Not to be confused with Pho 54, this place near Ben Thanh Market was recommended by many local websites. Funnily enough, my grab driver uttered something in Vietnamese when I jumped off there and I will never know if he was saying "STAY AWAY" or "GOOD CHOICE". Regardless of his misunderstood yelpings, I found a table and decided to go for the brisket + raw beef Pho since they had already run out of the "special".
First thing I do when a bowl of Pho arrives at the table is not to reach for the condiments, or herbs, or sauces, or anything, but just dip my spoon in and taste the broth. After-all herbs are pretty much the same all over, beef is beef (in varying qualities), hot sauces are usually bog-standard, chillis are incalculably similar in such establishments, and the noodles are usually either the thin ones or the thick ones, but it's rice noodles so there is very little to distinguish apart from the cooking. The secret of a good Pho is 90% in the broth. Some broths hit you with flavour and then decimate your palate after 6 sips, some are so thin and tasteless that the longer you try to find anything worth writing home about, the less you find.... and then there are the bowls that at first you think "Hmm, not amazing but ok"... and the longer you dive down, adding some lime juice and chillis, or herbs after the first few sips, then you find yourself enjoying what tasted bland before (I don't know whether this is to the credit of the chef, or customer for making a so-so bowl taste good with his/her own additions). Quynh and Hung manage that balance without having to add anything to the bowl, but 1954 was definitely the third best I have tasted after a vast foray into the top rated (and some lesser rated) places in Ho Chi Minh. I admit, I did have to add quite a lot of chillis + chilli sauce which I normally don't do, but then suddenly it tasted really good. I would definitely go back and try the special one day. 7/10
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