Pho Saigon Twickenham

Absolutely lovey authentic Vietnamese. Very friendly service even if you byb. More ppl need to come here! I’m bringing a mate a time haha.

BACKGROUND — I moved from Portland, OR (USA) where I was spoiled with delicious Vietnamese food. Having Chinese parents that both grew up in Vietnam meant they always infused a Vietnamese flair in their cooking — I know, I know — I’m a spoiled brat. All brattiness aside, I know authentic Vietnamese food and I also know imposters of this cuisine.
PRO — Literally right across from my office, this place looked promising from outside as my co-​worker and I saw that there were some customers eating their food (I’m the type to judge how many customers are present if I were to venture in without looking at Unilocal first). Menu was straightforward and «sounded» nice. They have £5.50 lunch specials every day.
CONS — Despite the restaurant name being «Phở Saigon», I opted for the Bun Bo Hue. The waiter seemed nice but he DIPPED HIS FINGERNAIL INTO MY SOUP BEFORE GIVING IT TO ME. Since I was starving, I let it slide. The presentation of what they call their «Bun Bo Hue» almost made me cry. Not only were there barely anything in terms of meat, toppings and general broth attributes, they used freaking rice VERMICILLI for noodles. Everyone who eats Bun Bo Hue knows the type of noodles you use in your different Vietnamese noodle soups matter because of they each soak up the soup differently (think of it like Italian pasta dishes). Bun Bo Hue noodles are rounded and semi thick, Phở noodles are flat noodles, etc. For this restaurant to call their food «authentic» was a big slap in the face. The traditional Bun Bo Hue broth which takes almost the whole day to make (due to extract the flavour from both pork and beef), was substituted in this restaurant with a cube of Chicken bouillon, half a cube of Beef bouillon, 1 teaspoon of sugar and hot sesame oil. NO THANK YOU. Oh — and the traditional accompaniments for Bun Bo Hue is a generous plate of bean sprouts, mint leaves, Vietnamese Basil, green jalapeño peppers, thinly sliced banana leaf and thinly sliced cabbage. Their version? Ha ha ha… a wedge of lemon (WTF?) and a few pieces of red chili.
POINTERS — Long thumb fingernail dipping into soup — gross. I understand bowls filled with hot soup can be tricky to grasp but clever Vietnamese restaurants have a plate under the soup bowl so the waiter’s hands never have to be around the bowl rim of the soup. My bowl of authentic «Bun Bo Hue» was £7.50. My co-​worker got their lunch special for £5.50 and it was beef stir fry with veggies over rice, she said it was average. I was so mad at my food but so hungry, I just hastily finished it, paid and left. Definitely will not be back!