Pho is the quintessential must-try dish in Vietnam, especially in Hanoi - where you can find the original taste of this food. Hanoians often eat Pho for the breakfast, but no matter the time of day, you will find restaurants and street vendors serving the dish and many a contented soul crouching over a bowl and slurping the soup. You can find Pho restaurants anywhere in Hanoi, but for your best experience, we suggest Hanoians' list for you to try this dish.
Let’s just say you don’t want to miss this aromatic soup, filled with slices of beef, rice noodles and a plateful of fresh herbs.
Where to Have it
1. Pho Gia Truyen
Address: 49 Bát Đàn, Hanoi.
Hours: Everyday from 6:00 am to 10:30 am and 6:00 pm to 8:30 pm.
Prices: About 40,000 VND to 50,000 VND per person, approximately $1.7 USD to $2.15 USD.
This old restaurant is located in the old quarter. Do not be discouraged by the little stools and basic tables, this is the best pho joint in all of Hanoi and has been there since the ’60s, saving the same, consistent recipe that has remained unchanged since. You can tell you’ve arrived at the right spot when you see half of Hanoi queuing outside to get a hot bowl of Pho, and, when tablespace runs out, people willing to stand to eat . The only thing on the menu is beef rice noodles, and the broth here is clear and rich with a subtle blend of many flavours. The beef is the right amount of tender and soft with a glowing pink hue, and no matter how many times you ask what their secret to the best bowl of pho is, they will not tell you!
2. Pho Thìn
Address 1: 13 Lo Duc, Hanoi.
Hours: Every day from 6:00 am to 9:30 pm
Address 2: 61 Dinh Tien Hoang, Hanoi (near Ho Guom Lake) (called Pho Thin Bo Ho)
Hours: Every day from 6:30 am to 1:00 pm, and 5pm to 10:30pm
Prices: About 60,000 VND per person, approximately $2.6 USD.
Pho Thin Bo Ho, Pho Thin Lo Duc & Pho Thin Tokyo, Source: internet
If the Pho Thin Bo Ho is an old bowl, lying in an ancient corner of Hanoi, Pho Thin Lo Duc with the selling of hundreds of bowls every day has been "exported" to Japan and South Korea. Along with the name of Pho Thin, but both are not related to each other, coexist, develop to create their own culinary features for Ha Thanh land.
Pho Thin Lo Duc: The shop has only one dish, the price is nearly twice as high as usual, why are the customers willing to wait in line to eat?
Hanoians into gourmet will know, whenever they want to eat an old-fashioned bowl of pho with clear broth, sweet and sour beef must go to Pho Thin Bo Ho. But when diners want to eat the bowl of pho filled with scallion, the fat soup with re-rolled beef must go to Pho Thin at 13 Lo Duc (Hai Ba Trung).
3. Pho Suong
Address: 24B Trung Yen Alley, Dinh Liet Street, Hanoi.
Hours: Everyday from 5:30 am to 11:00 am and 4:30 pm to 9:00 pm.
Prices: About 45,000 VND to 50,000 VND per person, approximately $2 to $2.15
Like all famous pho restaurants in Hanoi, Pho Suong has been around for many years, having earned a loyal customer base. The noodle soup here is nothing short of amazing, perfecting the broth, the noodles, the herbs, vegetables and the pieces of meat. Certainly, a steal at just VND $45,000 ($2), you can enjoy your meal here and then go off wandering down Dinh Liet street past the souvenir and art stores and then to the lake where you can sit on a bench and digest. Of all the pho restaurants in this article, Pho Suong has the nicest interior.
4. Pho Nho
Address: Huynh Thuc Khang, Nguyen Hong Alley, Hanoi.
Hours: Everyday from 7:00 am to 9:00 pm.
Prices: About 30,000 VND to 50,000 VND per person, approximately $1.3 USD to $2.15 USD
Pho Nho has also appeared for a long time, winning the second prize in the contest Pho Hanoi. Pho Nho is one of the famous addresses of Hanoi noodle for a while. Pho Nho is not only had beef noodle soup but also Chicken Flavour. The name "Nho" (Remember) originates from a Vietnamese overseas lover who likes Pho Hanoi to order a bowl at a restaurant: "Eat it and remember ...". Since then, Pho Nho has become a brand, becoming a familiar name for many gourmets. However, some customers recently have complainted about the restaurant’s service!
5. Pho Bung (Pho Ganh)
Address: Hang Trong street (at the corner with Hang Gai street), Hanoi.
Hours: Everyday from 5:00 pm to 8:00 pm.
Prices: About 25,000 VND to 30,000 VND per person, approximately $1.1 to $1.3
Pho Hang Trong, source: internet
There is nothing more Vietnamese than eating on the street side where most of the best food is. A bowl of Pho at the junction of Hang Trong and Hang Gai proves no exception. There are no tables, just the smallest type of chair you can find. Those professional foodies can hold the bowl on one hand and a pair of chopsticks on the others, slurping the clear broth with ease. If you can’t be like them, placing the bowl on the stool is acceptable too. Selling only between 5 -7 pm (sometimes they closed later), this street vendor gathers not only frequent locals but also intrigued passerby for an afternoon snack.
6. Pho Vui (Happy Pho)
Address: 25 Hàng Giầy street, Hanoi.
Hours: Everyday from 7:00 am to 10:00 pm.
Prices: About 50,000 VND to 70,000 VND per person, approximately $2.15 to $3
Another flavorful traditional Pho of Hanoi that I would like to introduce to you that is Pho Vui (Happy Pho). Coming to this restaurant, you will be able to choose a very rich and varied menu such as Pho Chin (Well cooked beef), PhoTai Chin (medium cooked), beef with wine sauce, bare beef, bare ribs, etc.
With Pho Vui anyone who first came to the shop to enjoy is also admired by the big bowl of pho, soft noodles, fresh scallion, and especially noodle soup is very meaty. The beef soup is kept in its traditional flavour, very separate from the taste of other shops. The sauce is rich and sweet and fragrant with some fatty taste. Thanks to that, the visitors come to the shop very large from the time of opening the door to the end.
You can join friends and family to enjoy Pho Vui whenever you feel hungry because the shop opened all day!
7. Pho Bien (phở Biện)
Address: No 1 Le Van Huu street, Hanoi.
Hours: Everyday from 7:00 am to 10:00 pm.
Prices: About 40,000 VND to 50,000 VND per person, approximately $1.7 to $2.15
One of the four most famous Vietnamese beef noodle soup in Hanoi "Thin - Vui - Bien - Suong".
Pho Bien also has another name, Doctor Pho, which is in the memory of the guests who used to know the previous owner. He wore a chef outfit like a respectable doctor. Pho Bien is outside the evolutionary circle of Hanoi noodle soup, it is still like 30 years ago when the restaurant is still pretty in the Le Van Huu street. The best of Pho Bien lies in "kindness", the kindness of the sellers and the waiters. Very Hanoi old.
There are 2 ways to enjoy a delicious bowl of pho, first can study writer Nguyen Tuan, eat as soon as the last cramps of the stomach appear, which means hunger. Secondly, study Hiep Dang, eat immediately after a seasonal sick match. In Hanoi, if you have never eaten Pho Bien after a sick match, you really can't define what a delicious bowl of pho is!
Pro Tips for you
For 5,000 VND ($ 0.20USD) Add one side of the egg to your order. They often use yolk eggs, making them hot (not fully cooked) in soup pots and served with beef noodle soup.
Hanoians often eats pho with fried crullers (Quay nong). Embedding the "Quay nong" in your bowl and eating them, the delicious flavours they bring will fascinate you. The price for 1 serve is 10,000 VND ($0.4)
