This is the blog from the Andrew Stevenson who brings you www.andrewstevenson.com
Sunday 15 January 2012
A return visit to Vnam Café
This is just a quick report of a return visit to Vnam Café on Oldham Road in north Manchester. Everything I said in my previous report still holds.
The setting is basic and easily missed from the street, though I was told they are hoping to do something about that.
I ordered some barbecued quail to start with and the beef pho, though both came together.
Chim Cut Nu'ong: BBQ quail
Six quid buys you three half quails. I've no idea what's in the marinade that the quail must have been in, but it's jolly good. The little bowl I think contained merely salt and pepper, but wasn't really necessary, as the quail was tasty enough in itself. Very juicy meat combined with a bit of char and a slight crisp to the skin. Delicious. Though not a dish for those afraid of bones or of using their fingers.
Pho Bo: Beef noodle soup
Then on to the main event of this quick lunch, the Vietnamese national dish, phô. This is a noodle soup, the star of which should be the stock. My pho was pho bo, apparently the northern Vietnamese version, featuring a beef stock and slices of beef (in the south of Vietnam, pho is apparently more heavily seasoned and features more herbs, greens and chillies). A pile of beansprouts and herbs come separately, along with some rather ferocious sliced chillis. According to the menu, the broth is flavoured with cinammon, cloves, star anise and coriander. I can't say that I could particularly identify them, but, while quite light, it was nicely flavoured and didn't dominate the other ingredients. Initially, I shovelled in most of the beansprouts, herbs and chillis, but it wasn't long before I was fishing out the chillis, as for me, they'd more than done their work and were my making my nose run! Again, this was great value: £6.50 bought a very large bowl that I struggled to finish.
Vnam Café is unlicensed, so I kept it local and had a can of Vimto! That brought the total cost to £13.50. Excellent value. Good, friendly service too.
At the end of my meal I noticed that staff lunch appeared to be bowls of steaming pho, which is a recommendation in itself.
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