Get ready for your mouth to start watering – a new Vietnamese restaurant is about to open in York.
Pho opens on Low Petergate on Monday 5 September.
YorkMix took a look inside today (Wednesday) and spoke with marketing manager Malachy O’Keeffe to find out more.
Let’s just say it looks pretty fantastic…
The first Pho restaurant opened in June 2005 by Stephen and Juliette Wall, after they travelled to Vietnam and fell in love with the food.
The York location will be the restaurant group’s 36th restaurant – with the closest one to York before now being at Trinity in Leeds.
The building on Low Petergate has been home to a number of restaurants over the years such as Strada, Wagyu Bar and Grill and most recently The Old House.
Inside the new Pho restaurant is a beautiful mix of the old and new – with the wooden beams and old floorboards against modern artwork and graffiti that represents Vietnam and the city of York.
The artwork around the restaurant are by graffiti artist Leimai Lemaow and cartoonist Julian Hanshaw.
“York is one of the most special cities in the north of the country – amazing history, amazing community within the city, and a huge student population and culture,” said Malachy.
“So really, it was a very natural place for us to want to open.
“It’s very early days but it’s looking very promising.”
The restaurant has had a successful soft launch this week before its official opening on Monday.
Pho has three main demographics that they serve to – locals, tourists and students. “We’re hoping to do something for everyone.”
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Pho serves up a variety of classic Vietnamese dishes such as summer rolls, curry, wok fried noodles – and of course the national dish the restaurant is named after.
“What makes us unique to a lot of other restaurants is all our food is freshly prepared in house,” said Malachy.
This means there are no central kitchens or microwaves on site, with all food prepared that day and cooked to order.
Menu highlights include crispy spring rolls (chả giò, from £6.50), chicken wings (cánh gà, £7.95), king prawn curry (cà-ri, £12.95), and beef brisket pho (phở chín, £10.75).
“We cook our soups and broths for 12 hours before they’re sent out to the customer.
“They’re delicious, extremely healthy, full of nutrients, and really good for you.”
The menu caters for something for everyone as 40% of the menu is vegan and 98% gluten free.
Drinks on offer include beer, cider, fresh veggie and fruit juices – as well as cocktails like signature cocktail Phojito (£7.95), and Vietnamese coffee (cà phê, £3.60) which is made with condensed milk.
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Malachy emphasised that Pho is “not just somewhere people come and grab their lunch.
“We try and be a part of the community wherever we are. That can range from supporting local charities, supporting people who are fundraising for their primary school, sponsoring children’s football kits – different ways that we try and display our affection for the community that we’re in.”
Pho has 114 internal covers, with an additional 40 covers in the patio garden and has created 25 full time roles.
The restaurant is currently still in the recruitment process of hiring people at all levels – vacancies are available here.
Pho will be open seven days a week, with a provisional opening time of 12-10pm every day.
For more information about Pho and to make a booking, please visit their website here.
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