Cafe Mama Pho - London Surrey Quays

After the Ice Sculpting Festival and having eaten some cold and lukewarm food at Wahaca, Miss Pinky and I, plus Master H who joined us later in the evening went to a local Vietnamese restaurant in Surrey Quays. An Instagram follower suggested this place, and I thought, why not!!

Outside Cafe Mama Pho

Some of the pictures displayed

I've tried looking for blogposts about this place, but there's not much. Short history - it's been opened since 2009. The previous cafe there was called Cafe East, which has moved near to the Odeon cinema and run by a family member of Cafe Mama Pho.

Since I've have never eaten at a proper Vietnamese restaurant before, it was hard making a decision with what to eat, although I have wanted to try out Vietnamese rolls for a very long time!!

So here's our food, plus my drink (Miss Pinky and Master H had fizzy drinks and a Chinese tea... Not adventurous)...

Some garnishes for you to add to your food

Master H had the Com Suan, which is a lemon grass pork chop - it is sweet and glazed, this was served with rice and salad... He enjoyed it as he was hungry!

Com Suan

Miss Pinky had the Com Tam Cha Suon Bi. This consisted of the same pork chop, shredded pork and pork skin, Vietnamese meat pie served with rice and salad... Miss Pinky is quite a fussy eater. She didn't like the sweetness of the pork chop (which I liked because I tried some). And the meat pie? She didn't eat much of it, but I had the rest! It was good!! She said she would have preferred more soy sauce on her rice but there was none at the table for her to use (I did tell her to ask!).

Com Tam Cha Suon  Bi

Now for my food. I had the Che Sun Sa, which is a coconut cream milk with jelly and rice bits. It was like having a pina colada... but a non-alcoholic version of it. Thumbs up! (^_^)b

Che Sun Sa --> ^_^

Big strings / lumps of jelly

I then had the Bi Cuon which is a pork skin and pork meat roll. It was served cold with some chilli sauce, which I wasn't expecting. This is probably best served in the summer rather than in the winter! Master H liked these. Miss Pinky wasn't thrilled. I was ok with it. But I think I will try the hot Bahn Cuon (cheung fun) next time.

Bi Cuon

Sorry... I couldn't focus well...

Then the best food came out... Pho Chin... This had some well done beef served with pho (ho fun) in spicy soup (you can have non-spicy soup if you don't like spicy)... Wow! I loved the beef. It was so tender. The ho fun was nice, not tough and just right. And the soup was very good too! The soup wasn't as spicy as Korean spicy soups but spicy enough to keep you warm! I would definitely have this again!!!

Pho Chin

Pho Chin - Yummy!!!

Miss Pinky had two complaints afterwards:

1. They don't serve alcohol (I didn't mind), and

2. It was a sit, eat and then go type of place and you couldn't relax much (people were standing at the door, and it was soooo cold!)... We actually moved seats twice because the first time we sat next to the door and then the second time because there was a bigger group coming in... :(

I hope that one day they will expand the place, as the place is quite small for a busy place i.e. use the upstairs or basement to fit more people in. This place is really popular with the locals, and I'm sure people who are not from the area will go and visit this place too...

Total price came to £33.30 (incl. £2 service charge).

By the way, we were so full afterwards, it was very hard to walk back to Rotherhithe!

My geeky rating: 4.8/5

Good points:

- Speedy and friendly service

- Loved the pho and meat pie! I want more!

- I loved my drink too!!!

- Pricing wasn't too bad - similar to Chinese restaurants

Bad points:

- The place is a little cramped, but seating wise it was ok

- Felt a bit rushed eating as the waitress staff were coming and going

Address: 24 Evelyn Street, Deptford, London SE8 5DG (Directions: as you come out of Surrey Quays Overground, make sure you exit towards Lower Road. Walk down Lower Road... Keep walking pass the traffic lights. And once you see McDonald's it's a few more meters ahead...!)

Telephone: 0208 305 6649

Website: http://www.cafemamapho.co.uk/

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