PhoSOUL is a Vietnamese restaurant at 86V Bush Rd in Albany, on Auckland's North Shore, holding a 4.9 Google rating from 34 reviews. Diners single out the wok-tossed rare beef pho with dough stick, along with the banh mi and salted coffee, and describe the room as spacious and airy.
With pho, everything rests on the broth: a good one simmers beef bones for hours with star anise, cinnamon and charred ginger, emerging clear but deeply savoury. Rare beef is sliced paper-thin and cooks in the hot broth at the table, so eat it while it's still pink. Dough sticks (quẩy) are made for dunking, and the herb plate of bean sprouts, basil, lime and chilli is there to be used, not ignored. Salted coffee, a frothy Vietnamese specialty, is worth ordering wherever it appears.
For a rich, Hanoi-style bowl in Albany, PhoSOUL is well worth the stop.