Bernd Zehner is a German content creator who travels all over the globe and tastes local food. Before his trip to Vietnam, he drew up a must-try list, including pho (noodle soup), the Vietnamese traditional dish. He had heard that Hanoi’s pho was wonderful and there were different pho versions at different prices. He wanted to discover all of the versions.

He wrote on his YouTube channel with 200,000 followers that he was going to start his journey in Hanoi and wondered if the expensive pho would be better that cheap one. In the city, he found two pho restaurants. The first served cheap chicken pho, while the other served expensive pho with special ingredients.

The first destination, a chicken pho restaurant in Hoan Kiem district that has been open for 15 years, was named by Michelin Guide on the list of good restaurants with affordable prices (Big Gourmand) in Hanoi in 2023.

At the restaurant, he ordered one normal serving for the price of 1.8 euros (VND50,000). Bern squeezed some drops of lemon juice and added some vinegar with garlic and chili sauce. “Just some slices of chili are enough to change the flavor of the dish,” he said.

“I love the herbs and spices served with chicken pho here. The noodles, the meat and the broth are all extremely delicious, though it is just for common people and priced at below 2 euros,” he said.

The next destination was a restaurant in Ba Dinh district, specializing in pho which is a mixture of traditional and modern ingredients. The price of the expensive pho was between VND220,000 and VND950,000 per bowl.

The German diner ordered a special serving of beef pho with ingredients kept separate and beautifully arranged. The hot broth was served in a large stone bowl.

There were four kinds of premium beef served, cut into thin slices. Bernd dipped the beef slices into the hot broth, and waited a moment for the meat to be rare, then enjoyed it. The beef was fresh, fatty and delicious.

The German YouTuber praised the broth's natural sweetness and the aroma of simmered bones and many herbs. The pho noodles were thin but chewy, and didn’t break when dipped in the hot broth.

Thao Trinh