The Grove Pho & Bun in Tunbridge Wells does exactly what it says in the name. It’s on Grove Hill Road, and they do Pho and Buns.

This Vietnamese-inspired restaurant comes from the creators of the nearby Kitsu, a Japanese sushi and noodle bar.

Pho & Bun reopened towards the end of May 2021 for sit-down dining. They also offer a takeaway service, which by the looks of it is pretty busy – there were drivers popping in and out while we were there.

The restaurant is small and simple with a lovely welcoming feel and friendly staff. Being new to Vietnamese food, we welcomed the offer from the server when she asked if we’d eaten there before and if we needed any help with the menu. Educating your guests is difficult to get right, but I felt this was positioned with such sincerity and it was welcome on our part.

The menu is in several sections:

• Pho – bowls of Vietname noodle soup, made with stock, rice noodles, spices and slices of meat and/or vegetable.
• Buns – a selection of filled bao buns. Soft bread buns filled with shredded or sliced meat or vegetables, with fresh salad and raw vegetables and sweet, spicy sauces.
• Rolls – spring and summer rolls with a choice of different meat and vegetable fillings and served with dipping sauce.
• They also have a selection of Vermicelli and salad bowls and a few other traditional dishes.

We wanted to try lots of the dishes, so we decided to order some buns first with a view to ordering some more dishes as we went along. This worked well for us, we got to try lots of the menu as the four of us picked different things.

First up, we order a different bao bun each. I chose the hoisin duck one. The bao buns were so soft and pillowy, but not sticky or chewy like some others I’ve had (I’m looking at you, Yo! Sushi). The shredded duck was tender and the hoisin sweet, which balanced so well against the freshness of the salad with crisp gem lettuce.

Next up I shared the spring rolls with my daughter. Again, these tasted so fresh and light – a world away from the heavy, stodgy pastry that I’ve had before. My husband ordered the banh cuon. This was a mixture of minced pork, with mushrooms, onions and beansprouts, served with Vietnamese ham, herbs, and their nuoc cham dipping sauce.

As a third hit, another couple of buns and the summer rolls to share. I can’t get enough of the summer rolls and I’m going to have a go at recreating them at home. The rice paper rolls are filled with crisp lettuce, shredded raw carrot, cold rice noodles and either vegetables or prawns and pork. We went for the prawn and pork ones, they are just so fresh and fragrant with a hefty whack of coriander and mint.

To drink we had Hanoi beer, a Vietnamese malty beer, followed by drip coffee served with – wait for it – condensed milk! I know, I thought it would be too sweet too, but it was so good. It was actually a very light textured coffee from the filtration and the addition of condensed milk made the whole drink almost chocolately in smell. Good things come to those who wait – the drip coffee takes about 6 minutes to filter through, but it’s a good note to end the meal on.

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Sadly, we were too full to try any of the Pho dishes, so we’ll have to go back for another visit.

I’ve eaten Pho once before in a fusion restaurant in Paris, so I know it’s so filling but so good. I love the hot sour flavours. Next time, I’ll go back hungry and perhaps in the winter months when I’m in need of a brothy bowl of soup to warm me up!