I convinced a close friend of mine to move our weekly lunch to a new location, not only was I hazy on the details like where it was exactly, but I had no idea where the best place to park was either.
Pho hub is a new a Vietnamese restaurant in the Belconnen area located across the mall on Benjamin Way near Remedy (by Lonsdale St Roasters). We both ended up parking in the Westfield mall and so did everyone else it seemed because it was nearly impossible to get a park Friday lunch time. 
Despite being very busy, we were seated straight away and given menus.
Fresh rice paper rolls with duck goi cuon vit served with hoisin sauce (x2 $7.00). My friend was keen to order the lemongrass chicken in a fresh paper roll but they had accidentally given us the duck version but we were too hungry to care. We both found it very underwhelming as it was packed with noodles and lettuce but only had tiny torn scraps of mint, I expected much more herbs than that. I don’t think these were worth ordering.
Hello, herbs? Anyone home?
Garlic chicken wings canh ga chien toi (x4 $6.00). I really really like chicken wings and so I ordered the these; they sounded really delicious in theory but what we ended up getting was really just pan-fried chicken wings which might have had a sprinkle of garlic powder (?). The accompanying soy sauce was pretty sweet and despite all the little chunks of garlic in the sauce, it didn’t taste very garlicky but it did make the chicken wing taste better than without it. I still prefer the pan friend chicken wings at Tu do.
Beef rice noodle soup (pho tai) sliced rare beef with rice noodle soup ($12.50 regular). One of us had to order the pho when the restaurant is called Pho hub! My friend ended up ordering this when I saw pork chops on the menu, I only tasted a spoonful of my friends pho and found the broth was very peppery and oily; not the best broth I’ve had at a restaurant (once you’ve tasted homemade you really cant’ go back) but the serve was a decent size.
Grilled pork chop with tomato rice (approx $12.50). I had high hopes for their pork chops being a Vietnamese restaurant. The pork chop itself, even in the thicker cut areas was very tender and moist although but not much flavour. The rice was okay, it was had a subtle tomato flavour that I doused in the fish sauce but I didn’t eat the cucumbers and tomatoes as they appeared to be cut a while ago and had a dry dehydrated look to them. I was a bit puzzled by the pickled vegetables but they were addictive despite being chilli hot.
My favourite pork chop it still from Can Tho (Michelle you must go!). 
It was exciting to eat somewhere new and different and while the busy patronage gave us high hopes, we won’t be rushing back to Pho hub again. We are still in search of a decent authentic Vietnamese restaurant in Canberra.
Venue: Pho Hub
Address: 39 Benjamin Way, Belconnen ACT 2617
Phone: 02 6251 0367
Opening hours: Lunch 10am – 3pm daily
Dinner Sunday – Wednesday 5pm – 10pm
Thursday – Saturday 5pm – 10:30pm
Do you have other items that you like to toast or other simple kitchen hacks that you would like to share?
Some people enjoying the lovely sun and some tasty bakery treats.
This is the beautiful cake that they had on display at the One Fine Day Wedding Night
Hmm what to choose?
Croissant ($3.00). This was a super buttery and flakey croissant not dry and bready like most bakeries. As Tim was eating it in front of me I was getting shards of pastry raining all over me and we both had to dust ourselves off before getting in the car.
Macaroons ($3.00 each). We were sceptical about their macarons because their sign is labelled macaroons… If you don’t know what it is, that can’t be a good start but despite our initial hesitancy we order one anyway. The texture was okay but I wouldn’t have guessed the flavour, it tasted slightly alcoholic from their rum soaked raisins and I would have guessed tiramisu or something.
Chicken and leek gourmet pie ($7.50). The pie filling was super thick and so when you bite into it nothing really leaked out which was handy. I’m more of a beef pie girl but I let TimmyC decide the pie flavour, it must mean that I have to go back to try their beef pie.
Choux pastry ($5 ish based on change?). A nice choux pastry filled with subtle sweet custard enrobed with a sticky hard toffee. It is clever that they put two together because one is never enough. 
Everything is made on site from their pastries to their chocolate and their elaborate wedding cakes.
Cherry Melon Pop freshly juiced watermelon and green apple popped sweet with Fee Brothers Cherry Bitters ($9.00). Goodgod have an interesting list of alcoholic mixed drinks in jugs with funny quirky names but the non-drinkers don’t miss out because they also do several non-alcoholic quenchers both in jug and single cup sizes. This tasted like watermelon juice with a cherry aftertaste that was borderline medicinal.
We get there insanely early but we are headed for Russell Peters later on at Olympic Park so we wanted somewhere close and fast. The place was quiet but that meant no lines and fast service. I looked at the menu and realised that I could easily eat everything if I didn’t squeeze in that
Mmmm baos!
Soft Shell crab watercress, chilli aioli and lemon vinaigrette ($7.50). We started off with the soft shell crab and in hindsight it was probably for the best as it was my least favourite. The flavours were nice but there was just a sad small piece of crab off to one side of the bun and I just didn’t think the filling to bun ratio was right.
Panko crumbed chicken breast lettuce, pickled radish, secret sauce, coriander and chilli aioli ($6.50). I had a bite of my friend’s panko chicken and it was temperature hot, crispy and the chilli aioli gives in a nice chilli kick; definitely worth ordering!
Slow braised pork belly pickled mustard greens, coriander, crushed peanut and kewpie mayo ($6.50). I had food envy while a friend was eating his bao; he enjoyed it so much that he ordered another and after he finished eating it, he had food regrets and probably didn’t need that extra bao.
Slow braised beef short rib kimchi, spring onion and sesame mayo ($6.50). It would be hard for me to choose a favourite between the crackling roast pork and the beef short rib, so I won’t. The meat in this one was probably had more flavour on its own and didn’t rely on the sauces and condiments. It was so tender and tasty *licks lips*.
I like how they have re-purposed old oyster sauce cans.
Dessert bao (yes you read that right)~
The baos here might seem expensive by Sydney standards but for these Canberrans they were a steal (our bao prices are $9 each). The baos themselves were all soft, smooth and pat-a-licious (Michelle and Eileen know what I’m talking about).
Venue: Goodgod bar (Belly Bao food)
TALES OF A CONFECTIONIST 