Vietnam Pho Festival 2025: Vietnamese Pho Flavors Spread Across Singapore

This morning (October 18), Vietnam Pho Festival 2025 opened in Singapore. And the atmosphere the day before at the headquarters was "sizzling hot".

Chefs are ready for the Vietnam Pho Festival 2025 taking place on October 18 and 19 at Our Tampines Hub, Singapore - Photo: HUU HANH

"Headquarters" is a joking way of referring to the place where 5-star hotel chefs, pho brands and Golden Star Anise 2025 prepare ingredients, cook broth, and get ready for Vietnam Pho Festival 2025 taking place on October 18 and 19 at Our Tampines Hub, Singapore.

Vietnam Pho Festival 2025 is a special event not only because the taste of Vietnamese pho spreads in the heart of Singapore but also because its meaning goes beyond a culinary festival - becoming a symbol of cultural exchange, cooperation and friendship between Vietnam and Singapore.

Editor-in-Chief of Tuoi Tre Newspaper Le The Chu

The kitchen was on fire.

Hoi An Chicken Rice restaurant on Jalan Ayer is the "headquarters" of the brands Pho Thin (Bo Ho), Pho Vuong, Pho Phu Gia, Pho Hai Thien, Pho Khoe, Pho Phat Tai, Pho Ta (Binh Tay Food), Pho Saigon, Pho Sen Sasco... Early morning

On October 17, all the chefs were present to divide the bones, scrub the pans, wash the pots, and count the amount of spices (star anise, cinnamon, coriander seeds, fish sauce, salt, etc.). The restaurant was only about 80 square meters, but the atmosphere was hot, the chefs and staff were working nonstop, making "Pho seller" Hai Thien Nguyen Thi Thanh Nguyen comment "it was as happy as Tet".

Mr. Nguyen Tuan Trung, chef of Pho Phu Gia, said that last year when he went to Korea, customers "asked for more onions so much that this year the team prepared all the ingredients so that customers could ask for more." Meanwhile, Pho Vuong's representative, Mr. Vu Ngoc Vuong, informed that "thousands of bowls of pho are ready, inviting you to come to the Vietnamese Pho festival in Singapore to enjoy them."

"Pho seller" Thanh Nguyen is not far behind when revealing that this year Pho Hai Thien will not perform pho noodle making like in Japan but will directly roast aromatic herbs at the event. Pho Hai Thien also brings aromatic pho bags, which are pho spice packets, so that customers can buy them and cook a pot of "real pho" for the whole family anywhere in the world .

This is the year that Pho Sen Sasco chef Khuat Quang Thanh came to Vietnam Pho Festival and was impressed by this rare atmosphere. Despite limited space and equipment, Pho brands shared ingredients and grouped together to tackle many tasks.

"Every four restaurants are in a group, then divided into small teams to blanch bones, blanch meat, prepare vegetables... - Mr. Thanh said and expressed - the staff takes turns, one team washes vegetables, the other team cuts chili, it's so bustling."

Similarly, at the "headquarters" of Thien Long restaurant on Jalan Besar, dozens of chefs from 5-star hotels belonging to the Saigontourist Group, Rex Saigon Hotel, Majestic Saigon, Grand Saigon, Caravelle Saigon and the pho restaurant brand Golf Thu Duc (Vietnam Golf & Country Club) are "bustling" in the kitchen. The aroma of Vietnamese pho has begun to "rise" on the lion island.

Chef Nguyen Van Huong said while scrubbing the pan, while many pho restaurants and hotels prepare beef pho, Golf Thu Duc restaurant plans to prepare 800 bowls of chicken pho. This comes from understanding the cultural characteristics of the local people, some of whom are Muslims and cannot eat beef or pork. He said he rarely brings pho abroad, so when he has the chance, he wants to show it off.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Hong Gam, Deputy Director of Sales and Marketing of Saigontourist Group, said that Vietnam and Singapore are located in the same region, so they have many cultural similarities. Almost all ingredients for cooking pho can be purchased directly here, the group only brought some special spices from Vietnam.

Many other heavy and bulky items were transported in advance on another Vietnam Airlines flight. Although many of the ingredients could be found in Singapore, the driver who transported the chefs said that "I have never seen a group that brought nearly 100 boxes of such items." This shows the scale and careful preparation of those who brought pho to promote in a foreign land.

In addition to food import regulations, Singapore also has very strict requirements for food safety certification.

Every chef participating from the preparation stage to the kitchen must take the exam and receive the WSQ Food Safety Course Level 1 certification. "Pho seller" Thanh Nguyen commented: "Vietnam Pho Festival is becoming more and more professional and classy."

Chefs excitedly prepare ingredients at Thien Long restaurant on Jalan Besar (Singapore) on October 17 to prepare for the Vietnam Pho Festival - Photo: HUU HANH

Enjoy a bowl of pho, all barriers disappear

Mr. Vu Ngoc Vuong said: "This excitement is not only his but also all chefs and pho brands". Because no matter who, where, they all aim for a single goal: "Flex" Vietnamese pho to the fullest. Bringing pho to Singapore this time is even more special when Vietnam is completing the dossier to submit to UNESCO to register pho as a representative intangible cultural heritage of humanity.

"I hope international friends will receive the love of pho makers from Vietnam, and at the same time see how the products of each region of Vietnam, through the talented hands of Vietnamese people, become such a wonderful dish," Mr. Vuong shared.

More specifically, Singapore is a multi-racial country famous for its diversity. Bringing Pho to Singapore is also bringing Vietnamese culture to that "multi-racial" country.

According to Vietnamese Ambassador to Singapore Tran Phuoc Anh, this year's Vietnamese Pho festival takes place at the largest integrated community complex in Singapore - Our Tampines Hub. This is a wonderful combination of space and time, a convergence of ideas and reality.

"We can feel the cultural exchange, the similarity in values ​​and the complementarity of the two economies," Ambassador Tran Phuoc Anh said, appreciating Tuoi Tre newspaper, Saigontourist Group and the Vietnamese Embassy in Singapore for their joint efforts to bring the Singaporean public and international friends a unique experience of Vietnamese culture and cuisine.

Sharing more with Tuoi Tre, Singaporean Consul General in Ho Chi Minh City Pang Te Cheng also expressed that although pho has a certain level of recognition in Singapore, Vietnam Pho Festival 2025 is an opportunity for the people of this island nation to experience variations based on geography and regional culture of pho, like the way he enjoys and distinguishes between Southern and Northern pho.

Mr. Pang Te Cheng also emphasized the aspect of exchange and trade connection between Vietnam and Singapore during events such as the Vietnam Pho Festival. According to Mr. Pang, sitting at the same table and enjoying pho can turn unfamiliar parties into partners. "When people eat together, in this case, enjoying a bowl of pho together, all barriers seem to disappear and countless new opportunities open up," Mr. Pang said.

On October 17, Rex Saigon Hotel chefs prepare bones to simmer pho broth to sell at the pho festival in Singapore - Photo: HUU HANH

Owner of Pho Khoe restaurant chain Nguyen Dinh Tuyen: This year the festival has made great strides compared to the previous two times. The number of participating chefs and brands is also greater. Hopefully each year we will have the opportunity to bring Vietnamese pho to a different country. I think many gourmet diners around the world also want authentic Vietnamese pho to come to their country because Vietnamese pho is so famous.

Pho Vuong representative Vu Ngoc Vuong: Last year, when I participated in the Vietnam Pho Festival in Korea, one of the things that touched me was that many Vietnamese people living far away from the capital Seoul brought their whole family to eat to ease their homesickness.

Among them were quite a few Korean-Vietnamese children, who were brought here for the first time by their parents and introduced to Vietnamese food. I think that love for one’s homeland sometimes begins with a bowl of pho and in such a simple, direct way, it is better than any lesson at school.

Chef Khai Vu of Pho Ta (Binh Tay Food): I am very happy to see the festival growing stronger and being organized more professionally. The event attracts a large number of international visitors, and the brand is also more widely known.

By participating in these types of festivals, brands join hands to not only promote pho but also promote learning and innovation to create better bowls of pho as well as new ways of cooking besides traditional pho.

Pho Thin representative Bui Thanh Loan: Knowing that Pho Thin is about to participate in the Vietnam Pho Festival in Singapore, some Singaporean customers (who often visit the restaurant every time they come to Hanoi) asked and made an appointment at the event location. They were very happy because this time they didn't need to go to Vietnam, they could eat pho right in their own country.

Hoping for a record in Singapore

Our Tampines Hub - the venue of Vietnam Pho Festival 2025 - Photo: HUU HANH

In 2023, Vietnam Pho Festival will take place for the first time in Japan, which will also be the first time Vietnamese pho brands will go abroad to participate in a major pho event.

Ms. Bui Thanh Loan, representative of Pho Thin (Bo Ho), said that because it was the first time, many things were unfamiliar that year but there were many happy memories. The scene of moving equipment from the main kitchen to the booth kitchen at the event, the atmosphere of cooking pho all night to "run the deadline" to prepare to serve a huge number of customers, and how to improvise to comply with the strict regulations set by the Japanese side, all made her remember it forever.

The 2023 festival attracted more than 80,000 people to Yoyogi Park, Tokyo to enjoy Vietnamese pho. When recounting, Ms. Loan could not remember how many visitors her booth welcomed, how many bowls of pho she cooked, only remembering "the broth boiled, poured into the bowl, then waited for the next pot to boil again, then poured in the next, couldn't keep up. It was very tiring, but seeing customers slurping their pho bowls until they were empty, her heart was filled with happiness, something sacred, and proud." "Advancing" to Singapore this time, Ms. Loan and other pho brands hope to repeat the record in Singapore.

In addition to traditional pho, this time the chefs of the Majestics Saigon Hotel plan to serve Singaporean diners with beef rib pho and stir-fried pho. With more unusual variations, the Thu Duc Golf Course restaurant will contribute chicken pho, crispy pho, and seafood pho. Other units of the Saigontourist Group will also promote the unique cuisine of Vietnam with spring rolls, vermicelli with spring rolls, chicken rice, or Hue beef noodle soup Rex...

There are many diverse activities within the framework of the event. Not only enjoying Pho and Vietnamese cuisine, diners also have the opportunity to learn about the history of Pho, the history of Ao Dai as well as watch performances of Vietnamese traditional musical instruments such as zither, bamboo flute, festival drum, combined with modern exchange performances, listening to Vietnamese singers.

Accompanying the Vietnamese Pho Festival is the Vietnam - Singapore Investment, Trade and Tourism Promotion Forum 2025, which will take place after the opening ceremony on the morning of October 18. Here, management agencies and businesses will discuss new cooperation trends in the processing industry and green logistics, tourism and aviation services, import and export of Vietnamese agricultural products and specialties, digital transformation and e-commerce.

In particular, the Business Matching program (1-1 business connection) will create conditions for Vietnamese and Singaporean businesses to meet directly and seek practical cooperation opportunities.

Vietnam Airlines contributes to spreading the quintessence of Vietnamese cuisine

Speaking to Tuoi Tre, a representative of Vietnam Airlines said that the airline is focusing on improving service quality and national brand image through activities promoting Vietnamese culture to the world. Bringing the aroma of Vietnamese pho from Japan, Korea to Singapore is not only a journey connecting the sky but also a way for Vietnam Airlines to contribute to spreading the quintessence of Vietnamese cuisine to international friends.

The airline representative shared that cuisine is the most important factor that helps each of the airline's destinations become more attractive to tourists. Therefore, in addition to the international 4-star service standards, Vietnam Airlines always considers cuisine as an "emotional language" that helps position the national airline brand.

The dishes are carefully selected, focusing on regional flavors and the diverse tastes of international passengers. In Business Class, passengers can experience a menu imbued with Vietnamese identity, in which Pho is always the iconic dish, a delicate combination of traditional aromas and the standards of aviation cuisine.

At the Vietnam Pho Festival held in Singapore, Vietnam Airlines not only supported the transportation of pho cooking equipment but also accompanied in promoting the brand image, making pho a cultural ambassador in the journey to connect the two countries.

Vietnam Airlines currently considers the Singapore market to be a strategic destination with rapidly increasing travel demand. The airline recently signed a cooperation agreement with Singapore Airlines, marking an important milestone in the cooperation between the two national airlines.

According to Mr. Nguyen Quang Trung - Head of Planning and Development Department of Vietnam Airlines, this joint venture helps Vietnam Airlines improve its competitiveness, expand its international network and continue to improve service quality to 5-star standards.

The new point after the agreement is that flights operated by Vietnam Airlines from Singapore to Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City will simultaneously carry the Singapore Airlines flight number (code SQ), giving passengers more convenient options during their journey.

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Source: https://tuoitre.vn/vietnam-pho-festival-2025-huong-vi-pho-viet-lan-toa-giua-singapore-20251018075659799.htm