Just Open: Miss Saigon, Box Hill

Box Hill doesn't immediately spring to mind when one is craving a fragrant Vietnamese noodle soup; however, the newly opened Miss Saigon steps it up a notch from some of the token mom-and-pop-­style ventures in the area.

Miss Saigon is a David Low project (he who brought us excellent hawker-­style dining with Kitchen Republik, also at Box Hill Central) and just one of a slew of recent, more glam additions to the centre including an outpost of Tina's Noodle Kitchen and chef Koji Shibata's Sushi Jiro.

There are a few cultures meeting here; an interior from BP Design Studio is all Melbourne-­cafe blondwood tables crammed within an inch of each other, the name (and floor-­to-­ceiling wall mural) references a British musical inspired by an Italian opera, and the menu is written in Vietnamese, English and Chinese.

The A3 paper placemat-menu is mostly rice noodle soups – pho bo (beef) and pho ga (chicken). "You cannot cheat getting a good broth," says Low. His cooks boil beef knuckle bones for 12 hours before adding thin strips of raw beef, slippery bone marrow and tripe to order.

You'll also find rice paper rolls and a decent selection of traditional Vietnamese drinks including fresh cane sugar juice and che ba mau, a tall glass of layered, shaved ice, agar jelly and sweetened beans topped with coconut milk.

Open daily 9am-9pm.

Shop 68b, 1 Main Street, Box Hill Central, 03 9890 4689