Madame Pho - Various Locations
Madame Pho began in 2020 and I first went as a birthday treat with my dad. I was impressed by their knowledge of gluten free and how they were able to explain about cross contact possibilities and presented me with a hand written list of what was and wasn’t safe. It was a rustic experience but I enjoyed it and thankfully had no reaction afterwards. Since then Madame Pho has been revamped, bought over, and rapidly expanded but I saw no mention of whether they had increased the sophistication of their gluten free offerings from that handwritten list on an order slip so I watched and waited until I felt comfortable going back.
We decided to visit the new Dundonald branch shortly after it opened, the benefits of free parking and not having to venture into the city proved too tempting for my noodle craving brain. I was delighted when they said that they have a separate gluten free menu and slightly amused when they explained it. As you can see below the menu goes in to detail about which items will definitely be contaminated during cooking and which items aren’t cooked together. Coeliacs often complain about restaurants not labelling items that are cooked together or menus that can say something is gluten free but not coeliac safe. This menu does the opposite of that.
I’m honestly not sure if this was comforting or not but after deciphering which items were potentially coeliac safe (hint - not that many) I ordered the prawn summer rolls and beef pho. I can’t complain about my meal, the summer rolls were fresh and tasty, I loved the nuoc chom dipping sauce and even used the leftover sauce to add in to my soup. Pho is traditionally about customisations, the broth starts out very simple and you add the accompanying herbs, chillis, and sauces to personalise it to your tastes. I would have preferred slightly a slightly punchier broth and more herbs as I did feel as if they were sent out with the assumption that they wouldn’t get used (one spring of mint really isn’t going to do much) but as I mentioned earlier I added the nuoc chom which boosted the flavour to my liking. I can see myself going back when I have a specific craving for soup that I’m not in the mood to make myself but given that Vietnamese cuisine contains so many naturally gluten free options I really hope that one day the menu gets extended and that the contaminated fried items (sorry vegetarian coeliacs, there’s nothing for you here) can be found a separate fryer to make them safe.
Where is it? Various Locations around Belfast, Glengormley, Lisburn, Dundonald.
Menu: Allergy menu available online at https://www.madamepho.co.uk/menu
Risk: Low-medium – deep fried items are not coeliac safe
Website: www.madamepho.co.uk
Find out more about us here. Find more gluten free belfast options at the Coeliac Belfast Instagram.
All information is researched through websites, social media and via personal experiences. This is information is correct to the best of our knowledge. Please get in touch if you have any further information or concerns and always check when ordering as processes can change without notice.
