Lucky Pho (Marsiling Mall Hawker Centre)

Been going past Lucky Pho for quite a while especially when we are around Marsiling Mall Hawker Centre — the hawker centre has seen a few switch-ups around the tenancy of some stalls of the late. Lucky Pho is one of the newly-opened stalls that had found home within Marsiling Mall Hawker Centre recently — these folks do seem to have found a pretty strategic location to open their stall; located right beside them would be an outlet of Creative Coffee & Toast; this would be a Vietnamese coffee stall that serves up local Kopi & Teh alongside Vietnamese coffee, whilst they also do serve up Vietnamese Banh Mi and local Hainanese-style breakfast. Lucky Pho is located within a section that can be described as claustrophobic to some, though it should be not too difficult to find if one manages to spot the signboard with its logo being situated closer to the left of it — the signboard otherwise consists of illustrations of its various food items on its menu; this would include items like Pho and Banh Mi which is rather expected finds for Vietnamese establishments around the island, while other dishes offered included different variants of Vermicelli dishes, Beef Stew, Pork Noodles, Crab Noodles and Fresh Spring Rolls. Desserts available for the day are prominently stocked at the counter which one can easily pick up whilst making an order for a main at the stall.

Lucky Pho does not describe the elements that is included within their dishes but it can be observed from the Pho Special that the item does come with beef balls, beef slices and beef shin — all of which accompanied with a clear broth that also comes with a mix of herbs , onions and thin rice noodles. Digging into the bowl and going straight for the soup first, we did notice that the broth here is flavoursome but light-tasting; the same way that we would expect a good bowl of pho to be served — for those whom desire more flavour with their bowl of pho, Lucky Pho does provide chili, hoisin sauce and pepper at the self-service condiment and utensils bar at the counter which one can help themselves with. We also did feel that the flavours of the broth in the Pho Special did come off pretty clean — not particularly MSG-laden without a lingering thirstiness that comes after drinking the broth. One thing to note about the Pho Special here is how it does seem that the way it is being served here is tuned towards local palates — one rather evident thing would be the doneness of the beef elements which seems to suggest that they have been cooked before being added to the broth; whilst the beef slices does not come particularly gamey, it does feel a little overdone as such.

During the same visit, we had also found ourselves going for the Banh Mi Traditional. This was observed to be quite a well-stuffed Banh Mi that comes with margarine and pate being spread on the undersides of the baguette, whilst being an item that sees the usual of blanched greens, hoisin sauce, various types of ham, pork scratchings and a slab of pork chop that had been sliced into a few pieces — all that whilst being sandwiched in between the baguette. The Banh Mi Traditional at Lucky Pho is sized larger than the usual Banh Mi offerings that one can find being served up at other establishments, though we also did feel that the Banh Mi Traditional here also carries some cues where it could have been modified to suit the local taste buds. It is interesting to see how this does come spread with both margarine and pate that dials down the savoury notes of the pate. Interestingly, the Banh Mi Traditional at Lucky Pho also does not feature pickled radish and carrots; instead opting for carrots and leafy greens drizzled with Hoisin sauce that provides a savoury notes rather than a refreshing tang, all that whilst the inclusion of ham does provide for a good bite without making the sandwich feel overly salty. Another peculiar addition to the Banh Mi Traditional at Lucky Pho would also be the inclusion of the grilled pork chop, though the grilled pork chop isn’t exactly Lucky Pho’s forte — comes savoury, though with a flavour that is a little more one-dimensional with the glaze lacking a note of sweetness; the meat also being on the leaner side and does come across as a little bite dry though carries a good, meaty bite that one would likely not come across in other variants of Banh Mi Traditional elsewhere that typical only features ham.

Overall, Lucky Pho is a pretty interesting addition to Marsiling Mall Hawker Centre; there aren’t many outstanding stalls around this food centre though we are glad to have found other rather stellar stalls such as The Bakehouse and Arabica Kebab that provides patrons a slightly different variety of choices when dining at the food centre. It does seem that Lucky Pho does specialise in their Pho offerings a lot more than their Banh Mi per what we had experienced during our visit. Price point of their noodle / rice / Banh Mi offerings are also rather reasonable; the lowest priced item being at $4.90 would be the Chicken Pho, while the priciest items at $8.90 are the Spicy Beef Noodles and Beef Stew. We do note a pretty sizeable crowd ordering from them when visiting the establishment during weekday dinner service; a spot worth exploring for those residing in the area.