THE BEST PHO IN HANOI

"Pho hunts are moral"

WE TRIED 14 PLACES IN HANOI, THESE WERE THE BEST 5 PHO:
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1. Pho Gia Truyen Bat Dan
2. Pho Bo 8 Hang Da
3. Pho Duong Tau
4. Pho Thin
5. Pho Ga Nguyet

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The more beautiful twin of the big cities in Vietnam, Hanoi straddles that fine line between modernity and history. The city itself is picturesque, laid out amidst sprawling lakes, narrow streets lined with ancient houses, streetfood vendors encroaching every inch of sidewalk, raucous bars vying for custom and the odd temple speckled about with traditional music soothing the blaring traffic.

​It takes a few days of walking to get the layout of the city, and thats the best plan for Hanoi. Walk. Walk everywhere, get lost, figure out where you are and start joining the dots until you have an overview. Some of the best food here is found on the street, small plastic chairs are the way to go. We spent 3 weeks in Hanoi researching, gorging, critiquing, returning, sampling and discarding. At no point did we get sick of Pho. Since most people visiting the city are looking to find the best, most authentic Pho in Hanoi, we felt we had to explore hard to bring you the gold.

Here is the list of the best 5 Pho bowls we crushed:

Pho Gia Truyen Bat Dan

The kind of Pho bowl you rabidly sip without really knowing why. Brisket hanging from hooks in the room, lines out the door, this is truly as local as you get in Hanoi. Our favourite in Hanoi.

FIND

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Pho Bo 8 Hang Da

Another roadside gem packed with Hanoi-ians scarfing down piping bowls of goodness. Nothing wrong with this bowl at all.

FIND

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Pho Duong Tau

These old ladies churn out a salty as hell bowl of delicious roadside Pho. They're not messing around, but this is slurpable.

FIND

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PHO THIN

They secret of this place is they stir-fry the beef before adding to the soup, which, depending on your tastes, adds a more fatty fuller flavour. Addictive stuff!

FIND

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Pho Ga Nguyet

I'll throw a chicken Pho in here for those who prefer this style. Another roadside shack with a line out the door. This is seriously umami-laden soup.

FIND

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These recommendations are just personal opinions based on my palate, things change, chefs get fired or replaced, places open-close, relocate, so take it all with a pinch of MSG  and discover your own gems too. But please do try a few of these, they have been researched exhaustively.