Unique chicken pho restaurant in Hanoi, customers have to queue up and be "lucky" to eat

(Dan Tri) - Mrs. Mai's chicken pho restaurant, located in a small alley on Nha Chung Street (Hanoi), is often full, and latecomers often have to turn back. Many people jokingly say: "Being able to eat here is also a matter of fate."

Pho is one of the most typical and famous dishes of Vietnamese cuisine, widely known not only domestically but also in many places around the world .

From steaming hot bowls of pho, soft rice noodles and delicious slices of meat, pho has become an irreplaceable culinary symbol.

However, among the countless ways to enjoy traditional pho, there is a pho restaurant on Nha Chung street ( Hanoi ) that impresses with a different variation: Chicken pho with dipping sauce.

This dish does not use broth to pour over but instead uses a bowl of sweet and sour dipping sauce, making the way to enjoy pho new and unique.

A full serving of chicken pho with boiled chicken, rice noodles, coriander and signature dipping sauce (Photo: Nguyen Ha Nam).

Small shop, narrow alley, still crowded with customers

Hidden in a small alley on Nha Chung Street, Mrs. Mai's chicken pho restaurant is easily missed if not paying attention.

The alley is narrow, just enough for a motorbike to pass through. The restaurant’s sign is quite modest, just a small board hanging on the wall, so many first-time visitors often have to fumble around to find their way, some even take the wrong turn or go too far.

The restaurant can only accommodate 6 wooden tables, serving about 20 guests at a time. Although not spacious, it is always crowded during peak hours (Photo: Nguyen Ha Nam).

Yet in a space of only about 30 square meters, with just 6 simple tables and chairs and serving a maximum of about 20 guests at a time, the pho restaurant is still regularly full of customers every day. The restaurant opens from 6:30 to 13:30, closed on Sundays.

However, according to many regular diners, if you come after 12 o'clock, the possibility of having to wait a long time or leaving empty-handed is very high.

Mr. Hoang Nam, a customer working on Ly Thuong Kiet Street, said: "There were many days when I arrived after 11am and the owner said the chicken was sold out, and waiting was not certain there would be any more. So every time I craved food, I had to come to the restaurant early.

I have been eating here since the restaurant was not as crowded as it is now. The pho dipping sauce looks simple but tastes very unique, the chicken is soft, the dipping sauce is just right. Once I brought foreign colleagues here to eat, they were surprised because Hanoi pho was served like this.

Having once planned to come try the dish, Mr. Tuan and Ms. Ngoc have now become regular customers, having to "time it" and come early every week to enjoy the pho dipping sauce (Photo: Nguyen Ha Nam).

Ms. Ngoc and her husband are regular customers of the restaurant, usually coming here once or twice a week. “You have to go at 10am to make sure there’s still food left, otherwise the pho will easily run out,” Ms. Ngoc said.

She first learned about the restaurant through social media and decided to give it a try. Unexpectedly, after the first time, both husband and wife were so impressed with the taste that they returned regularly.

“I have tried almost all the dishes, from pho chan, pho tron ​​to rare beef, but the chicken dipping sauce is the best. The dipping sauce is very suitable, not mixed with any other place,” said Ms. Ngoc.

The restaurant is usually busiest during two peak hours: from 7am to 9am and noon from 11am to 1pm. During these times, customers come and go continuously, and tables and chairs are always full.

Many people accept to stand or line up in the alley to wait their turn. Therefore, for those who are used to it, “timed eating” becomes a habit if they don’t want to go home empty-handed.

At noon, the restaurant is always overloaded, many people are willing to stand and wait to eat (Photo: Nguyen Ha Nam).

Pho was born from a day when I was... too lazy to cook water.

Mrs. Mai, the owner, has been selling pho for nearly 40 years. Starting with a small stall in Dai Co Viet in 1988, she gradually moved to Hang Trong, then to Nha Chung in 2015 and has been doing so ever since.

Every day, Mrs. Mai has to get up at 4:00 a.m. to prepare the ingredients. Although the shop is only open until 1:30 p.m., many days before 12:00, the shop has to put up a sign saying it is sold out.

The chicken pho dish at the restaurant was invented by Mrs. Mai herself, and was initially just a temporary solution.

“One day I was sick and didn’t want to cook the usual pot of broth, so I tore the rice noodles and ate them with chicken, raw vegetables, and dipped them in lemon and chili powder. It was delicious and light on the stomach, so I thought: Why not try making it into a separate dish?”, Ms. Mai said.

Every day, Ms. Mai wakes up at 4 a.m. to prepare chicken, dipping sauce, and ingredients before opening for sale (Photo: Nguyen Ha Nam).

From then on, Mrs. Mai added pho dipping sauce to the menu, with a simple presentation: a plate of large-cut pho noodles, a plate of boiled chicken with skin on, sprinkled with herbs and lemon leaves, served with a bowl of sweet and sour dipping sauce and a bowl of hot bamboo shoot soup.

“The pho noodles are not blanched so they retain their elasticity. The chicken is boiled just right, the skin is golden, not dry, not mushy. I mix the dipping sauce myself every morning, using seasoning powder, lemon, sugar, and chili. It is familiar but the flavors must be balanced carefully to be delicious.

Customers can use chopsticks to pick up the noodles, chicken, herbs, and dip them in the sauce. Or if they want to take it home, they can roll it all up and dip it like eating a spring roll,” Ms. Mai said.

The restaurant serves a variety of chicken portions for diners to choose from according to their preferences with prices ranging from 25,000 to 50,000 VND per portion.

Specifically, chicken thighs and drumsticks cost 50,000 VND, chicken breast 35,000 VND, chicken wings 40,000 VND, chicken back 45,000 VND and chicken breast from 25,000 to 35,000 VND depending on weight.

In addition, the restaurant also has rare beef for 35,000 VND and dipped fish for the same price, meeting the diverse needs of diners.

This price is considered by many to be suitable for the quality and special taste of the chicken pho dish that the restaurant has maintained for over 20 years.

The restaurant's special feature is that the chicken is boiled in small batches throughout the day, divided into parts such as thighs, wings, and breasts for customers to choose from.

Therefore, many times, customers have to wait a while while the restaurant boils new chicken to ensure the meat is always fresh and delicious. The chicken is not marinated or seasoned, keeping its natural sweetness, only dotted with a little sliced ​​​​lemon leaves and a bowl of special sweet and sour dipping sauce.

Chicken Pho with dipping sauce is considered by many diners to be suitable for summer. No need for a bowl of hot broth, full of green onions like traditional Pho, this dish is very flexible in how to enjoy.

Mr. Hoang Anh, an office worker on Tho Nhuom Street, said: “I have eaten mixed pho or rolled pho before, but the chicken pho here has a very different feeling. The pho noodles are delicious, the chicken pieces are dipped in a rich sauce. A bowl of hot bamboo shoot soup is enough to warm the stomach. Although the way of eating is strange, it still retains the typical flavor of Hanoi pho.”

Address: Alley 40 Nha Chung, Hoan Kiem, Hanoi

Opening hours: 6:30-13:30 (closed on Sundays)

Reference price: 25,000-60,000 VND

Photo: Nguyen Ha Nam

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/du-lich/quan-pho-ga-cham-doc-la-o-ha-noi-khach-muon-an-phai-xep-hang-va-co-duyen-20250801164548660.htm