Pho Sam Noodle House

You know a place is great when you have a ‘usual’. At Phở Sam, mine’s the Prawn Vermicelli — fresh and light with plenty of king prawns stirfried in a rich and slightly spicy sauce. Crispy skin chicken with tomato rice, pork chop with rice noodles and raw beef phở are on high rotation for many of my friends. Or really, tomato rice with anything. Servings are bigger than your face with some like the Nasi Goreng just seem endless.
Just like any good Asian restaurant, the service is brusque but efficient. The owner is an unsmiling lady with a fierce bob. She may seem scary at first but deep down she’s a real softie, known to slide a free plate of spring rolls or a glass of red bean ice onto the tables of her regulars. Because in the end, it’s all about good food at good prices.

There is a rule of thumb with local Asian restaurants. The quality of the food is inversely proportionate to the friendliness of the staff. When I walked into Phở Sam and I was hit with a palpable wave of indifference, I knew it was winner winner crispy skin chicken with tomato rice dinner. Which was delicious. By the way.
Of course to accurately judge a Vietnamese restaurant I had to try the raw beef phở. It was very good. They must have read previous reviews because they now give you all the trimmings as standard. Well most of the trimmings. Owing to my gingerness I had to request chilli.
Bill got salty fish and chicken rice (oh so nice) and a chicken laksa (ok but there’s better nearby).
Phở Sam is a pretty casual affair. You’re there for the food not the atmosphere. Get in, eat, get out, repeat.
We did go back again tonight for takeaway. We got more of the same plus Sichuan Beef. My brother reckons that wasn’t very good. He’s a guts and he didn’t finish it.
The lemon chilli chicken wings are not bad.
Verdict: delicious Vietnamese but stick to the Vietnamese options on the menu.

Phở Sam has some great menu options.
awesome crispy skin chicken is one you’L need to try.
I come here for the Phở when IM in the area at lunch time. this is avery busy noodle house at lunch time.
the PHo is fairly good, will definately fill you up, however they are a bit light on with the beef/​meat they put in.
This venue seems a little bit disorganized as you will need to ask for things like fresh chilli, where as most good places will have an abundance of fresh chilli, chilli sauces etc.
Still, a fantastic feed to be had here and easy on the hip pocket.

It’s not easy to get a seat here after 6:30. Do you need to ask why? It’s awesome! Recommend the Salt & Pepper Prawn.

Great little Vietnamese restaurant in Epping. The rice paper rolls are very good. I always order these and/​or the spring roll with vermicelli salad ($ 8.50), minus the bean sprouts.

I was in the mood for something fresh and something that would fill me up. Vietnamese phở perfectly fits the bill for both of these requirements. Wandering around Epping I noticed that there were a few different options for lunch but none of them looked as good or as well liked by the locals than this place.
So to start off with I ordered the spring rolls and the crispy skin chicken with phở, and while slightly disappointed with the phở, I was really happy with the overall experience. The spring rolls were so fresh and crispy, and when wrapped in a piece of lettuce with a bit of mint… it is pure awesome.
Having ordered phở before I am used to getting a plate of bean sprouts, a sprig of mint, and a couple of slices of lemon as a must. To not get it here, and to have a very weak broth was a bit of a pity. While it was still fresh, and a great accompaniment to the crispy skin chicken, it could have been brilliant… and yet it was just ok…
Still… come here and check it out. If you are worried about having the same issues as I had, just ask when you order, and they will be able to sort you out.