Steamy Pho
“An un-PHO-gettable experience.”
I love Vietnamese food. It’s one of my absolute favourite cuisines. Summer Rolls, Pho and dau hu kho sa ot will always mark the pinnacle of Asian food for me. A place by the name of Steamy Pho sounds rather suspicious, but one needs to try it before one denies it!
Steamy Pho is located right at Odinsplatsen, a rather quaint little area, close to the main roads for cars and Ullevi. So, it is kinda out of the direct path and you will likely only get here if you are dedicated to come to this area. For me, it took me around 4 years of living in the city before I started exploring this area as well.
In any case, the locale is clean and has a modern and minimal decor. The menu is rather small, but offers all you might want. Your typical things such as Summer Rolls, Spring Rolls and Pho can be found, but also, with watery eyes, I can see dau hu kho sa ot on the menu. It’s spicy lemongrass tofu with vegetables stir fried. My absolute favourite and so far no other Vietnamese place in Gothenburg has it. Big big plus!
After ordering, the food comes quite fast. Summer Rolls and Spring Rolls are on point. Freshly made, have good tofu in them and are served with a fantastic and balanced tamarind-peanut sauce. It is clear, the spring rolls are not some frozen bulk food, but freshly made in the restaurant.
The mains, Pho and dau hu kho sa ot come shortly after. The Pho is a rich soup full of vegetables and nice tofu. For my taste, the broth could use some more kick from spices, but it is still a very good base. In the end, it’s Pho. But where it really blew my mind is with the dau hu kho sa ot. Perfectly balanced mix of sambal, sweetness and lemongrass with vegetables and served with rice. Now this is what I call a stir fry. The tofu is pre-baked and then cut in pieces to be stir fried. Good structure, no overwhelming taste and it nicely adapts the sauce into it. That’s how it should be.
All of that comes at a very fair price tag of around 154 SEK for a main. In total you will spend around 250-300 SEK per person for starters, main and drinks. And you will leave just full enough that you are content, but want to come back soon thereafter for more. Steamy Pho is the right place to go for something authentic and not super heavy.
Price:
2x Summer rolls: 75 SEK
Pho: 154 SEK
Stir-fry: 154 SEK
The Verdict
Now this is a place for some proper Vietnamese food. Friendly staff, fast service and food that is on point. It really captures what makes Vietnamese cuisine so interesting and sets it apart from other South-East Asian countries. No weird Europeanised adaptations that could come from any other random place, but something unique is what you get. The best Vietnamese place in Gothenburg.
5/5 Leaves
Pro
Fantastic and authentic Vietnamese food
Loving atmosphere
Reasonable prices
Con
Opening hours rather limited
Located a little bit off and inconvenient
Location
Odinsplatsen 5
Opening Hours
Tu-Fr: 15:00 - 21:00
Sa: 13:00 - 21:00
Su-Mo: closed
