noodleoodle

It could be said that Sixth Street forms a coarse border between San Francisco’s glitzy downtown and its gritty South of Market and Tenderloin neighborhoods. Via an interactive, streetscape interface, “A Walk Down Sixth Street” uses audio, video, VR panoramas and more to tell the stories of the real people who live, work and thrive on Sixth Street.

Project by multimedia jounarlism students.

Top 5s are pointless. I mean, as soon as they’re done, they’re redundant. My recent top 5 has been shattered by a recent visit to Footscray.

Pho Tam is a fish bowl of a place, on a corner across from the Little Saigon Market. It has chairs and tables out on Ryan Street, which are filled with blokes drinking icy drinks, smoking and talking seriously.

E and I had a feast. We started with a few prawn spring rolls ($7.00), and followed it up with Hủ tiếu Gả Dòn (described on menu as; Crispy chicken on side plate, with celery, chive and shrimp cake, $7.50). It was big bowl of fragrant chicken broth with lots of greens and thin rice noodles. On the side was a plate of fried chicken melting from the bone. Delicious.

We finished with a three colour drink. E hadn’t had one of these before and was thrilled by the overly sweet syrup and sugary beans. I could have had another and spent the rest of the afternoon with the blokes out the front, but E wanted to go to the park. Fair enough.

Pho Tam - 03 9687 2680 - 9 Leeds Street Footscray

I suppose this is the direction noodle shops are going. Probably a business venture, planned and preconceived. It has the sense of a chain, an air of Starbucks. I’m sure it has a head office somewhere. The interior is designed. Signage is slick, and contemporary looking. Green everywhere. Menus in English. Service is rapid.

It’s busy at lunch. Suits and security passes. There is a large selection of foods for hungry office workers, but at the heart of the menu is noodle soup, and it’s good to see Pho is at the top of the list.

Hue Spicy noodle Soup was my choice today. At $9.20 it’s more expensive than I’m used to paying, but arrived in about three minutes, no shit! It was very hot, with a dangerous layer of chilli oil glistening on the top. It’s hard to disappoint me when I eat this kind of food, and this was no exception. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Vietnamese Grill Bar - 305 Swanston Street, Melbourne - (03) 9004 3066

Soupynoodle shares a similar love for noodles and drawing as me. See work on flickr or photoblog.

1. Chu The - (03) 9687 8265 - 92 Hopkins St Footscray 3011
This is my current favourite spot. Very welcoming and kid friendly (they give the kids their own little bowls and cut up the noodles with scissors) . Very pho focused. (Nothing else, nothing vegetarian). Quality ingredients. Out the back you can see the cauldrons of pho being tended too.

2. Co Do - (03) 9421 2418 - 196 Victoria Street Richmond 3121
Friendly, welcoming. Great standard of Pho. Also Great Bun Mam, noodle soup with a base of preserved salted fish. Refuge from bustling Victoria Street.

3. Duan Com Viet Nam - 69 Alfrieda Street St Albans 3021
Fantastic Pho but the specialty is Bun Bo Hue (chili beef soup from central Vietnam). There is outdoor seating at the front of the restaurant, which is a great place to have a Vietnamese style coffee and take in the bustling strip shopping centre. Song Huong, the place next door is also very good.

4. Pho Hung Vuong - (03) 9689 6002 - 128 Hopkins Street Footscray 3011
Clean, shiny and new. Very busy, plenty of patrons. Excellent pho.

5. Pho Hung - (03) 9470 1588 - 447 High Street Preston 3072
The closest pho shop to my house. The standard is very consistent, and they do a stand out Bo Kho (a rich dark soup with stewed chunks of beef and carrot). Very tolerant of unruly children.