History

Pho was born in the early 20th century in Nam Dinh and Hanoi, drawing on Chinese noodle and French boeuf bouilli stock traditions. The dish spread north as workers commuted to French-built Hanoi. Pho Gia Truyen Bat Dan, Pho 10 Ly Quoc Su and Pho Bo Lam all hold Michelin Bib Gourmand status for the classic clear-broth Northern style. The 1979 Pho Thin Lo Duc invention of the stir-fried beef pho bo tai lan broke from the lighter Hanoi tradition with a richer garlic-and-onion broth.

Common allergens: Gluten (in quay), Soy

Make it at home

Yield Serves 4Hands-on 30 minTotal 4 hrDifficulty Intermediate

Ingredients

  • 2 kg beef bones (knuckle and marrow)
  • 500g brisket
  • 1 large onion, charred
  • 100g ginger, charred and bruised
  • 5 star anise pods
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • 5 cloves
  • 3 cardamom pods
  • 2 tbsp fish sauce
  • 1 tbsp rock sugar
  • Salt to taste
  • 400g pho noodles (banh pho), soaked
  • 300g eye-of-round beef, sliced paper-thin
  • Spring onions, coriander, Thai basil, lime, chilli to serve

Method

  1. Char the onion and ginger over an open flame until blackened. Bruise the ginger.
  2. Blanch the beef bones in boiling water for 5 minutes, drain and rinse.
  3. Toast star anise, cinnamon, cloves and cardamom in a dry pan for 1 minute. Tie in a muslin pouch.
  4. Combine bones, brisket, charred onion and ginger, and the spice pouch in 4 L of water. Bring to a bare simmer (not a boil) for 6 hours, skimming foam every 20 minutes.
  5. Remove the brisket at the 90-minute mark and slice thin once cool.
  6. Add fish sauce, rock sugar and salt at the end. Strain.
  7. Soften pho noodles in boiling water for 30 seconds. Divide between bowls.
  8. Top with the sliced rare eye-of-round and the cooked brisket. Ladle the boiling broth over the top to flash-cook the rare beef.
  9. Serve with herbs, lime and chilli at the table.

Tip from the editors. The broth must barely simmer; a rolling boil clouds it. Skim foam every 20 minutes for the clear Hanoi look.

Where to eat phở bò

Phở Bò in Hanoi

Phở Gia Truyền Bát Đàn ★ 4.6

Vietnamese$old-quarterDaily 06:00-10:00, 18:00-20:30

Pho Gia Truyen Bat Dan in Hanoi is the Old Quarter's Michelin Bib Gourmand pho house, with bowls at 60,000-80,000 VND and self-service from queue to seat.

Try: Pho bo

Order: Pho tai nam: rare beef and flank steak in clear bone broth; add quay fried dough for dipping.

Tip: Closes mid-morning to mid-afternoon. Cash only; carry small bills.

49 Bat Dan, Cua Dong, Hoan Kiem, Hanoi

Phở 10 Lý Quốc Sư ★ 4.5

Vietnamese$old-quarterDaily 06:00-22:00

Pho 10 Ly Quoc Su in Hanoi holds a Michelin Bib Gourmand for a clear, traditional Northern beef pho across the Old Quarter from St Joseph's Cathedral.

Signature: Pho tai brisket and flank, Pho nam beef shank, Pho bap tran beef-fillet pho

Order: Pho tai or pho bap tran with rare beef cuts; the broth is the classic clear-anise Hanoi style.

Tip: Original branch only; beware imitations on Ly Quoc Su using the same name. Multiple floors; ground floor for the queue, upstairs for groups.

10 Ly Quoc Su, Hang Trong, Hoan Kiem, Hanoi

Phở Bò Lâm ★ 4.4

Vietnamese$old-quarterDaily 06:00-11:00, 18:00-21:00

Pho Bo Lam in Hanoi holds a Michelin Bib Gourmand for traditional Northern beef pho served from a tiny Hang Vai shophouse, family-run for three generations.

Signature: Pho bo beef pho, Pho tai chin rare beef and brisket, Quay fried dough

Order: Pho tai chin: rare beef and well-done brisket together; the bone broth is the canonical clear Northern style.

Tip: Closes for two hours mid-afternoon. The Hang Vai branch is the original; if it's closed, the family runs two other counters in the Old Quarter.

48 Hang Vai, Hang Bo, Hoan Kiem, Hanoi

Phở Tiến ★ 4.3

Vietnamese$ba-dinhDaily 06:00-13:00, 17:30-21:30

Pho Tien in Hanoi is a Michelin Selected pho counter in Truc Bach, plating a delicate Northern beef broth from a Nguyen Truong To shophouse since 2010.

Signature: Pho bo traditional Northern beef pho, Pho tai chin, Quay fried dough

Order: Pho tai chin with rare and well-done beef; the broth is clear and simmered overnight.

Tip: Sit at street level for the open kitchen; upstairs is air-conditioned. Closed mid-afternoon.

103 Nguyen Truong To, Truc Bach, Ba Dinh, Hanoi

Phở Thìn Lò Đúc ★ 4.5

Street food$hai-ba-trungDaily 06:00-21:00Cash only

Pho Thin Lo Duc in Hanoi is the Lo Duc kitchen where Nguyen Trong Thin invented stir-fried beef pho in 1979, with a richer broth than any other pho house.

Try: Pho bo tai lan stir-fried beef pho

Order: Pho bo tai lan: beef stir-fried in garlic and oil, then ladled into a deeply aromatic anise broth.

Tip: One dish only. Stainless-steel tables and wooden benches; fast turnover, no waiting list.

13 Lo Duc, Pham Dinh Ho, Hai Ba Trung, Hanoi

More cities are in research. Want phở bò covered somewhere specific? Tell us where you want to eat.

Browse all dishes →