Pho Bat Dan Australia on its opening day, July 3rd, with long lines of customers waiting - Photo: MD
The Pho Bat Dan Australia restaurant, located at 197 Lonsdale, Melbourne, Victoria, had its grand opening on July 3rd with the presence of Mr. Nguyen Xuan Thang and Ms. Co Thi Thanh Xuan, the original owners of Pho Bat Dan 49A, who traveled all the way from Hanoi .
After temporarily closing their pho restaurant in Vietnam for a month, the couple traveled to Australia to witness the launch of their "brainchild" to international diners.
Preserving the authentic flavor of pho, using 100% traditional family recipe rice.
From a family-run pho restaurant with over a decade of tradition in Hanoi's Old Quarter, Pho Bat Dan is venturing into the international market for the first time, choosing Melbourne, Australia, as its first destination. Behind a bowl of pho in a foreign land lies a story of belief, transfer, and the aspiration to take a Vietnamese culinary heritage further afield.
Amidst Melbourne's winter days, Pho Bat Dan Australia attracts diners with its authentic flavors: broth simmered for hours from bones, light and rich in bone flavor with minimal seasoning, along with familiar pho dishes such as rare beef pho, rare beef pho, and beef stew pho.
The first diners on opening day, July 3rd, in Melbourne - Photo: MD
Ms. Le My Duyen - CEO of Pho Bat Dan Australia, who brought the Pho Gia Truyen 49A Bat Dan franchise to Australia, shared that the most important thing when bringing Pho Bat Dan abroad is not to create a Vietnamese restaurant, but to bring a part of Hanoi's heritage. For many years, Pho Bat Dan has not only been a culinary destination but also a symbol of Hanoi's culinary culture.
In its early days of trial operation, Pho Bat Dan Australia restaurant did not widely advertise but received many positive reviews from customers.
Some diners, especially students and young people in Melbourne, were initially curious about a traditional Hanoi pho brand. After tasting it, many said it had a different flavor compared to the pho they were familiar with.
"Some customers come out saying they can feel the taste of Hanoi in their bowl of pho. That's what touches us," Duyen shared during the busy trial period of Bat Dan Australia pho restaurant.
According to her, in Australia, diners are familiar with many different styles of pho, including those influenced by Southern Vietnamese cuisine or the way the Chinese community enjoys it with bean sprouts, chili sauce, and satay. But Northern pho has its own story, and the pho restaurant is determined to preserve the most authentic flavor right here in Australia.
Hanoi-style pho has arrived in Australia.
Meeting with Tuoi Tre newspaper before their flight to Australia to attend the grand opening of the Bat Dan Pho restaurant, a franchise owned by their family, Mr. Nguyen Xuan Thang and Mrs. Co Thi Thanh Xuan shared their decision to franchise their Bat Dan traditional Pho restaurant to Mr. Lam and Mrs. Duyen for the first time, bringing the brand to Australia.
Mr. Nguyen Xuan Thang and Ms. Co Thi Thanh Xuan in their kitchen in Australia, carefully preparing the broth to ensure the perfect flavor - Photo: MD
The old French-style house on Bat Dan Street (Hanoi), with its high, airy ceilings and sturdy old wooden tables and chairs where customers usually sit to eat pho, is now neatly arranged. The restaurant is beginning its month-long "summer break"—a traditional custom not often seen in eateries, but one that the owners of this pho brand have preserved for decades.
"I can clearly see the genuine passion that Ms. Duyen and Mr. Lam have for making pho properly," Ms. Thanh Xuan confided.
She said that many people had previously approached her about franchising and buying her family's pho recipe, but she was worried that their poor performance would damage the reputation and brand of her family's pho, which has been passed down through 3-4 generations. Therefore, she always refused. But when she met Duyen and her husband, she clearly sensed their passion for pho, their decisiveness, and their sense of responsibility, so she agreed.
And today, standing in the fragrant atmosphere of pho in Australia, the owner of Pho Bat Dan 49A sees the warm reception of the pho dish that he and his wife have carefully prepared for decades, a new turning point for a delicious and healthy Vietnamese dish.
Since 1990, the couple opened their own pho restaurant at 49 Bat Dan Street, named Pho Gia Truyen (regular customers add the Bat Dan location to make it Pho Gia Truyen 49A Bat Dan), and to this day, the restaurant still maintains the 'traditional' style from the subsidy era: customers have to queue and serve themselves, and it's always crowded.
When international visitors remember Hanoi through a bowl of pho.
Few people know that the story of bringing Pho Bat Dan to Australia began with a meeting in the days leading up to the Lunar New Year of 2026.
Previously, many people had approached this traditional pho brand with the desire to collaborate, but the transfer of the brand had never been considered.
For a family with a long history in the business, Pho Bat Dan is not just a business but also a value preserved through generations. "After more than five years of pursuing the dream of bringing Pho Bat Dan to the international market, we contacted Ms. Xuan and Mr. Thang. At that time, they still considered it a family tradition. It wasn't easy to hand over a brand associated with the family name," Ms. Duyen recounted.
But as the 28th day of the Lunar New Year approached, after conversations about the desire to bring Vietnamese brands to the world, the two sides began to find common ground. A contract was signed, opening a new journey: bringing the flavor of Hanoi pho to Melbourne.
In the early days of their acquaintance, the conversation wasn't just about business. Mr. Thang and Ms. Xuan spent a lot of time sharing their cooking methods, ingredients, broth preparation techniques, and even the seemingly smallest details to maintain the true spirit of pho. "What we appreciate most is their dedication. They not only passed on the recipe but also their perspective on the pho business," Duyen shared.
Melbourne was chosen as the first "landing" location for a long-established pho brand not only because it is one of the cities with a developed culinary scene, but also because it is a melting pot of many cultures.
However, bringing a local dish like Hanoi pho to an international market is not simple. The journey of pho, which once captivated tourists with its traditional capital flavor, only begins today.
Mr. Nguyen Xuan Thang and Ms. Co Thi Thanh Xuan in a pho restaurant in Hanoi before their departure to Australia - Photo: THIEN DIEU
According to Le Ky Duyen, the biggest challenge is maintaining consistency in flavor. "Bat Dan pho doesn't have overly complicated ingredients. The important thing lies in the cooking technique, the way to process the broth so that it has a rich flavor from the bones but is still light and not heavily seasoned," she shared.
During the preparation process, the team in Australia received training according to international restaurant standards. From cooking and serving methods to hygiene and food safety standards, everything was standardized. The restaurant also maintained a familiar experience for diners: an open kitchen area where customers could see the broth being carefully prepared each day.
"We want customers to walk in and feel that this is a Vietnamese pho restaurant, not a completely altered version to suit foreign tastes," she said.
Therefore, the first store at 197 Lonsdale, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia is expected to become a destination where international diners can experience a part of Vietnamese culture through its most familiar dishes.
Source: https://tuoitre.vn/pho-xep-hang-bat-dan-sang-uc-100260703095623184.htm
