Eat
PhoTam.
Pho at 8 on Leeds. The wear is the love letter.
Location
What people get wrong
Pho is the headline. Regulars also order congee and bun mam. This is Leeds, not the Hopkins Hung Vuong room. Time Out and Westsider still fight the open time. We last walked this on 2026-09-20. Hours move with the week. Checking the shopfront keeps the night easy.
What is Pho Tam known for?
Pho Tam is known for a Leeds Street pho that starts at breakfast, in a corner shop that never pretended to be new.
You come off Footscray station and Hopkins is already doing the postcard. Nhu Lan. Hung Vuong at 128, the OG bowl, closed Wednesday, a white shirt is a dare. The market edge. You peel off. Leeds and Ryan. Shop 1 in the 7-9 stack. Elka Sushi is Shop 2, dry-aged fish, a different hunger. The glass is the architecture. Two windows, a corner, Leeds traffic, the live-fish neighbour if D&K still has tanks. Westsider, 1 April 2026, walked in on a room full of Vietnamese regulars and called that the reassurance you wanted. Outdoor tables if the day is warm enough to pretend this is a pavement somewhere else. Inside it is efficiency: plain wood, a menu that still bothers with pictures, Viet pop if the stereo is on. Consider the Sauce, October 2011, caught the window art that links maps of Australia and Vietnam with a bowl and chopsticks. You sit. You look at Leeds. That is the sitting.
The bowl is why the room exists, and it is not the whole menu. Time Out named beef and chicken broths on sweet spice, sliced or poached meats, herbs, aromatics. Then congee. Then bo la lot with nuoc mam cham. Then banh bot loc, banana-leaf tapioca dumplings stuffed with caramelised prawn and pork. Then bun mam, the anchovy noodle soup that is why people who only typed pho still leave changed. The Westsider ordered pho bo dac biet and got rare beef, balls, tendon and tripe in a bowl they priced at $17. The Last Appetite, a local blog, liked that special and warned the broth can swing from sweet and thin to dense depending on the day. That is a sitting, not a brochure.
You came because 8am is a real clock here. Hung Vuong on Hopkins opens at 9 and sleeps Wednesday. This door does Wednesday. Rudimentary is the laptop pause after if you needed a keyboard. The market is around the corner and locked Sunday and Monday. You can still eat pho on those days. That is the Leeds argument, not a street quiz. Phone (03) 9687 2680. Vietnamese and English both work at the table.
What should you order at Pho Tam?
You should order pho bo dac biet if you came for the loaded bowl, then taste the broth before you empty the chilli.
The bowl arrives and the table is already clutter: lime, bird's eye, hoisin, chilli sauce, vinegar, soy. The Westsider's tip is the whole method. Sip first. Then basil and bean shoots. Then chilli oil if the stock can take it. Chicken if that is your house default. Footscray Food Blog, 8 October 2010, called the sliced-beef pho phenomenal, star anise shouting, wafer-thin meat cooking in the heat, and still sent you to Hung Vuong if you wanted louder meat. Dip the slice. Do not drown the pot. You came to this window to watch Leeds while the steam does its work. That is the job. Do not perform toughness for a bird's eye that will still be there in two minutes.
If you already had Hopkins pho this week, stop ordering the same soup as a personality. Bun mam if you can handle anchovy. Congee if it is morning and you wanted something that sits. Bo la lot if you wanted grilled betel-leaf beef. Banh bot loc if you wanted the dumpling Time Out bothers to keep in the copy. The Last Appetite also trusted bun rieu, and treated iced coffee as the metronome even when the broth wobbled. Footscray Food Blog made a whole sitting out of that drip: a glass of ice, condensed milk, a phin perched on top. You wait. You stir. You pour. January 2010 they were already selling bun chao tom, prawn paste still on the sugarcane. Consider the Sauce ordered goat curry with two rolls and no dessert. Spring rolls if kids are at the table. Aggregator notes keep mentioning a calmer family room with those windows. Believe the windows. Do not recite a score to the person holding the ladle.
Hours, payment and queues at Pho Tam
Quoted hours: daily 8am to 9pm. Time Out's restaurant page, 23 September 2019, prints that window. Call (03) 9687 2680. Last checked 2026-09-20.
Walk-in. Market days fill Leeds. Expect a wait at lunch, not a booking link. Cards are worth trying. Cash is still wise on this block. Complimentary tea shows up in older reviews. Do not build a night around that courtesy.
Eight in the morning is a real sitting. That is why you peeled off Hopkins. Hung Vuong opens at 9 and sleeps Wednesday. If you wanted breakfast pho, this is the Leeds job. Directories still fight the open time. We put that fight in the hours note. The glass wins if a group is coming.
How do you get to Pho Tam in Footscray?
You get to Pho Tam by walking from Footscray station toward the market, then peeling onto Leeds instead of staying on Hopkins.
You are looking for a corner shop with windows, not a mall unit. Leeds and Ryan. Shop 1, 7-9. Elka is Shop 2 in the same stack. Kariton Sorbetes at 50 Leeds is the gelato if the bowl was not the last job. D&K Live Seafood is across, tanks if you wanted fish to take home. Rudimentary is the container cafe if you needed a keyboard after. Tram 82 and the station buses dump you on the same block. You do not need a car for this broth. You need to read a corner.
Market days clog the kerb. Irving deck or Albert Street plaza if you drove. Do not hunt this kitchen on Hopkins. Hung Vuong already lives there at 128. After dark, leave via Hopkins or Barkly rather than treating the mall as a shortcut. Pho Tam can run to 9pm. The walk home is still a street choice.
What do people mix up about Pho Tam?
They treat this door as Hung Vuong on Hopkins, then review the wrong street.
- Shop 1, 7-9 Leeds Street, Footscray VIC 3011 only. Phone (03) 9687 2680.
- Daily from about 8am on Time Out. Hung Vuong is 128 Hopkins, from 9am, closed Wednesday.
- Congee, bo la lot, banh bot loc and bun mam sit behind the pho.
- Broth can vary by day. Taste before you empty the chilli.
- Elka at Shop 2 is sushi. Kariton at 50 Leeds is gelato. Rudimentary is coffee, not a second pho.
Questions people ask next
- Is Pho Tam the same as Pho Hung Vuong Saigon?
- No. Pho Tam is Shop 1, 7-9 Leeds Street. Pho Hung Vuong Saigon is 128 Hopkins Street, closed Wednesday, from about 9am. Same suburb, different street, different clock.
- What are Pho Tam hours?
- Daily 8am-9pm on Time Out's restaurant page. Westsider walked 8:30am weekdays and 9:30am Sunday. A Time Out list still says 9:30am. Glance at the glass. Call (03) 9687 2680. Last checked 2026-09-20.
- What should I order if I already had pho this week?
- Bun mam if you can handle anchovy soup. Congee for breakfast. Bo la lot and banh bot loc if you wanted the dishes Time Out names past the pho. Iced coffee if you wanted the drip the blogs keep trusting.
- How do I get to Pho Tam from the station?
- Walk toward the market, then Leeds rather than staying on Hopkins. Corner of Leeds and Ryan, big windows. Irving deck if you drove on a market day.
Where we checked
More in Eat
Elka Sushi
Dry-aged fish in the Leeds glass. Boxes to go.
Shop 2, 7-9 Leeds Street, Footscray VIC 3011
D&K Live Seafood
Leeds tanks. Oysters at the glass. Open Sunday.
Shop 2, 28A Leeds Street, Footscray VIC 3011
Kariton Sorbetes
Ube on Leeds. Scoop it before the line.
50 Leeds Street, Footscray VIC 3011