Good Days Collingwood

Nam Nguyen was raised in Australia by Vietnamese parents and didn’t cook pho growing up. But after an overseas trip to Vietnam and Japan, he returned with a newfound drive to learn and spent a year trialling recipes.

In 2016 he opened the original Good Days in Brunswick and set a new standard for pho in Melbourne. His three takes – beef, chicken and a vegan, mushroom-based number – incorporate certain ramen techniques that extract maximum flavour. Plus, he uses top-quality produce like Black Angus beef and free-range Hazeldenes chicken.

This Collingwood outpost opened in 2025 and replicates the compact, laser-focussed format of the original almost exactly. There’s creative highball cocktails; nitro iced tea and Asian lagers on tap; and a tiny wine list that heroes fun, emerging winemakers.

While the pho is the star, many regulars are equally obsessed with the com tam (broken rice) with chicken or tofu. Other options include various bún salads and snacks like fried chicken wings and vegan rice paper rolls.