Nottingham's food lovers have been buzzing ever since Vietnamese restaurant Pho announced it would be opening in the city.
That was back in 2020 just before the pandemic delayed its arrival by 18 months.
But finally the long wait is nearly over and steaming hot bowls of pho are on the horizon.
The doors will open at the site of the former National Videogame Arcade, in Carlton Street, Hockley, on Monday January 31 - with an outstanding feature set to whet your appetite.
A sizeable stock pot will be bubbling away in the corner, where chefs take the aromatic broth for the eponymous pho, the noodle soup that's the national dish of Vietnam.
Freshly cooked, healthy street food appears on the menu, with a significant choice for vegans and coeliacs since the noodles are created from rice flour making them gluten-free.
Spring and summer rolls, Vietnamese pancakes, pork and lemongrass meatballs and beef wrapped in betel leaves kick off the experience.
The star of the show at Pho (pronounced 'foe' when talking about the restaurant) is naturally pho, the dish which is pronounced 'fuh'.
The coriander-rich broth is made by slowly simmering bones for a good 12 hours to allow the flavours and aromas to develop. There's beef broth, chicken broth and a vegan-friendly version made with vegetables and herbs.
Classics come with beef brisket, steak, chicken, king prawns, tofu and mushrooms or if you're the adventurous type, opt for hot and spicy versions.
Specials include a super green bowl which lives up to its name, packed with morning glory (water spinach), beans, pak choi, lime and Thai basil or the works, which is a mix of prawns, chicken and steak.
Other mains are curry, with a rich coconut milk sauce, topped with peanuts, and healthy rice bowls with meat or tofu and veggies, accompanied by wok-fried Chinese leaf, radish, cucumber and pickles.
Wine, beer and cocktails with a Vietnamese twist are served plus authentic coffee, sweet with rich condensed milk. And unlike another Vietnamese restaurant in the city centre, customers will be served tap water.
The new restaurant has 100 covers, with a range of booths, high tables and stools, and standard tables overlooking the street.
The transformation has stripped back the interior to bare brick with a feature wall of a colourful mural while wicker lampshades hanging from the ceiling are a nod to the Vietnamese baskets used for fishing.
Nottingham makes it the 33rd restaurant for Pho, which remains a family-run business.
Founders Stephen and Juliette Wall opened the first in London in June 2005 after they travelled to Vietnam and fell in love with the food.
They made the decision to start a restaurant serving the rice noodle soup while sat on high stools, slurping pho bo, in Ho Chi Minh City.
It took a four-year search to find the ideal Nottingham location.
Stephen said: "I know the city well and we’ve been working with Box Property to try and find the right site for years. We saw this site a few years ago and were keen, so to finally get the opportunity to open here feels like fate and a long time in the making.
“We absolutely love the site and pitch. We’ve built it from scratch, with the walls, columns and other existing features at the centre of the design. It’s a wonderful building to open a restaurant in as the space almost designs itself.”
Malachy O’Keeffe, marketing manager, said: "We opened in Edinburgh last November and Lincoln in August last year so we are making a strong come back after Covid. It put a dent in our expansion plans.
Take a look around Pho in the gallery below:
"We were preparing to open here in summer 2020 and obviously that got halted rather quickly. We are glad to be here eventually.
"Hockley is where we always wanted to be in Nottingham in terms of the vibe and character of the neighbourhood."
It was let to Pho by Box Property following a four-year search to find the ideal location.
Ben Tebbutt co-founder and director of Box Property which led the four-year search for the perfect property, said: "They started their search in Hockley initially, then came close to taking a lease in the King Street/Queen Street area but that didn’t feel quite right.
“We’ve championed Hockley for a long time and it was always the preferred option. Owner Stephen Wall felt that Hockley was the only location for them.
"It was a complicated deal to put together, with lots of landlords works and a listed building in the mix, but what the team has done to transform it is fantastic. It’s another asset to Hockley and we can’t wait to get stuck into a steaming bowl of soup.”
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