Abbotsford’s eastern edge runs into the Victoria Street Vietnamese strip, which means the suburb has access to some of Melbourne’s deepest pho and Vietnamese soup culture without the slightly more polished prices of Richmond or Fitzroy. The ramen options are smaller in number but include some of the better Japanese kitchens in the inner east. Here’s the cold-weather guide.
Pho — The Victoria Street Tradition
The pho along Victoria Street between Hoddle Street and Church Street is the broader Melbourne pho heartland. Pho prices here run $14–$18 for a large bowl with brisket and rare beef. The character of each shop varies — some are family-run with the same broth recipe for 30 years, others are newer and slightly more refined.
What to order on a cold day:
- Pho tai chin — rare beef and brisket combination
- Pho bo vien — meatball pho, deeper-flavoured broth
- Bun bo Hue — spicy Hue-style soup with lemongrass and chilli oil, the warming option
- Hu tieu nam vang — clear pork-and-prawn soup, lighter than pho
Most Victoria Street pho shops are open through lunch into mid-evening (around 9pm closing). The busiest hours are 12–2pm and 6–8pm; mid-afternoon is the time to walk in without a wait.
Ramen Options
Abbotsford has fewer dedicated ramen joints than the Carlton/CBD axis, but Richmond and the Bridge Road end of Abbotsford have a small group of Japanese kitchens that run ramen on their menus. Tonkotsu, shoyu, and miso are the standard options across most.
For the best ramen in cold weather:
- Tonkotsu — pork-bone broth, fattiest and warmest, around $19–$23
- Spicy miso — heat plus richness, the cold-day default
- Tsukemen — dipping noodles served with a separate broth, less traditional but excellent on a freezing day
The smaller Japanese restaurants in Abbotsford also typically run a noodle soup or udon section if ramen isn’t on the menu — udon with hot broth is an underrated cold-weather option.
Vietnamese-Other Soups
Beyond pho, Victoria Street and the eastern end of Abbotsford have:
- Bun rieu — tomato and crab paste soup, less common but worth seeking out
- Bun mam — fermented fish noodle soup, southern Vietnamese, an acquired taste but warming
- Mi vit tiem — duck noodle soup with Chinese herbs, available at a couple of the larger Victoria Street kitchens
These are the dishes that mark out the experienced Victoria Street eaters from the casual visitors. If you’ve done pho a hundred times, switching to one of these for a winter lunch is worth it.
Korean and Other Asian Soups
Bridge Road and Hoddle Street have a few Korean and pan-Asian kitchens running:
- Sundubu jjigae — soft tofu stew, spicy, served bubbling
- Kimchi jjigae — kimchi stew, deeply warming
- Tom yum — Thai hot-and-sour, available at most Thai restaurants in the area
Worth keeping in rotation rather than defaulting to the same pho shop every cold week.
What to Do With a Wet Day
The trick with Victoria Street and Abbotsford soup eating in winter is to combine it with another indoor activity. Most pho lunches take 30–45 minutes; pair it with the Abbotsford Convent (a 10-minute walk away), a cinema run at Cinema Nova in Carlton (15 minutes by tram), or a State Library afternoon (20 minutes by 109 tram).
What This Means for You
For the deepest pho selection on a cold day, walk Victoria Street between Hoddle and Church streets and pick whichever shop has the most locals at midday — the queue is the signal. For ramen, the smaller Japanese kitchens around Bridge Road and the Abbotsford-Richmond border do better than the chain operators. For something different, try one of the less-common Vietnamese soups (bun bo Hue, mi vit tiem) — the warming effect on a 9°C day is much stronger than standard pho.
For more, see winter pubs in Abbotsford and cafes and bars with fireplaces in Abbotsford.
Jack Carver writes about Melbourne’s inner suburbs for MELBZ.
