Pho Ham, Hope Street, reviewed

I don’t need to tell you how popular ramen is. It’s everywhere. You could fill an Olympic swimming pool with the kind of stuff that slips through most British cities every day, and Liverpool is no different.

But it’s not the be-all and end-all of the broth world, Vietnam’s comforting national soup dish pho has been making some serious Japanese favorites in recent years.

Today, there are even chains dedicated to Vietnamese food, which is always something of a litmus test for the popularity of the cuisine and the varying quality that comes with it. I’d argue that this means it’s more important than ever to try independents when they emerge.

Then onto Hope Street and down the stairs to the basement restaurant Pho Ham.

It can be difficult to make a room without windows bearable, inviting and even cozy. Something about the lack of natural light only works against you. But miraculously, at Pho Ham, the underground setting really adds to the place.

The rich decor and rich colors help a lot in this regard, the room is full of vivid and vibrant nods to Vietnamese cities and rural landscapes from all sides and does a good job of tricking you into thinking you’re not quite in the far north. in the West of England.

I ate at lunchtime, which had the usual mosaic of different groups of diners; a whole office lunch, an Aussie couple traveling in the UK, a group of students, two Vietnamese guys getting scratched, and of course, really, a journalist reviewing the place.

Since it was lunchtime, I had only one thing on my mind – a bowl of pho; that warming, everyday Swiss army knife that seems to cure most ailments. But Southeast Asian appetizers are some of the best in the world in my book, so I had to order at least one of them.

I decided on the Summer Rolls (£5.90 for four) which had several options (shrimp, grilled pork, chicken). I chose grilled pork, in my opinion the meat that can be made to taste the most interesting and that, due to its fattier nature, will hold its own with any seasoning.

It also handles well the make-up of a summer roll, that there is rice paper and lots of vegetables, all cold. This may be off-putting to some, but slightly warmed carrot and cucumber – when they should be crunchy – just taste a little weird. This is a bright and garden-fresh appetizer, thanks in large part to the mint leaves wrapped in rice paper, and a well-proportioned dish to get things going, especially between two. Alone that day I took the rest home.

Now for the Beef Pho (£10.90). What a soup these things are; a kind of alchemy goes into making what, for me, is the pinnacle of soups (sorry, ramen) alongside French onion. The beef bones simmer for several hours, releasing those sweet crumbly flavors that would take ten thesauruses to describe. Such is the complex knot of notes that arises when you give someone time. The beef was sliced ​​paper thin and without a chewy, rough piece in sight, which is not as easy as you might think. Pink at first, and slowly cooking more in the broth, it tasted like a happy, healthy cow to me. Otherwise what’s the point?

The noodles were flat, not too thick and there were plenty of them. Because even if you think beef, broth and veggies can be enough, why not add plenty of noodles to keep things interesting. The red onions and scallions, swirling together with big, serious-looking slivers of chili, added layers of flavor to the marine depths of the beef broth, all of which combined to make something I’d not only happily eat for lunch every day, but actively. search.

The idea that I had a starter, a bowl of pho the size of a Belfast sink and a pint of lager, all for £20, seems almost from another time, about ten years ago. Pho Ham has clearly made these prices what they are so that you can actually come and eat there regularly, which I highly recommend you do. It’s a straight up and down, low-key place that clearly puts the quality of the food above all else, but if you want a bit of decor, they’ve got that too.

What happened to ramen all those years ago is likely to happen to pho over time. But when the money men arrive and you’re charged £18 for beef and water, remember that it’s places like Pho Ham that kickstart your daily broth habit, and that places like this deserve all the care and attention your habit deserves. they put something as simple as a bowl of soup.

Pho Ham, 32 Hope St, L1 9BX