Vietnam Pho Festival just opened: Pho is sold out, Hue beef noodle soup and bread are not far behind

Thousands of people flocked to the Vietnam Pho Festival 2025 in Singapore. Many pho stalls were sold out; bun bo Hue and banh mi were also popular.

A corner of the event, people are enjoying Vietnamese cuisine - Photo: HUU HANH

This morning, October 18, right after the opening of the Vietnam Pho Festival at Our Tampines Hub - Singapore's largest community center, tens of thousands of people flocked to the food court to enjoy pho and Vietnamese cuisine.

People lining up to enjoy Pho Thin - Photo: HUU HANH

Vietnam Pho Festival customers lined up to eat Pho Thin, Pho Vuong was also "tense"

In front of Pho Thin stall, there was a long line of people waiting. Ms. Bui Thanh Loan - representative of Pho Thin - said that the shop had just opened, and one pot of broth was already empty. The shop was waiting for the second pot of broth to boil to serve to customers.

Ms. Loan praised Singaporean customers for being civilized. They lined up and waited patiently to enjoy a bowl of traditional pho.

Among the crowd, there were also regular Singaporean customers who came here to eat every time they came to Hanoi . Now, hearing that this brand was participating in the Vietnamese Pho Festival, they had made an appointment to meet a few days ago.

And Mr. Vu Ngoc Vuong, representative of Pho Ngoc Vuong, served customers and said "it's tense".

"I didn't expect so many guests to come, I couldn't serve them all," he shared. "In just a short time this morning, the ingredients for the festival were almost half gone. We definitely need to replenish the ingredients to last until tomorrow."

He added that after the pot of broth on the stove ran out, the stall "was in danger of having to close early because it ran out of ingredients. Now we have to prepare to go home and cook another pot of broth for tomorrow."

Singaporeans eagerly queue up to enjoy a bowl of Vietnamese pho.

Ngoc Vuong Pho stall "preparing to cook broth for tomorrow because today's stock sold out too early" - Photo: HUU HANH

Bun bo Hue , bread, coffee... are also selling like hotcakes.

At the Vietnamese Pho Festival, Rex Saigon Hotel - one of 5 hotels in the Saigontourist Group system - brings chicken curry, bread, Hue beef noodle soup, chicken curry rice... Among them, Hue beef noodle soup is the best-selling dish.

Hotel chef Le Van Hanh said "each pot serves about 60 bowls of Hue beef noodle soup, and in just a moment, 3 pots of broth were gone."

The third pot of broth for Hue beef noodle soup at Rex Saigon Hotel this morning - Photo: HUU HANH

Similarly, the Caravelle hotel booth, also part of the Saigontourist Group system, is about to "go bankrupt" when serving beef noodle soup, spring roll noodle soup, bread...

Ms. Le Thi Xuan Oanh of the hotel said that the unit planned to prepare about 250 servings of each dish but is currently running out of stock. "As demand increases, we will serve as much as possible," Ms. Oanh shared and sent "thank you beautiful" and "thank you" very warmly.

Society bread is also very popular - Photo: HUU HANH

The Banh Mi Society booth also welcomed a lot of customers to experience the bread. The bread prepared for this morning was sold out, so I had to go back to get more.

"Along with pho, there are many other Vietnamese dishes present in Singapore, all of which contribute to increasing the recognition of Vietnamese cuisine here," said a representative of the Banh Mi Society, "it will definitely be more crowded tomorrow."

La Viet Coffee booth welcomed a huge number of customers this morning. Mr. Tran Nhat Quang, representative of La Viet Coffee Lam Dong, "was excited that Vietnamese coffee was so warmly welcomed by the people here".

Customers lined up to wait for coffee at La Viet - Photo: HUU HANH

Mr. Quang said that before coming to the festival, La Viet had carefully researched the market. Knowing that many Singaporeans often drink coconut milk in the morning, La Viet had transformed and combined coffee with coconut to create a new type of coffee that pleased the locals.

"During the two days of the Vietnam Pho Festival, La Viet was assigned by the organizers to prepare 3,000 cups of coffee, but it will definitely exceed that amount. The booth is also preparing more," he shared.

Diners enjoy pho at a communal table at Our Tampines Hub - Photo: HUU HANH

People line up at the counters waiting to buy pho - Photo: HUU HANH

Pho Thin (Hoan Kiem Lake) is one of the popular pho brands of Vietnam Pho Festival 2025 - Photo: HUU HANH

People will come to buy vouchers and bring them to shop at the counters - Photo: HUU HANH

Vietnam Pho Festival 2025 in Singapore

Connecting cultures, promoting cooperation

Vietnam Pho Festival 2025 in Singapore, organized by the Vietnamese Embassy in Singapore, Tuoi Tre Newspaper and Saigon Tourist Group in collaboration with the Department of Industry and Trade of Ho Chi Minh City, the Liaison Committee of Vietnamese in Singapore under the direction of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the People's Committee of Ho Chi Minh City, will take place on October 18 and 19 at Our Tampines Hub, Singapore.

The festival was held in the context of Vietnam and Singapore upgrading their relationship to a comprehensive strategic partnership, affirming the program's significance and stature.

With the message "Pho - Enjoying together, growing together", Vietnam Pho Festival 2025 hopes that the event will not only invite international friends to enjoy a typical Vietnamese dish, which was listed by CNN in the list of 50 must-try dishes worldwide in 2011, but also convey the desire to connect - share - accompany the development of Vietnam.

Through the festival, Pho will be introduced as a "cultural ambassador", serving as a bridge for Vietnam and Singapore, as well as international friends, to work together towards a prosperous and sustainable future.

The most important activity of the festival is to bring Singaporeans and tourists the opportunity to enjoy the "authentic" taste of Vietnamese pho. At Our Tampines Hub, attendees will be able to enjoy pho prepared directly by top artisans and chefs from Vietnam.

The main chefs of the 5-star hotels in the Saigontourist Group system, including four luxury hotels Rex Saigon, Majestic Saigon, Grand Saigon, Caravelle Saigon and the brand Pho Thu Duc Golf Restaurant (Vietnam Golf & Country Club), along with famous pho brands such as Pho Thin Bo Ho, Pho Ta, Pho Phu Gia, Pho Vuong, Ba Ban Pho... will bring diversity in cooking methods and ways of enjoying.

In addition to pho, attendees also have the opportunity to enjoy many other traditional Vietnamese dishes, prepared by Saigon Tourist's 5-star chefs, creating a vibrant "culinary symphony".

In particular, along with the Pho festival, a large-scale investment forum was also held, namely the Vietnam - Singapore Investment, Trade and Tourism Promotion Forum 2025, affirming the substance of the event. The forum took place right after the opening ceremony (morning of October 18), expected to attract about 150 businesses from both countries to participate.

At the forum, management agencies and businesses will discuss new cooperation trends in green processing and logistics, tourism and aviation services, import and export of Vietnamese agricultural products and specialties, digital transformation and e-commerce.

In particular, the Business Matching program (1-1 business connection) will create conditions for Vietnamese and Singaporean businesses to meet directly and seek practical cooperation opportunities.

BEANS

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/vietnam-pho-festival-vua-khai-mac-pho-chay-hang-bun-bo-hue-va-banh-mi-chang-kem-20251018133322659.htm