Hanoians have a saying: If you want to eat well, head to Hanoi Old Quarter. So if you are wondering where to eat pho well, Hanoi Old Quarter is the place to go. Here, pho, the traditional Vietnamese beef noodle soup, takes on a unique flavor that's hard to find anywhere else.

The hub of delicious noodle soup

The main ingredients of pho bo are beef, flat noodles, and piping hot aroma broth. Photo: The Hanoi Times

Hanoi Pho is famous at home and abroad, which has earned it the title of National Intangible Heritage. The designation is not only to raise the prestige of the dish but also to provide an additional framework for preserving and promoting pho recipes and pho culture.

After conducting a survey in 18 of Hanoi's 30 districts, the Hanoi Department of Culture and Sports found 700 pho restaurants that met food hygiene and safety standards.

Of these, Hanoi's Hoan Kiem district has the highest number of pho restaurants (32), followed by Ba Dinh (21 restaurants), Cau Giay (29), Dong Da (9), Hai Ba Trung (30), Thanh Xuan (56), and Long Bien (93).

According to Hanoi's Department of Culture and Sports, family-owned pho brands that have been in business for more than two generations often specialize in beef or chicken pho and can be found mainly in Hoan Kiem, Ba Dinh, and Hai Ba Trung districts.

Notably, five pho restaurants in Hoan Kiem District are included in the MICHELIN Guide's Bib Gourmand Selection 2024, namely Pho Gia Truyen Bat Dan, Pho Bo Au Trieu, Pho 10 Ly Quoc Su, Pho Ga Nguyet and Pho Khoi Hoi. Pho Ga Cham, also in Hoan Kiem, is included in the MICHELIN Selected 2024.

In particular, Pho Gia Truyen Bat Dan at 49 Bat Dan Street and Pho 10 Ly Quoc Su have been popular for decades. The other honored restaurants have also won the hearts of many diners.

The broth for pho is usually flavored with dried spices such as cinnamon, star anise, cloves, cardamom, and coriander.

Besides these fixed locations, pho ganh is a timeless legend. In ancient times, pho was sold in Hanoi's Old Quarter from mobile stalls suspended from wooden yokes on the shoulders of street vendors.  Famous pho brands such as Pho Thin Bo Ho, Pho Ong Dao, or Pho Cu Chieu all trace their origins to these small mobile stalls.

In the 1950s, a hawker named Bui Chi Thin began taking his pho ganh around Hoan Kiem Lake and the Toad Flower Garden, before settling on 61 Dinh Tien Hoang Street as the permanent location for his Pho Thin Bo Ho (literally, "Lakeside Thin's Pho").

In the same district, Pho Ong Dao at 33 Hang Giay Street owes its origin to a hawker named Vu Van Tam in the area between Nguyen Thien Thuat Street and Tran Nhat Duat Street. Similarly, another Pho ganh pioneer, Cu Nhu Than, passed on the trade to his five children, one of whom successfully created the well-known Pho Cu Chieu brand on Hang Dong Street, while another opened Pho Gia Truyen Bat Dan also in Hoan Kiem.

The challenge of heritage promotion

Having surveyed and produced a dossier on Hanoian Pho as a national intangible cultural heritage, the Hanoi Department of Culture and Sports pointed out various changes in pho locations, recipes, and eating culture.

Hanoian Pho wins the hearts of many diners.

There are not many pho restaurants that can survive for more than 10 years, especially renowned pho brands in Hanoi with their own unique flavors, which are facing the challenge of handing down the trade to the next generation.

The distinctive flavor of each brand of pho comes from the family secret about the selection of ingredients and spices and the cooking process. Usually, such a secret is passed down only within the family (or clan) through the process of learning by doing, with few recorded documents. Rarely does a pho brand reveal its recipe to outsiders - Pho Ly Quoc Su is one of the exceptions.

Like many handicrafts, the pho trade is facing a lack of successors. Young people today have a wide range of career options, in parallel with current global migration trends. This is one of the issues that will be addressed in the discussion on Hanoi's Pho heritage at the Hanoi Culinary Culture Festival 2024.

The unique flavor of Hanoi pho bo is derived from the intricacy of the cooking and preparation process.

Do Dinh Hong, Director of Hanoi's Department of Culture and Sports, hopes that during the festival, which runs from November 29 to December 1, visitors will have new opportunities to learn more about Hanoi Pho in terms of cooking recipes and unique eating culture, in addition to a ceremony to receive the certificate designating Hanoi Pho as a national intangible cultural heritage. This is also an opportunity to popularize the local culinary culture and attract domestic and international tourists.

According to Lonely Planet, Vietnam is home to some of the world's best bowl foods - including pho. The Vietnamese specialty has been named by Business Insider more than once-as one of the dishes to try in a lifetime. It also earned the S-shaped country a spot in The Travel's Top 10 for Best Food in the World.