Narrow, poor aesthetics, high price

Among the 29 restaurants and food businesses awarded the Michelin Bib Gourmand award on the evening of June 6, 12 were pho restaurants. Photo at Pho Chao restaurant (HCMC) on the morning of June 8.

This pho restaurant opened in an alley in a residential area in Binh Thanh district in 2020. The owner of the business is Mrs. Bui Thi Dung and her family, originally from Nam Dinh province. The restaurant's regular customers are mostly foreigners and residents in the surrounding area.

Inside the shop, the cooking and preparation areas as well as the seating areas are very cramped. After receiving the award in Hanoi , Ms. Dung intended to return to Nam Dinh to visit her hometown, but upon hearing that the shop was suddenly crowded, she had to change her flight ticket and fly back to Ho Chi Minh City to take care of important work.

Sharing about the Bib Gourmand award, Mrs. Dung said that she was completely surprised and did not know when the judging team arrived. Only when her daughter informed her did the family burst into joy because the efforts and dedication that she and everyone in the family had made over the past time had finally paid off.

According to a reporter's survey, the prices of dishes at Pho Chao range from 50,000 VND to 250,000 VND, which is a bit higher than other pho restaurants of similar quality in Ho Chi Minh City. Ms. Dung explained that this is because the restaurant's imported ingredients are all of the best quality.

"We select beef and chicken from familiar establishments, only taking the best parts to process," said Ms. Dung.

In addition, the pho broth is simmered with bones continuously throughout the day.

Mr. Tong's family (Binh Thanh district) came to enjoy Pho Chao after knowing that the restaurant had just won the Bib Gourmand award. "The broth is quite delicious, but the beef is a bit tough. This is my personal opinion. It's a pity that the vegetables at the restaurant are not washed very cleanly. Maybe I will suggest this issue to the restaurant so that they can serve customers better. In addition, the price is high compared to surrounding restaurants like this, I think many people only come once or twice a week and don't dare to come here often," Mr. Tong shared.

According to the reporter, the way the meat, onions, and vegetables are arranged in the pho bowl when the broth is poured over is not aesthetically pleasing and does not create a delicious feeling. "However, quality is more important," a customer affirmed.

The restaurant is small, with only two tables inside and three outside. Ms. Dung shared that there were times when the restaurant was so crowded that she had to stop accepting dine-in customers. "The largest number of customers usually come during dinner time," the owner said.

The raw material preparation area is sometimes laid out on the floor by the staff. The owner shared that she is quite concerned about this because when the brand has been voted internationally, everything needs to be professional. "In the near future, I will rent another house across the street to increase the area to serve customers. The old location is only used to process raw materials and cook pho," said the woman from Nam Dinh.

In addition to traditional pho, the restaurant also sells “pho tine”, a dish that combines french fries, cheese, and pho sauce.

Mr. Peter (a Canadian working in Ho Chi Minh City) shared: “I am a regular customer of this restaurant. I come here 3 to 4 times a week because I find the pho here very delicious. When I heard that the restaurant received the Bib Gourmand award, I was quite surprised. I will definitely introduce more friends to try it.”

Mr. Thao (District 10) said that he was introduced to try the dish by a friend. "The stir-fried vermicelli with eel dish is quite delicious, the vermicelli is not tough, especially the eel is marinated with a strange flavor, very pleasant to eat," said Mr. Thao.

During the time from morning until after noon when reporters were there, the majority of the delivery drivers came to pick up takeaway food. Ms. Dung said that there were days when the orders "exploded" continuously, the service was not fast enough, the drivers had to wait quite a long time to get the pho that the customers ordered.

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