Pho Market, Festival Mall Alabang

After getting ourselves tired looking for that famous American burger restaurant in Alabang, we ended up having a Vietnamese dinner. I don't blame Google for not being so up to date but this isn't the first time. We now learned that we should not rely on the internet that much for a company location most especially here in the Philippines. By the way, we are looking for Carl's Jr; and Google said there is one at Festival Mall, but there's none. Oh well, too bad.

Though disappointed, the good thing was, we were able to have some Vietnamese dishes again. 'Twas already five months since the last we had at Mjcas Bistro. There's also a local restaurant five minutes drive away from home that caters Pho but it is not like the authentic one.



We were happy we found Pho Market, a family-style restaurant intwined with Mongolian Quick-Box, which obviously serves Mongolian cuisine.



GJ is a lover of Vietnamese food. He always tells me how distinctive Viet dishes taste like compared to other cuisines in Asia. But every country has its finest, and we do not close our doors in trying out different pieces of stuff, even if it is out of this world.



At the time of our visit, Pho Market is giving a discount for all their pho dishes. And it was 20% off on any noodle soup. So GJ got me a bowl of beef noodle soup with beef balls (Php218/regular price).

Compared to what I had before at Pho'Hoa Noodle Soup in Mall of Asia two years ago, it is still very clear in my mind how the first sip of that soup tastes like. And from that, I have this certain memory on my buds that I fell in love with. Sadly, I can't find it with Pho Market's bowl.



Next one is this serving of steamed bánh cuốn (Php92 for 3 rolls), a light dish with pork and mushroom filling topped with fried onion which is traditionally eaten as breakfast in Vietnam but can also be a late night snack.

We also had the deep fried form which is called Chả giò / Nem rán (Php85 for 2 rolls). I feel pity for myself since I cannot have even a bite of these rolls. If it happened that I was born as a Vietnamese, I might feel depressed for having a shrimp allergy.



Vietnamese cuisine was influenced by the French during their colonial times. Needless to say, Pho is a combination of Vietnamese rice noodles (in Pho) and French meat broths pot-au-feu (/ˌpôdōˈfə/), how close these words are if you'll come to think of it. That is the reason why they have their own version of crepe or Bánh Xèo (Php178) too. But instead of chocolate with banana or other berries as its filling, the Vietnamese crepe has shrimp, pork and sprouts inside.



Though I wasn't able to try half of the food, I am as satisfied as to how GJ liked what we had. Staffs are acquanted with serving their customers well and the place is just fine to have a family dinner.

Pho Market
Food Court, Ground Floor, Festival Mall, Filinvest City, Muntinlupa City
Hours: 10:00 AM - 9:00 PM
https://www.facebook.com/mongolianquickboxphomarket/