Skip to main content

Va Pho

With the number of pending reviews I have, I should technically stop eating outside and concentrate on clearing them out. But some places are just too good to miss and post a splendid experience, it’s impossible for me to not write about it. After seeing a post on Where Chennai Eats by a fellow reviewer about Va Pho, I wanted to try this place out. So when my friend planned a meet, I made this the spot.

Location

Va Pho is a Pan Asian restaurant located at Cathedral road below the Cathedral road flyover in the same building as Hot Breads, China Town, Don Pepe, Sera – The Tapas bar. The bright green exteriors are hard to miss despite them being inside a street. The street has restricted parking but fortunately they have valet parking service. There’s decent bike parking space too.

Ambience

The Oriental Group is known for their restaurants that range from very cheap ones to fine dining. They can very well be called as a chain that caters to almost everyone, thanks to the variety they offer in price range as well as cuisines. While they’ve got Asian food covered with restaurants such as Teppan, Benjarong, China Town and so on, they’ve maintained it as fine dining. I suppose that’s why they’ve made it a point to make this a more affordable eatery and this is shown in the decor they’ve gone with.

Va Pho has a chilled ambience with different coloured floor tiles and bright walls. They’ve shown differences in the furniture too as the ones in the middle of the floor have a more laid-back park bench style seating compared to the couches and cushioned chairs that line up next to the walls. They have the glass covered open kitchen on one side and the far end of the place has a wall stacked up with interesting items such as fish bowls, mugs and tees for sale, game sets, antique items such as old radio set, table fan and so on.

The walls are adorned with crazy snaps of weird describable things that are sure to put a smile on one’s face. There’s one which had a samurai escaping an atom bomb rain riding a T -Rex that’s fire spitting, nun-chuck wielding and hat wearing with a tv dish on its back. I’m clueless on where they got these ideas from but they’re innovative and super fun at the same time.

Drinks

We visited this place for Saturday (18th March 2017) lunch and then they weren’t officially open. I once again got there two days later for dinner. Hence this review would be a mix of both the experiences. As always, we tried a couple of dishes and here is how they turned out to be.

* Royale Madras: A mocktail made from Tender coconut juice, peaches, lemon juice and a hint of cinnamon. On my first visit, I didn’t prefer this drink but on my second visit, the chef made a batch specially for me and this one was actually good. Apparently a change in tender coconut vendor was all that was had to be done.

* Saigon Pho: The national soup of Vietnam. This made me wonder why India doesn’t have a national soup yet  Tried the beef variant. Subtle yet beautiful.

Food

STARTERS

* Green Papaya and Mango Salad: Never did I think I’ll fall in love with a salad. This is probably one of the best I’ve ever tried and I highly recommend this salad for those who go here. It was lip-smacking good.

* Ve Pho Mushrooms: Crispy fried and wok tossed mushrooms. Quite a decent dish.

* Kam Heong Squid: Tossed squid rings. Nailing squids to perfection isn’t an easy task but these guys make it look so easy. Crispy and yummy, love it.

* Phuket Beef Satay: This is another ‘yardstick’ dish. It was an OK-ish one but this was served with the awesome Green Papaya and Mango Salad, so can’t complain 

DIMSUMS

* Hargow: Shrimp dumplings is how I make up my mind on whether I like an Asian restaurant or not. Moist and filled with flavour, this dish was liked by all.

* Zucchini, Corn and Cream Cheese Dimsums: I guess we can say we got carried away with ordering as this dish wasn’t up to my satisfaction.

* Curried Beef Dimsums: Yet another lovely dish. Felt dry but the taste made up to it.

* Chilly Basil Chicken Dimsums: While this wasn’t as bad as the veg variant, this dish didn’t find a fan in me nor my friend.

BAO’S

* Crispy Spicy Fish Bao: Finding a good Bao in Chennai is quite a challenge. This one was just too good and yet another must-try here.

* BBQ Chicken Bao: Since I tried the fish variant on my first visit, the chef recommended this one. The BBQ Chicken Bao was more juicier thanks to the sauces and it was packed with flavours. But still my favourite would be the Crispy Fish.

MAINS

* Singaporean Char Kwaytiew: This was the only dish we tried from the mains section on our first visit as the starters filled us up well. I personally love mixed meat noodles and flat noodles. So when there’s a dish where I can have both together, I wasn’t going to miss a chance. It was super-delicious.

* Spicy Malay Noodles: Yet another chef suggestion which ended up being yet another favourite. We opted for the seafood variant and it was lovely.

DESSERTS

* Burmese Falooda: This was a dish I ordered out of curiosity. It was just a simple falooda and there isn’t much to say/write about it.

* Sweetened Sticky Rice: Sticky rice with peaches stewed in orange syrup. Expected it to be made with palm sugar but it wasn’t. A disappointing dessert in short.

* Vapholicious: Liquid Nitrogen in desserts is the new trend and this dramatic one is a melody of ice cream scoops, dry fruits, nuts, wafers, biscuits and sauces. Order this only if you’re a group of four or more. We started playing Jenga as it took us so long to finish.

Service was satisfactory and the ambience looks fresh. Currently they’re awaiting for the lift to be fitted following which they’ll officially launch the restaurant. But they’re accepting walk-ins. They had a opening weekend offer because of which our bill was a meagre Rs. 1601. Overall, it was a lovely experience and that’s why I wanted to let the world know. Can’t wait to get back here once again.

Ratings Break-Up:-

Location:- 5/5
Parking:- 4.5/5
Food:- 4.5/5
Customer Service:- 4.5/5
Ambience:- 4.5/5
Price:- 4/5

Here are more snaps from my visit.

[fb_album id=”758930640949103″]

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Vijay and Vijay Sethupathi shoulder a mediocre film: Master Review

A flawed protagonist and a powerful antagonist have always proven to be successful tropes in the world of cinema. The hero, when being anything but perfect, makes way for a beautiful story arc as he convalesces and a strong villain makes the hero’s triumph at the end larger. Despite having both of these, Vijay’s Master feels far from a perfect flick thanks to succumbing to irregular pacing and a middling screenplay. Master follows the trials and tribulations of JD (Vijay), an alcoholic college professor whose valiant effort towards the student community plants a belief in his colleague Charu (Malavika Mohanan) that he would be able to do the same to the kids in a juvenile correction centre that needs… correction. Armed with a just kada, a classic four-wheeler, a Persian cat and a cool pair of sunglasses, JD embarks on a journey that will collide with that of Bhavani’s (Vijay Sethupathi). On paper, Master looks like a failproof star vehicle – the story of a ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Munna Bhai Dhaba, Sullurpet, Andhra Pradesh

  This time, we rode almost 100 kms to discover this hidden gem. Located at the ever busy NH16, Munna Bhai Dhaba is one of those places that dishes out some delicious food for you to cherish en route to your destination. Just that, this time it was our destination. After starting at 8:30PM from Chennai, we reached here around 10ish and by that time some items were unfortunately sold out. Out of 10, 6 of us were hardcore carnivores while the rest of them were Eggetarians. We opted for a couple of Chicken dishes which included Munna Bhai special chicken (a yummy starter with sauteed chicken and cashews) and a couple more Chicken dishes which are named after the states of our country. One such dish was the which had an egg base with piping hot Chicken curry on top which was the star of our dinner. A surprise show-stealer was the Onion Pakoda which looked bleh but tasted great. Rotis were so warm and fluffy that we finished 40 of them in no time. Egg Bhurji was apparently good too. Obv...
Post a Comment
Read more

Sowcarpet Food Walk

The primitive man wandered through forests in search of food to satiate his cravings and I suppose it’s the same primal instinct that makes the modern man wander through concrete forests searching for delicious quick bites in order to satisfy his hankering. This is the essence of a food walk and as far as Chennai is concerned, Sowcarpet is the Mecca for food walks. Sowcarpet is the most tried and tested place for these walks and thanks to a number of foodies who are seniors and predecessors in this topic, we were able to plan our trip perfectly and we executed it flawlessly.   The options of commuting: 1. Parking is a huge issue during weekdays but not a problem on a Sunday morning in the Sowcarpet area. You can drive your cars through those narrow streets and you would be able to find a sidestreet where you could park. Alternatively you could park near the Flower Bazaar police station and walk down too. Just be aware of the one way roads in the area. Mint Street is one way s...
Post a Comment
Read more