What is the owner's secret?

Thanks to Michelin, new premises opened

8 pho restaurants in Ho Chi Minh City were included in the Bib Gourmand category by Michelin Guide this year, including: Pho Chao, Pho Hoa Pasteur, Pho Hoang, Pho Huong Binh, Pho Le, Pho Minh, Pho Phuong and Ky Dong chicken noodle soup.

Meanwhile, Hanoi has 5 pho restaurants named in this list including Pho Au Trieu, Pho Ga Nguyet, Pho Gia Truyen, Pho 10 Ly Quoc Su, and Pho Khoi Hoi.

Mrs. Dung is the owner of Pho Chao restaurant.

After that, social networks rushed to share the Bib Gourmand list in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi just announced by Michelin with many questions, whether pho restaurants are "favored" by Michelin appraisers more than others, when they occupy an overwhelming number in the list. Many people are also curious about the absence of banh mi, hoping to be named in other categories of this year's Michelin Guide.

One year has passed since Pho Chao restaurant of Mrs. Bui Thi Dung (59 years old), located in Binh Thanh District, was honored by Michelin as a "delicious, cheap restaurant". The owner was excited and could not hide her joy because this year, the restaurant still maintained its performance.

“This time last year, after being recognized by Michelin, my restaurant had 2-3 times more customers than usual. After that, I rented another space next door and expanded to serve customers more attentively. Up to now, the restaurant has been welcoming customers regularly,” the owner happily said.

According to Ms. Dung, 70% of the pho restaurant's customers are foreigners. Throughout the past year, her family and staff have been constantly trying to maintain the quality of food and service, maintaining their performance to continue receiving Michelin recognition in the following year. The results did not disappoint the owner's expectations.

Pho restaurant has 70% foreign customers

Traditional and creative pho dishes at the restaurant

The self-proclaimed "late bloomer" restaurant was founded by her in late 2020 and early 2021. When she received Michelin's honor, she was initially a bit surprised. According to her, the restaurant "caught the eye" of the appraisers, possibly because the family restaurant has a tradition since 1986, the pho flavor is delicious but the price is affordable, in line with Michelin's criteria. In addition, the restaurant also has creativity and variations in pho dishes, famous for the dish "Photine", when pho is eaten with french fries and cheese.

“The name of the restaurant is Chao, as a welcome to foreign and Vietnamese guests coming to the restaurant to enjoy traditional Vietnamese dishes. The name of the restaurant also shows the welcome, when coming here, guests always receive smiles, warmth, and happiness from the owner and staff", the owner proudly said.

Fighting cancer for the 8th year, Ms. Dung confided that her original purpose when opening the restaurant was just to sell for fun. Over the years, she has not increased the price of the dishes. Each pho dish here ranges from 50,000 to 90,000 VND. "Photine" in particular costs from 90,000 VND.

The secret is in the broth

One afternoon, I stopped by Pho Le (District 5) and was surprised to see that the tables were full of customers, coming and going constantly, and most of them were foreigners. Mr. Hung, the representative of the pho restaurant, said that for the second year being honored by Michelin, he and his family were happy. That proves that over the past year, the restaurant has maintained its form, as it has for the past 50 years.

Mr. Hung said that since the Michelin recognition, the restaurant has attracted more customers, especially foreign customers. This number of customers accounts for 30 - 40% of the total number of customers who support the restaurant.

Pho Le is located in District 5

"This year the economy is down, without that support the restaurant would have faced many obstacles. For the past 3 years my restaurant has kept the same price, each portion of pho ranges from 80,000 - 100,000 VND," the owner said.

Pho Le has another branch on Vo Van Tan Street (District 3), but it has been closed since 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. If conditions are favorable, the owner plans to reopen the restaurant here in the near future.

"In your opinion, what makes Pho Le restaurant listed in Michelin?", hearing me ask, the owner smiled and said the secret lies in the pho broth, which is prepared according to a special recipe and passed down through many generations in the family. The harmony with the ingredients also makes a bowl of Pho Le special.

Pho Le is crowded with customers.

Ms. Phuong, the owner of Pho Phuong restaurant, said that the restaurant also has its own secret in cooking Pho, especially the broth. The freshness of the ingredients combined with the rich Pho broth has created a brand that has helped her restaurant survive for more than 40 years as well as receive the recognition of experts and diners.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/co-den-8-quan-pho-o-tphcm-duoc-michelin-vinh-danh-chu-quan-co-bi-quyet-gi-1852406211758293.htm