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The purist's guide to phở in Hanoi

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Re: The purist's guide to phở in Hanoi

#11

Post by alex_c »

>How, the novice may ask, does one discover which version is the correct one for oneself?

>There is nothing else to it – you must eat a few hundred bowls of phở and find out. If this requires moving to Hanoi, so be it.

Not the worst life plan, to be honest!

A little bit sad that my own "death bed pho" - chicken pho from that one stall near the market in old quarter - gets just a passing mention as the only acceptable variation to traditional beef pho.

This also brings back memories of our "mystery pho man" - who had three tiny stools and one large pot outside his house every morning, looked like a character straight out of an 80's movie, and was usually sold out by 8am.

Vietnamese food has got significantly better in Toronto in the past 5-10 years - but still haven't found anything that comes even close to Hanoi chicken pho.

Re: The purist's guide to phở in Hanoi

#12

Post by MisterTea »

pazimzadeh wrote: post #5

I was just in Hanoi. I stool in line for pho at "michelin rated" shops and had it in tiny stalls manned by a grandma or old couple. always go for the grandma..the michelin ones seem more dilute and cost more. For example, Pho 10 Ly Quoc Su vs. the stall right next to it.

I have a friend who loves Vietnam and was just visiting. His advice is ALWAYS go out of the tourist areas. To paraphrase his words "The more the locals look at you funny, the more authentic it's going to be." And by funny, not in a bad way but more of "uh, you lost there buddy?"

Re: The purist's guide to phở in Hanoi

#14

Post by doubletwoyou »

pazimzadeh wrote: post #6
jrimbault wrote: post #3

Cheekily, might not the "purist" want a "pot-au-feu" ? (i have a sincere dislike of purity talk, especially in cookery) The article mentions it, but doesn't disprove it.

yeah purity seems overrated for almost anything except making drugs

And semiconductors and air quality perhaps

Re: The purist's guide to phở in Hanoi

#18

Post by pazimzadeh »

throwup238 wrote: post #9
pazimzadeh wrote: post #5

I was just in Hanoi. I stool in line for pho at "michelin rated" shops and had it in tiny stalls manned by a grandma or old couple. always go for the grandma..the michelin ones seem more dilute and cost more. For example, Pho 10 Ly Quoc Su vs. the stall right next to it.

If you can, always ask a local where to go. Most locals don’t want to wait in line unless it’s a special occasion and they know the best underrated and mom and pop restaurants. The ones with lines are usually tourist or internet hype traps and their food gets enshittified quickly. I learned this the hard way during Marti Gras.

Yeah. Some locals assume you’ll only like the touristy stuff though

Re: The purist's guide to phở in Hanoi

#20

Post by __mharrison__ »

alex_c wrote: post #11

>How, the novice may ask, does one discover which version is the correct one for oneself? >There is nothing else to it – you must eat a few hundred bowls of phở and find out. If this requires moving to Hanoi, so be it. Not the worst life plan, to be honest! A little bit sad that my own "death bed pho" - chicken pho from that one stall near the market in old quarter - gets just a passing mention as the only acceptable…

My wife, who doesn't eat beef, once asked for chicken pho, and got an extreme talking to. She was sad because she had good chicken pho in the past.
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