Phoodle Cafe, St Leonards

When one thinks of hearty Vietnamese food, St Leonards hardly pops up as the destination of choice. Hence my scepticism when some colleagues suggested that the noodle soups at Phoodle were great. I’m happy to admit that my scepticism was not warranted though.

Phoodle serves a vast array of dishes from vermicelli noodle salads, to bread rolls (e.g. pork), rice paper rolls, and noodle soups.

The pho (get it, Phoodle???) is topnotch. There is a generous serving of beef and the broth is full of flavour. It tastes authentic, it tastes delicious, and I know plenty of places that serve much less tasty pho in the heartlands of Western Sydney.

The best dish that I have had at Phoodle though is the wonton noodle soup. The chicken-based broth is the right level of salty, and a bit on the sweet side. There is a good serving of the egg noodles, the bbq pork and the wontons. The wontons are solid with a pork and prawn based filling. There’s nothing more disappointing than biting into wontons that are overcooked and have soft soggy wrappers but thankfully Phoodle does it right with the wontons still chewy on the outside. The only thing I didn’t like about the dish is the use of lettuce, I would much rather have had broccoli or bok choy instead.

Overall, Phoodle is a good choice for the workers around St Leonards/Artarmon, bringing delicious noodle soups to the North Shore.