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2021-11-16
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I had such high hopes for Golden Branch. My friend raved about it, saying it has the best beef balls he's ever had. Sadly, my friend has just never had a really good beef ball or a good bowl of pho, because this place is terrible. I'll start with the positives. The staff are friendly and efficient. I went for lunch, and there was no wait. I was seated right away and presented with a menu. And that's all the good things I have to say about this experience.I ordered the beef balls noodles and adde
I'll start with the positives. The staff are friendly and efficient. I went for lunch, and there was no wait. I was seated right away and presented with a menu. And that's all the good things I have to say about this experience.
I ordered the beef balls noodles and added extra flank steak, because I wanted a hearty bowl of pho. The total came to HK$172, which is the most expensive pho I have ever ordered in Hong Kong. I was hoping that the taste would justify the cost. I totally did not.
When the bowl of pho came, I could see right away that it wasn't right. The broth wasn't clear. It was brown, and while it smelled of spices like cinnamon and cloves, when I tasted a spoonful, I got no beef flavour at all. I just tasted fish sauce. This was basically fish sauce mixed in hot water and some spices.
Then I tried the beef balls that my friend raved about. They were good -- for a Hong Kong-style meatball. But this wasn't anything like the authentic Vietnamese beef balls, so I was sorely disappointed. The noodles were fine, but a bit on the soft side. It came with scallions and cilantro for garnish, with 2 mint leaves, bean sprouts and fresh chilli on the side. They could have been a little more generous with the mint.
The overall taste was just disappointing. No beefy flavour whatsoever and not enough meat to make me feel full. I wasn't sure what I was eating, but it certainly wasn't pho.
And for HK$172 per bowl, I felt that my wallet had been assaulted. This totally wasn't worth it. Even the pho at the posh Vietnamese restaurant Xuan -- which is actually delicious -- doesn't cost that much. They also made me pay before the food came. A strategy I'm sure they devised because other customers had come before and refused to pay for the awful food they just ate.
I would rank Golden Branch above Spring Field -- that disgrace of a "pho" restaurant in Wan Chai which shouldn't even be in business because they're so crap -- if only because the staff at Golden Branch are far more friendly, but I would say a package of instant pho noodles that you can buy at the Thai shop at any wet market and add hotpot beef slices to it tastes better than the pho here. Cost wise, Golden Branch and Spring Field are about the same. Taste wise, Golden Branch is maybe 0.01 points better, but that's really not saying much. They're both crap.
A colossal waste of money. I'm never coming again.
张贴