Tourists "hunt" for Michelin pho
Immediately after landing in Hanoi, Jennie (29 years old) and King (27 years old), tourists from Hong Kong (China) quickly came to the chicken pho restaurant on Phu Doan street, after knowing that this is the address proposed by Michelin.
We learned about the restaurant through a post on social networks. The pho flavor is easy to eat, refreshing, and the pho noodles are chewy and soft. Compared to Hong Kong (China), it is more delicious and cheaper here. I also really like it because the restaurant has many rich accompanying spices," Jennie shared.
The address the two tourists just enjoyed is one of the few dining spots in Hanoi that has maintained its appeal for many years. This is also the only chicken pho restaurant ranked by the Michelin Guide as Bib Gourmand (delicious restaurant, affordable price) for 4 consecutive years, from 2023-2026.
Sharing about his experience, Mr. Vu Hong Luan, a regular customer from the time the restaurant first opened, said that the pho flavor here is very wonderful, of good quality, so it is always crowded.
When my colleagues ask for delicious pho, I always introduce them here. Many people even raise their thumbs to praise after eating," Mr. Luan said.
In 2009, Ms. Le Thi Minh Nguyet (59 years old) became attached to the profession of selling chicken pho. Before that, she had many years of trading meat and loved cooking very much. With the support of family and friends, Ms. Nguyet boldly opened a small restaurant.
During the day, she sells on the sidewalk of Chan Cam street, and in the evening she moves to a friend's house on Phu Doan street. After her job became more stable, Ms. Nguyet bought back that location for business. Since being honored by Michelin, the restaurant has also welcomed more international tourists to experience it.
The boss reveals the formula
Sharing about the secret to having a delicious, quality pho bowl, Ms. Nguyet - the owner of the restaurant said that she is very careful right from the stage of selecting ingredients, especially with chicken meat.
On average, each selected chicken weighs about 2.7-3kg. The restaurant uses hybrid domestic hens, which have laid one to two litters. This type has firm, fragrant meat, crispy skin and when boiled will have a natural yellow color," she said.
After bringing the chicken back to the restaurant, it will be pre-processed with a mixture of crushed ginger and salt to deodorize. The restaurant owner completely removed the head and skin of the neck. According to her, the chicken head is very difficult to clean, if there is still a membrane in the nose or ear, it will affect the quality of the dish.
After preliminary processing, the chicken is boiled for about 40-50 minutes. The boiling water only adds a little seasoning and crushed ginger to maintain the natural sweetness of the meat.
The restaurant owner shared: "The pho broth is combined from pork bones and chicken bones, simmered over low heat and must constantly remove foam to maintain transparency, avoid being cloudy or burnt.
The bones are cooked in advance, and the chicken bones will be gradually added during the process of filtering chicken sold during the day. The seasoning of the broth is quite simple, only including grilled onions, grilled ginger and a little shiitake mushrooms to increase the sweetness, maintaining the light and natural flavor of chicken pho".
Chicken filtering technique is one of the factors determining the quality of the pho bowl.
Ms. Nguyet has many years of experience selling meat, so she has mastered the technique of mixing, chopping and filtering chickens, thereby passing on the process to employees to ensure uniform quality.
The restaurant's menu is divided into portions such as ribs, thighs, back, wings, gizzard... for customers to easily choose and combine according to their taste. Besides noodle soup, mixed chicken pho is also a popular dish.
A full bowl includes hot-dried pho noodles, shredded chicken, roasted peanuts, bean sprouts and fried dried shallots.
The sauce I make is very simple, just from soy sauce, sugar and pho broth. But the most important thing is that the broth must be delicious for the sauce to be delicious," Ms. Nguyet said.
Currently, to meet the increasing number of customers, Ms. Nguyet said that the restaurant has expanded the rented premises of neighbors next door. The space has been improved with air conditioning, rearranged tables and chairs, creating more cleanliness and ventilation for diners.
Currently, the female boss mainly takes on the role of general management and administration. Service and sales are assigned to relatives in the family.
Pho at the restaurant ranges from 55,000 VND/bowl (pho long) to 120,000 VND/bowl (pho duy lung). Pho long me is only sold in the evening. In addition, the restaurant also serves chopped chickens at a price of about 700,000 VND/chicken.
