Sometimes Sundays just have to be: PHO days!
After drinks on a Saturday night, there’s nothing like a steaming hot bowl of pho to make you feel better.
Usually I drag my lazy self to my neighbourhood pho – which is mediocre, but there are times when proximity trumps all. This week, however, my friend Claire and I decided we needed to step up our pho game.
After a quick cab drive to Wan Chai, we arrived at Locomotive Café and immediately ordered 2x raw and cooked beef bowls of pho. It was an odd time for a meal – around 3:30pm – so we were relieved to see that it was still open, and blissfully quiet and empty inside as we were the only patrons.
Locomotive has a charming back-story of how the scent of an old man’s pho broth caught the attention of commuters at a Saigon train station, and how he became a popular vendor afterwards.
Quaint decor details, like luggage storage and clocks on the wall with times of different cities are a nice complement to the story – but the most charming of all is the pho itself!
When it comes to pho, the make or break is the broth. And, with a rich, sweet-salty aroma of spices – cinnamon and star anise shining through – the broth was a winner!
Unlike my stingy neighbourhood pho (which, by the way costs the same price!!), Locomotive‘s pho has all the goodies a good pho deserves to have: sliced onion, chives, coriander, fried shallots, as well as lime, bean sprouts and chilli offered on the side. Meanwhile, the beef cuts are wonderfully thin, tender and with just the right amount of fat. 
Some pho soups are too salty and heavy, but Locomotive‘s was the perfect balance to keep both Claire and I sipping away until there was nothing left…
Bakker x
BAKKER'S BITES 