The purist's guide to phở in Hanoi
by vinhnx on 4/19/2026, 8:34:10 AM
https://connla.substack.com/p/pho-in-hanoi-a-purists-guide
Comments
by: alex_c
>How, the novice may ask, does one discover which version is the correct one for oneself?<p>>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.<p>Not the worst life plan, to be honest!<p>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.<p>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.<p>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.
4/21/2026, 1:55:43 PM
by: anonymouscaller
For us Americans who can’t make it out to Vietnam, I’ve found the best Pho in the US is in Orange County, CA and Boston’s Dorchester neighborhood!
4/21/2026, 2:53:05 PM
by: vogon_laureate
I've yet to visit Vietnam, but a phở my daughter and I had in Reykjavík was properly life-changing. I get the obsession.
4/21/2026, 2:22:03 PM
by: CarVac
I've never been to Vietnam but there's a Hanoi-style pho place by me and it is head and shoulders better than any other pho I've ever had in the US.<p>Apparently most pho in the US is southern Vietnamese style?
4/21/2026, 2:32:59 PM
by: ValentineC
Hanoi was where I had one of the best chicken pho ever — their menu allows one to select the parts of the chicken they wanted. I've never had the back meat of chicken in a pho before, and it was phenomenal.<p>And I found out about it from a random cafe barista. Sometimes it pays off just to ask someone where they'd eat nearby.
4/21/2026, 1:26:32 PM
by: pazimzadeh
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.
4/21/2026, 1:05:59 PM
by: __patchbit__
Is consomme the reference precursor implementation?
4/21/2026, 2:40:24 PM
by: jrimbault
Cheekily, might not the "purist" want a "pot-au-feu" ? (i have a sincere dislike of purity talk, especially in cookery)<p>The article mentions it, but doesn't disprove it.
4/21/2026, 12:43:07 PM
by: e40
Disappointing that there was not a single picture in the post. And, wow, it’s long!
4/19/2026, 12:32:05 PM