Victoria Street's pho is Melbourne's central Vietnamese plate: 12-hour bone broth, rice noodles and a condiment tray of herbs, bean shoots, hoisin and chilli that every diner assembles to spec.

Vietnamese-Australian refugees began settling in Richmond's Victoria Street strip from the late 1970s after the fall of Saigon, transforming a declining shopping precinct into Melbourne's primary Vietnamese restaurant row by the mid-1980s. The phở format on Victoria Street is Northern-style Hanoi pho with longer, clearer broth, contrasted with the Southern-style sweeter broth that dominates Footscray. Pho Hung Vuong 2 opened in 1990 and is the rare original-generation room still operating with the founders. The herb-and-condiment tray was an Australian adaptation, with Thai basil, bean sprouts, lemon and sliced raw chilli set down with the bowl rather than at a buffet.

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  • Pho Hung Vuong 2

    Order Rare beef and brisket pho with bean sprouts and fresh herbs

    Pho Hung Vuong 2 on Victoria Street is Melbourne's pho standard-bearer: long-simmered broth with charred onion and ginger, piled with fresh herbs.

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Make it at home

Serves 412 hrIntermediate

Ingredients

  • 2kg beef knuckle and marrow bones
  • 500g beef brisket, kept whole
  • 1 large white onion and 8cm ginger, halved and char-blackened over a gas flame
  • Spice sachet: 3 star anise
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • 5 cloves
  • 2 black cardamom pods
  • 1 tbsp coriander seed (all dry-toasted)
  • 5L cold water
  • 3 tbsp fish sauce (nuoc mam)
  • 30g rock sugar
  • 2 tsp sea salt
  • 400g dried banh pho rice noodles (5mm wide)
  • 300g beef eye fillet, sliced paper-thin while half-frozen
  • To serve: 1 bunch Thai basil, 1 bunch coriander, 200g bean sprouts, 1 lime quartered, 2 fresh red chillies sliced, hoisin and sriracha

Method

  1. Blanch the bones and brisket in boiling water for 5 minutes, drain, rinse off the grey scum.
  2. Return the cleaned bones and brisket to a clean stockpot with 5L water, the charred onion and ginger, the toasted spice sachet, salt, sugar and fish sauce.
  3. Bring to a low boil, immediately drop to the barest simmer, skim foam and surface fat for the first 30 minutes.
  4. Cook uncovered for 8 hours, topping up with hot water to maintain the level. Lift the brisket out at the 90-minute mark when tender, cool, slice across the grain, reserve.
  5. Strain the broth twice through muslin into a clean pot; check seasoning, you should taste the bone and spice clearly.
  6. Cook the rice noodles according to packet (typically 5 to 7 minutes in boiling water), drain, divide between 4 large bowls.
  7. Lay the raw eye fillet slices and the cooked brisket slices over the noodles. Bring the broth to a rolling boil and ladle over the meat; the residual heat will gently cook the raw fillet.
  8. Serve with the herb tray on the side. Each diner pulls a handful of basil, coriander and sprouts into the bowl, squeezes lime, adds chilli, hoisin and sriracha to their own preference.

Editor tip. The bone-blanching step (then-rinsing) is non-negotiable; it is what separates a clear Northern broth from a cloudy one. Maintain the barest simmer for the full 8 hours; a rolling boil emulsifies the fat and clouds the stock.

Common allergens: Fish (in nuoc mam), Soy (in hoisin).