Is pho good for hangovers? “Yes,” answers Midawell Phal, co-owner of Twenty Pho Seven.

“It’s warm, it’s comforting, it’s substantial – it’s a great remedy when you’ve had too much to drink.”

If you feel like a bowl of the stuff before you hit the bed in the early hours, Phal’s new 24 hours a day, seven days a week Vietnamese restaurant is waiting.

Phal opened Twenty Pho Seven with longtime friends and business partners Thai Ho and George Do, who also run Liverpool Street’s Hochi Mama. “Thai and I came from a nightclub scene,” Phal says. “And during those late nights I said to him ‘there really needs to be a 24-hour pho joint in the city.’”

They have brought a little of their nightclub days into Twenty Pho Seven, where old and new school RnB blends with the sound of diners slurping noodles. Twenty Pho Seven’s food is more traditional than Hochi Mama’s, with pho and classic Vietnamese entrees the focus.

The pho, with broth boiled for about 10 hours, takes the Ho Chi Minh style approach: “A little cloudier than northern Vietnamese pho which gives it more flavour.” Options include beef brisket, beef tendon, beef balls, beef tripe, sliced beef, chicken breast or combination chicken (with giblets) and a tofu pho.

The menu also includes banh mi, spring rolls, skewers and salads.

Alongside cocktails, diners will find bubblecups, in both alcoholic and non-alcoholic form.

“We infused the bubbles in alcohol, usually vodka, to give it that extra kick,” says Phal.

Twenty Pho Seven
138 Russell Street, Melbourne 
(03) 9564 2024

Hours:
24 hours, everyday

Image credit: Jake Roden.