3 Northern-style beef noodle shops in Ho Chi Minh City

Ho Chi Minh City is a paradise of pho with all schools of thought. In recent years, some Northern pho restaurants that maintain the original flavor have been born due to the migration of Northerners to Ho Chi Minh City, while also meeting the needs of "Northern pho lovers" who work or travel to the South.

A bowl of beef pho is characterized by its surface being covered with lots of onions and scallions.

The oldest is Pho Bo Phu Gia located on Ly Chinh Thang Street, District 3. Although it has been in Ho Chi Minh City for so long, Pho Phu Gia still sells traditional pho in a "conservative" style, with broth without sugar, vegetables such as onions and scallions, chili sauce, lemon, garlic vinegar, fried fried breadsticks, and the "concession" of adding a plate of blanched bean sprouts if requested by customers.

Typical rare beef pho of Phu Gia

Because of the many onions and the hot food without vegetables, diners "focus" completely on the pho, sweating profusely. But then there is an extremely pleasant feeling due to enjoying the sweetness of fresh beef, the characteristic aroma of Northern pho broth. Perhaps the most outstanding pho here is the rare rolled pho, the beef is stir-fried with fragrant garlic, "rolled" very quickly over high heat to keep the sweetness inside, then poured with pho broth made from beef marrow bones, sea worms... creating a rich, powerfully seductive flavor. In addition, the typical Northern pho dishes here such as rare, flank, brisket, tendon, and rump are all available.

Pho Phat Tai

Located right in the heart of District 1, Pho Phat Tai offers the traditional, original flavor of beef pho, focusing on recreating the quintessential Northern pho with broth made from pure Vietnamese beef bones and premium sea worms (Quan Lan sea worms).

Rare flank pho, beef stew pho, pho rolls at Phat Tai

The restaurant focuses on the sweet broth from bones and uses sea worms (which have become "extinct" in many pho cooking processes due to their high price) to create a deep sweetness for the pho broth, combined with a type of crystallized salt in the fish sauce making process to create an umami flavor and prevent the broth from being sour. The restaurant uses pure Vietnamese yellow-haired beef to cook pho, creating the aroma of the broth "like in the old days". What's special is that pho served with Lang basil, which was thought to be "rare", has now been brought back by the restaurant, although it was very difficult to transport by plane from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City.

Typical pho bowls here include brisket, rare beef, pho with red wine sauce, pho rolls...

Pho here is not served with black bean sauce or sweet chili sauce to preserve the clear, delicate amber-colored broth. Pho is only served with fruit vinegar soaked in garlic and Hang Be chili sauce (Hanoi). It is not served with bean sprouts, but only with a bowl of green onions, basil and onions so that diners can focus on the delicious beef, as well as the faint scent of star anise, cinnamon and cardamom from the northern mountains. In particular, the pho noodles are hand-made from 6-month-old rice, both soft and chewy, blending perfectly with the pho broth.

The restaurant has an additional highlight: using old bamboo chopsticks to pick up pho noodles will not be slippery, the aluminum spoons are hand-shaped to remind people of the subsidy period, and there is extra cold rice for those who want to reminisce about the difficult times (the whole family buys a bowl of pho for the sick person to eat meat and pho noodles, buys extra pho broth for the healthy person to use with cold rice to satisfy their cravings).

Pho Dinh

Rare beef pho, flank pho at Pho Dinh

The characteristic of Pho Dinh is the green onions and onion heads covering the bowl of pho, the clear broth has no grease, no sugar. It is known that the restaurant uses a special type of water, alkaline water, to simmer the bones, making the broth clear, clear and fragrant, without any impurities. Pho Dinh has rare, flank, brisket, tendon, and corn. Crispy fried dough sticks have the same flavor as in Hanoi. In particular, pho is not served with bean sprouts, only with Northern chili sauce, garlic vinegar, lemon, and green chili. The beef used to cook pho feels very fresh, it is hot beef every day, not frozen beef, because every day there are many customers.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/thoi-trang-tre/3-quan-pho-bo-chuan-vi-bac-o-tphcm-185250307162838032.htm