What is the owner's secret?

Thanks to Michelin, opening new premises

Eight pho restaurants in Ho Chi Minh City were included in the Bib Gourmand category by Michelin Guide this year, including: Pho Chao, Pho Hoa Pasteur, Pho Hoang, Pho Huong Binh, Pho Le, Pho Minh, Pho Phuong and Pho Mien Ga Ky Dong.

Meanwhile, Hanoi has 5 pho restaurants named in this list including Pho Au Trieu, Pho Ga Nguyet, Pho Gia Truyen, Pho 10 Ly Quoc Su, and Pho Khoi Hoi.

Mrs. Dung is the owner of Pho Chao restaurant.

After that, social networks were flooded with the Bib Gourmand list in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi that Michelin had just announced, along with many questions about whether pho restaurants were more "popular" with Michelin appraisers, as they dominated the list. Many people were also curious about the absence of banh mi, hoping to see it listed in other categories of the Michelin Guide this year.

One year has passed since Pho Chao restaurant of Mrs. Bui Thi Dung (59 years old), located in Binh Thanh District, was honored by Michelin as a "delicious, cheap restaurant". The owner was excited and could not hide her joy because this year, the restaurant has maintained its performance.

“This time last year, after being recognized by Michelin, my restaurant had 2-3 times more customers than usual. After that, I rented another space next door and expanded it to serve customers in the most thoughtful way. Up to now, the restaurant has been welcoming customers regularly," the owner happily said.

According to Ms. Dung, 70% of the pho restaurant's customers are foreigners. Throughout the past year, her family and staff have been working hard to maintain the quality of food and service, maintaining their performance to continue receiving Michelin recognition in the following year. The results did not disappoint the owner's expectations.

Pho restaurant has 70% foreign customers

Traditional and creative pho dishes at the restaurant

The self-proclaimed "latecomer" restaurant was founded by her in late 2020 and early 2021. When she received Michelin's honor, she was initially a bit surprised. According to her, the restaurant "caught the eye" of the appraisers, possibly because the family restaurant has a tradition since 1986, the pho flavor is delicious but the price is affordable, in line with Michelin's criteria. In addition, the restaurant also has creativity and variations in pho dishes, famous for the "Photine" dish, when pho is eaten with french fries and cheese.

“The name of the restaurant is Chao, as a welcome to foreign and Vietnamese guests coming to enjoy traditional Vietnamese dishes. The name of the restaurant also shows the welcome, when coming here, guests always receive smiles, warmth, and happiness from the owner and staff", the owner proudly said.

Fighting cancer for the 8th year, Ms. Dung confided that her original purpose when opening the restaurant was just to sell for fun. Over the years, she has not increased the price of the dishes. Each pho dish here ranges from 50,000 - 90,000 VND. "Photine" in particular costs from 90,000 VND.

The secret is in the broth

One afternoon, I stopped by Pho Le (District 5) and was surprised to see that the tables were full of customers, coming and going constantly, and most of them were foreigners. Mr. Hung, the representative of the pho restaurant, said that for the second year being honored by Michelin, he and his family were happy. That proves that over the past year, the restaurant has maintained its form, as it has for the past 50 years.

Mr. Hung said that since Michelin recognition, the restaurant has attracted more customers, especially foreign customers. This number of customers accounts for 30 - 40% of the total number of customers supporting the restaurant.

Pho Le is located in District 5

"This year the economy is down, without that support the restaurant would have faced many obstacles. For the past 3 years, my restaurant has kept the same price, each portion of pho ranges from 80,000 - 100,000 VND," the owner said.

Pho Le has another branch on Vo Van Tan Street (District 3), but it has been closed since 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. If conditions are favorable, the owner plans to reopen the restaurant here in the near future.

"In your opinion, what makes Pho Le restaurant on the Michelin list?", hearing me ask, the owner smiled and said the secret lies in the pho broth, which is prepared according to a special recipe and passed down through many generations in the family. The harmony with the ingredients also makes a bowl of Pho Le special.

Pho Le is crowded with customers.

Ms. Phuong, owner of Pho Phuong restaurant, said that the restaurant also has its own secret in cooking pho, especially the broth. The freshness of the ingredients combined with the rich pho broth has created a brand that has helped her restaurant survive for over 40 years as well as receive recognition from experts and diners.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/co-den-8-quan-pho-o-tphcm-duoc-michelin-vinh-danh-chu-quan-co-bi-quyet-gi-1852406211758293.htm