Sustainable Eating PHO

So…I approached PHO first and what a strong start they had. With over a quarter of their menu being vegan, I was very keen to see how easy it was for them to cater for both gluten free and vegan. And wow was it easy?! Firstly, there are only 3 items on the menu that I cannot eat and this is because there is a REMOVABLE spring roll included. So easy peasy just ask them to not include this and you have a gluten free menu!

So what did I have to eat with all this choice?!

For starters, we shared (yes shared, he didn’t get away with something better than me starter wise this time! There was enough choice for gluten free/vegan for both of us!)

“GỎI CUỐN

Fresh rice paper summer rolls with herbs, vermicelli & pickle. ”

and

“CUỐN DIEP CHAY

spicy salad rolls with enoki, chilli & herbs (carb free)”

We selected both these options as vegan as you can opt in for a chicken or prawn version too. They were delicious and I am absolutely in love with dipping it in the peanut sauce! Incredibly filling and tasty yet so healthy feeling on your stomach!

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For mains I had….

“PHỞ NẤM RƠM

Enoki, shiitake & button mushrooms in veggie broth”

OMG it was like a hug in a bowl. This is the traditional Vietnamese national dish served with a side plate of fresh herbs, as pictured above. These you can add to your taste, spicing it up with a bit of chilli or adding a bit of thai basil or coriander. LUSH and perfectly explained to us by the happy and friendly staff. I made sure I chose the veggie broth too and the mushrooms complimented this perfectly. I was absolutely stuffed by the end of it! Deceivingly filling! I loved the light texture of the rice noodles which didn’t lay heavy on your stomach.

My partner, Alex had:

“BUN TOFU & MUSHROOM

Vermicelli rice noodles with a lemongrass and chilli wok-fried topping, served with tofu & mushroom”

Watch out! This is served with a spring roll so remember to ask for this gluten free! He absolutely loved it and was full to the brim! To quote him, “we are definitely coming here for my birthday meal.” His birthday is in September, he is already prepping! His favourite was the mushrooms and loved the tofu too, again commenting on how it didn’t lay heavy in his stomach.

Too stuffed for pudding we left happy, satisfied and in the knowledge that gluten free and vegan is so simple at PHO!

Some questions for PHO:

1. As a business what do you do to protect the environment?

“Wherever possible, we encourage our staff & customers to reduce their use of plastic and lead healthy lifestyles which will benefit both them and the environment. In 2018, we got rid of plastic straws in our restaurants, and these have now been replaced with recyclable paper ones, and we stopped using plastic water bottles for staff water (everyone now has a reusable ‘Pho water bottle’. We are constantly looking at ways we can reduce use of plastic in future. Also, our menu is over a quarter vegan, and we are always doing our best to encourage people to try it, and reach new audiences to encourage people to try a plant based meal.”

2. Why is that important to you as a business?

“The environment is important to us because it’s important to everyone – as a business we have to try and do whatever we can to support endeavours that help the environment and help build sustainability for future generations.”