Proximity matters.

Its part of the reason Peter Parker fell for Mary Jane. Sure, she was smart, attractive and had glistening red hair. However, the fact that she was within hopping over the fence distance surely played a part in his undying love for the girl next door. It’s also why I’m positive I’d have fallen for any girl that lived next to me; unfortunately, the bulk of my neighbours have usually been closer to my grandparents’ age than mine. Not that I have anything against the elderly but most of them don’t understand my Batman references which is a bit of a turn off for me.

You know what I’ve always wanted more than a girl next door that I could start a fairytale romance with?

An awesome Vietnamese restaurant with premium pho that’s within walking distance.

Hello, Mint.

Have you ever met those people that have declared that they love or hate an entire nation’s cuisine due to one dish?

If not then hey, I’m Isaac and I love Vietnamese food because of pho. I fully expect for there to be a bowl of pho dac biet waiting for me when I’m finally inducted into the food equivalent of the Illuminati. The guy greeting me will be like ‘we’ve been waiting pho you a long time’ and we’ll both chuckle as he hands me some chopsticks and a soup spoon. I have tried other things but the bulk of my heart palpitations stem from my love of beef noodle soup.

I fully intended to try a nice little cross section of what Mint had to offer but you’ll understand why I didn’t soon enough.

Mint is located on the ever-thriving ever-hard to find parking Burwood road but is instantly noticeable due to its spanking new sign. It opened in May and I had been planning to pay it a visit for quite a while.

The interior is a nice mix of old school Vietnamese and modern chic. I didn’t take a photo but located behind some of the booths are rows upon rows of Asian conical hats aka rice paddy hats.

I was really thirsty so I asked the waiter for a drink recommendation and he said ‘I’ll hook you up’ in Chinese and in a noticeably less gangster way than I would have.

This drink was incredibly refreshing. It came out a little lukewarm for whatever reason and I imagine that it would taste incredible if it had been ice cold. The temperature didn’t stop it from tasting really good as it toed the line between sweet and sour. I gave my mother (yeah, I take my mother out for meals. What up?) a sip and she said that it was good but that she prefers her lemonade to be a bit on the sour side.

I hope you’re taking notes because there will be a trivia post on my mother’s culinary insights down the line.

Now, here’s why I didn’t even bother reading the menu past the first page:

This was the first item on the menu.

Mint Pho’s signature beef noodle soup with wagyu beef. Are you pho real?

How was I supposed to keep going through the menu when my destiny was sitting on the first page?

You know how that bowl looks absolutely enormous in the photo? That’s not a matter of perspective or some fancy photoshop trick; the bowl had to have been designed for NBA players or sumo wrestlers. I should have brought my swim trunks as taking a dip in rich pho broth probably would’ve been quite refreshing.

First thing I did was sample the broth. It was a tad on the salty side but I much prefer that over some of the bland concoctions I’ve tasted in the past. There were a tonne of noodles swimming in the bowl and more beef than I could’ve dreamed of.

Look, the wagyu beef was transcendent. I’ve never had better beef in my pho and I’ve had hundreds of bowls of pho. I immediately started fantasizing about putting this beef in Pho An Restaurant’s soup and my mother immediately had to throw a glass of water in my face to calm me down. The beef was so tender and not chewy whatsoever.

In hindsight, that one bowl probably would’ve been enough for me and my mother. We could’ve ordered a bunch of side dishes and offered a more extensive review. Instead, it just ended up with me sprawled across the seat with a stomach filled to the brim with wagyu beef.

Not a bad outcome.

Here’s the TL; DR for people that thought I’d be able to go an entire post without unphotunately unveiling some of my pho jokes:

– Isaac would pick good food over a good woman 10/10 times. This is probably why he’s single.

– Lemon & mint = another contender for best friends forever

– All pho joints in the world should start offering a wagyu beef option. We might even end wars if this happened. People would be so much happier.

Mint Vietnamese Pho & Cuisine, Burwood

226 Burwood Road

Opening Hours

Sunday – Thursday: 10:00am to 9:00pm

Friday – Saturday: 10:00am to 10:00pm

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