I Love Pho 264

LONG-running Pho Chu The has moved two doors down, upping its seats to 70 and sporting an exuberant rebranding.

If you love pho, you'll love I Love Pho 264; it even has its own merchandise - "I Love Pho" T-shirts and soup bowls with the logo on the rim, subliminal messaging as you hunch and slurp.

The family-run restaurant is a specialist pho shop, dedicated to the traditional rice noodle soup - Vietnamese soul food - and colourful Vietnamese drinks, such as syrupy sweet iced lemon, tricolour and the refreshing longan.

Breakfast, lunch or dinner, at least 13 noodle soups are on offer, from "fat" to tripe to sliced beef to oxtail and all permutations of chicken - breast, thigh, shredded and on-the-bone with giblets and livers.

The broth is of utmost importance. Big stockpots are brimful with bone and the amount is the key to creating the intense base flavour. The bones are repeatedly boiled and strained and simmered with star anise, licorice root, cinnamon, lemongrass, ginger and roasted onion. Do they use MSG? A little bit.

Meats are served clumped in the middle of the bowl, the sweet brisket plentiful and sliced thin, its pinkness disappearing as it's swirled in the hot broth. The skinless chicken on the bone (a few sharp bits, but hey) was moist and tender and cut in a cross-section, all the better for sucking out the marrow.

If you like beef balls (mixed with tendon), these are a good version, big and bouncy and rich with flavour, and the classic sliced beef was excellent. Another dollar gets you an extra helping of vegies (bok choy, cabbage, carrot). Pile on mint leaves, bean shoots, chilli and lemon and you're set to slurp.

I Love Pho gets top marks for its soups but probably a C+ for tidiness. Empty tables can remain uncleared for ages and wiping can be lacklustre. During my second visit, the table was smeary with previously spilt chilli oil, which remained throughout lunch. It's all right and easily overlooked but systems could be sharper.

For the diner, pho is an absorbing meal. The flavours and contentment deepen as you drink into the bowl. People concentrate as they eat and the vibe here is quiet and communal.

A turtle in a tank, a gift from a customer, provides entertainment for children and more customers are displayed on the photo-collage by the front door.

It's a fun spot. I'll be back, pho sure.

 nrousseau@theage.com.au

Where 264 Victoria Street, Richmond, 9427 7749

Prices Small pho $8, medium $9, large $10; I Love Pho T-shirts, $10; I Love Pho bowls, $8-$10

Cards None

BYO (Corkage $5 a table)

Open Daily, 9am-10pm

Website facebook.com/ILovePho264richmond

Cuisine Vietnamese

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