A nameless, signless pho restaurant that has been selling only one type of pho for over 40 years, especially without using this seemingly mandatory spice.

(Fatherland) - A bowl of hot rare beef pho is brought to the table, add a little vinegar, a little homemade chili sauce, and you have a warm breakfast on cold winter days.

If you are looking for a beef noodle shop with all kinds of meat such as well-done beef, rare beef, brisket, flank... then perhaps Ms. Huong's noodle shop on Truong Dinh Street, Hoang Mai District, Hanoi , cannot satisfy that. Because, here, they only sell one dish: rare beef noodle soup. Even though they only sell one dish, this noodle shop is still the address that pho lovers seek out.

The pho restaurant without a sign is located on Truong Dinh Street, Hoang Mai District, Hanoi.

A special pho restaurant with a style of many "no"s: No many types of meat, no lemon, no need for a sign...

Passing by Ms. Huong’s pho restaurant in the morning, if you don’t pay close attention, you might not know it’s a pho restaurant. Because the restaurant doesn’t even have a sign with the name of the restaurant or the dishes it sells. But even if you don’t know it’s a pho restaurant, you’ll probably be curious as to why it’s so crowded.

The restaurant only sells rare beef pho.

This pho restaurant is located in a somewhat old house on Truong Dinh street. It is a pho restaurant tinged with time, bringing a nostalgic and intimate look. As simple as the restaurant's style, it only sells one pho dish, which is pho tai lan.

Every morning, this pho restaurant is always crowded with customers. Because there are not many types of meat to choose from, customers simply order the number of bowls of pho, or somewhere someone orders a bowl without onions, without MSG or with a few pho noodles, for example.

It seems that selling a dish is simple, but with the rare beef pho dish, when the customer orders, Ms. Huong, the owner, stir-fries the meat, but she definitely does not stir-fry the meat beforehand. That is why the bowl of pho served to the customer is hot, from the broth to the beef. The beef is stir-fried, so when eaten, it is more flavorful and delicious. For those who like to eat a little "greasy", rare beef pho is an irresistible choice.

The rare beef pho is a bit "greasy" because of the stir-fried beef, but it is delicious and rich in flavor.

A bowl of hot rare beef pho is brought to the table, add a little vinegar, some homemade chili sauce, and you have a warm breakfast on cold winter days. What's special here is that there is no lemon or kumquat, only chili vinegar. Because the owner said that everyone has their own way of eating, but here it is still sold like that, lemon goes well with chicken pho, but with beef pho, vinegar will taste better.

Diners here can add vinegar and chili because the restaurant does not have lemon.

Ms. Ngoc Bich, a regular customer at this pho restaurant, said: "My house is about 3km away, there are many pho restaurants around my house but I still like to come here to eat. I like to eat pho tai lan but not many places make this pho. The dishes here are all suitable for me, the beef and broth are delicious, the price is only 40,000 VND, which is very reasonable for a bowl of pho of such quality."

The owner has been skillfully stir-frying beef for over 40 years, telling the story of how she came to the pho selling profession.

Coming to this Pho Tai Lan restaurant on Truong Dinh Street, you will easily catch Ms. Huong, the owner, with her signature white hat, briskly stir-frying beef. Ms. Huong confided: "I have been selling for 41 years now. This year I am almost 70 years old. From the past until now, my family has only sold one dish, Pho Tai Lan. I focus on one delicious dish and customers have been familiar with my family's dish for a long time. My family opens from 6am until about 10-11pm, when we run out of stock we close."

Ms. Huong, the owner, is the one who stir-fries the beef.

When asked about her fate of selling pho, Ms. Huong said: "I have a friend whose family sells pho. Back then, he came to my house and said that this location would be a great place to open a pho restaurant. If I wanted to sell pho, he would teach me. After that, I gradually made it myself and changed it to have my own recipe. So I have been selling pho until now."

Beef is stir-fried with lard so it has a much more delicious flavor.

To have delicious bowls of pho like now is the result of Ms. Huong's experience as well as her dedication to the profession. The beef she chooses is tender and fragrant, fresh and sticky from the morning every day. The broth is simmered by Ms. Huong with beef bones for 6 - 10 hours, then added with fish sauce, salt, onions, ginger, not cinnamon or cardamom.

A delicious bowl of pho is irresistible.

If you look closely, you will see that the pho noodles here are different from many other pho restaurants. They are handmade, hand-sliced, and have large noodles that are neither too thick nor too thin. "My family has been getting these pho noodles from a regular source for the past forty years. Nowadays, people don't make them much anymore, but my family has been getting them for many years, so they still make them for me," Ms. Huong said.

Pho is ordered from a familiar source, handmade and hand-sliced.

Homemade chili sauce and lard used to stir-fry beef.

Especially when stir-frying beef, Ms. Huong chose to use lard instead of cooking oil. She put the beef in hot lard and quickly stir-fried it over high heat with crushed garlic, creating an irresistible aroma. The stir-fried beef was cooked to perfection, soft and fragrant. Combined with the broth, pho noodles, and green onions, there was nothing better.

Beef picked early in the morning is fresh and delicious.

However, despite being so fussy, Ms. Huong simply said: "I don't have any secret, I just sell for real, how can I fool customers, delicious food will make people come back."

Every day, Ms. Huong's pho shop sells about 1.5 quintals of pho noodles and about 50kg of beef. Despite the large number of customers, Ms. Huong only sells in the morning, spending the afternoon preparing for the next day. Because for Ms. Huong, selling just enough is important, the important thing is that everything must be of good quality.

A small note is that Ms. Huong's pho restaurant currently only accepts cash, not bank transfers. If you intend to visit the restaurant, don't forget this!

Source: https://toquoc.vn/quan-pho-khong-ten-khong-bien-hieu-hon-40-nam-chi-ban-duy-nhat-1-loai-pho-dac-biet-khong-dung-loai-gia-vi-tuong-nhu-buoc-phai-co-nay-2025012201143457.htm