Pho St Paul’s is the company’s 12th restaurant and the 10th in London. Located at One New Change, it can seat about 110 diners, with additional covers on the terrace.
Offering its signature dish of pho noodle soups, the menu also features other Vietnamese street foods such as crispy spring rolls, fresh summer rolls, and baby squid & salt, pepper, chilli lime dip; as well as salads, bun noodles, stir fries and Vietnamese curries.
Vietnamese beers, coffees, fresh juices and cocktails made with Vietnamese spirits (such as Phojitos and Sriracha Bloody Marys) form the drinks menu.
The St Paul’s venue features a Pho To Go counter and an authentic Vietnamese street food cart that will start serving Banh Mi baguettes from 13 October.
London locations
The group, founded by Stephen and Juliette Wall in 2005, aims to double its portfolio within the next two to three years, with a target of 25 sites.
Pho has just secured two more sites in London: Bedford Hill in Balham will have about 75 covers and is scheduled to open next month; while a 50-cover Covent Garden restaurant should open in early 2015.
The group already opened in Chiswick and Battersea earlier this year.
UK expansion
Expansion will not stop in London. The group currently has a site in Brighton and another one in Leeds, and will open at the new Grand Central Station in Birmingham in September 2015.
“In moving out into the regions Grand Central Birmingham was the ideal location for us – a visionary design and great central location, plus the vibrancy of the view over the busiest rail concourse outside London all makes a great setting,” Stephen Wall told BigHospitality at the end of last year.
Pho received financial backing from Isis Equity Partners in 2012 and subsequently appointed a head of property and a head of marketing, making its expansion plans clear.