bit. I would probably say that there wasn’t enough beef in mine though the beef was done really well and they used good quality noodles, it surprising how much using the wrong noodles can really ruin asian dishes, but these were spot on.
I would have to say that overall it was competent but not spectacular. Enjoyable and filling but not hugely memorable. I can’t help but compare it to small family run places I’ve been to in the past where they make the summer rolls and soups right in front of you and the smell of the broth fills the entire restaurant. This isn’t that experience. That being said though, I’d more that happily return for some Phở in the future.

Today was my second visit to Phở and it’s safe to say I’ve enjoyed it both times.
On my lunch break I fancied a bowl of Phở and so popped in to indulge.
I was seated at the window straight away and handed a menu.
I fancied something basic, so opted for the Chicken phở. I had previously tried the Phở with beef brisket and really enjoyed it so I was hoping this would be just as good.
There’s no messing around by the staff here. At lunch time they seem to be really switched on to the fact that most people get an hour for lunch, so they serve you quickly and keep you up to date on how long your meal will be.
Mine was served within 5 minutes and was super tasty. I had to add some chillis and vinegar to spice it up a little, but it was great — lots of noodles and plenty of tender chicken.
I’ll keep coming back to Phở and it’s most definitely worth a try!

I came to Phở a few days ago when it was still their «preview/​soft launch». Now I don’t know whether to review/​rate Phở with the whole soft launch thing in mind? When we booked, it said that the food would all be complimentary :) it turned out that it was ALL free including the drinks.
I have not had Vietnamese food that many times. Actually I originally thought I had never had it before being reminded about going to Saigon Lotus (and also been to Viet Shack a couple times!).
Phở is one of the many new restaurants opened (or opening) in the new Corn Exchange. I think there will be 12 restaurants in total. Its still a work in progress Corn Exchange with the main central area (which used to have escalators) now quite bare and a bit cold. Also, not many restaurants/​bars have opened. I have never been to a Phở before so don’t know if the décor is always the same but I liked the style — the lighting, dark woods etc.
There were 4 of us so we decided to pick some starters/​sides to share and then pick our own main. For starter, we had some summer rolls (not bad but had coriander in it — which I dont like), chicken wings (really nice), baby squid (was OK but some people were not keen on it) and beef wrapped in betal leaves, served with rice vermicelli sheets & nuoc cham. Never had anything like this before — I really liked the beef but it was all unusual trying to wrap it in the vermicelli sheets — which the waitress explains was what supposed to do.
One of the sides we ordered was some prawn crackers which arrived just before the starters. I was a bit disappointed with them. Nothing wrong with them as such but they just tasted like they were from a packet bought from a supermarket. I have had fresh prawn crackers many times and these were certainly not fresh. I think you would be a bit annoyed if you paid £2.75 for them.
For mains, I picked one of the house specials. Ph bò nm trúng which is Brisket, enoki & button mushrooms, creamy egg yolk, in beef broth. Unfortunately I was a bit disappointed with this as there was hardly any brisket in it. And the broth didn’t taste of much and was lacking. Maybe we were supposed to add some of the numerous sauces on the table to it?
It actually says on their web site about phở that: «The addition of these herbs and table condiments is an essential part of eating ph and adds another dimension to the dish — our chilli paste for a kick, fish sauce for extra saltiness, garlic vinegar for sourness. Don’t hold back.» But personally I think that the broth should have tasted good without having to add stuff yourself.
Personally, for a similar ish sort of thing to the phở, I prefer Wagamama. But I should say that I actually like Wagamama — I know many people don’t but I have also had a good food there.
We got our other sides with the main which was morning glory (water spinach). I have had this a couple times before in Chinese restaurants and always enjoyed it. Enjoyed it this time if maybe a bit too salty — but thats just me. Everyone else really liked it.
I had a couple Saigon beers with my meal and it was OK.
Overall, its a nice place with potential. The service was good.
I think Vietnamese food is one of those cuisines that uses coriander quite a bit — which is a bit of a problem for me since I dont like it.

I’ve spent a long time debating my star rating for Phở. Going anywhere on the soft launch isn’t really a fair representation of a place — but the free food is always fun — so although we had a four star experience overall, if we were paying it would be a three.
The décor in Phở is a little bit unusual and I really like it: lots of neon and dark wood, with nice tables and chairs. We were seated in the upstairs section of the restaurant, so we not only had a great view of everyone else (and their food!) but also a nice insight into the grandeur of the Corn Exchange building.
The menu is simple and includes starters, mains — both rice and noodle — sides, and desserts. They didn’t have a full bar available so we went for white wine and beer, the latter of which wasn’t very good according to the other half. We busied ourselves reading the menu and exploring the various condiments on the table, including homemade chilli paste and hot sauce, the idea being you personalise your dish to your taste.
To start, we had the veggie summer rolls with ‘authentic’ sweet chilli dip and chicken wings. The wins were really delicious, with some proper crispy skin, and it was a generous portion. The summer rolls were good, though not very exciting, and the sauce alongside was lacking in any real flavour.
For mains, I had to go for the phở, so opted for hot and spicy chicken. It was a huge portion and something I imagine would be perfect for hangovers, with the right balance between healthy and indulgent. However, the chicken was a little bit dry and there wasn’t the heat I was expecting. The dish was comforting and tasty but nothing that made me say wow.
We tried some green beans and sugar snap peas on the side with peanut dipping sauce but they were fairly disappointing: served cold, the peanut was too sweet on the beans and we left the majority of the plate. We had started with prawn crackers but they weren’t very authentic — more like the ones you get from a supermarket bag — but the sweet chilli sauce was good.
Service was friendly through if a little bit shaky from certain staff members, but it’s always to be expected during the first week or so.
An A-​OK experience but, with so much else coming in to the area, it’ll be interesting to see whether the popularity remains.

This is probably only the third Vietnamese restaurant I’ve tried and I’ve not been fortunate enough to have travelled to Vietnam so I’m by no means an expert on this particular cuisine, however I can still compare it to its current peers in Manchester.
First impressions from outside had me thinking they may have received the short straw location-​wise within The Corn Exchange, the entrance being down a cobbled side street behind Sinclair’s Oyster Bar.
It’s spread over three floors and the interior is a mix of darkened timber, exposed pipework, metal, brick, concrete and neon. They’ve really gone for the industrial feel, though a few more obvious elements from the ‘homeland’ would help soften it a little, if you know what I mean.
We were there for their soft launch so the food and drinks were complimentary; so it’s been taken into consideration that they’re still new and rusty in a few areas. However, this is reportedly their 15^th restaurant in the UK, so the food should already be at the top of its game.
Unfortunately, on the whole, Phở didn’t live up to Saigon Lotus in Ancoats and Viet Shack in the Arndale for me. The prawn crackers looked and tasted identical to those you’d get with any Chinese take away. On the other end of the spectrum, their stir fried morning glory (water spinach) in garlic was probably the best dish I tried all night.
Our other sides of chicken wings, prawn summer rolls and beef wrapped in betal leaves were just ok; the fried baby squid didn’t do anything for me, with friends commenting that its texture was inconsistent.
For my main course I had the Phở bo combo (steak, brisket & meatballs) but it only had a small amount of brisket and lacked flavour, so much so I had to add plenty of traditional sauce from the bottle on the table.
We had the opportunity to give the restaurant feedback on our experience which was great — I’d probably wait a while for them to have ‘bedded in’ before I return.