The Best Phở in Saigon

Phở Lệ
303 – 305 Võ Văn Tần
District 3

Phỡ Thanh Bình
18B Nguyễn Thị Minh Khai
District 3

Phơ Hữu
58 Cửu Long
Bac Hai neighborhood
P.15, District 10

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UPDATE (SEPT 2014): Click here for our latest Best Phở in Saigon listing. 

Inevitably, anyone who eats, cooks, or travels in Vietnam, or writes about such things, must face the decades-old question, Where is the best phở in Vietnam?  Luckily for me, living, eating and writing about eating in Ho Chi Minh City, I can limit the scope of that question to Where is the best phở in Saigon?

And equally as lucky for me, the answer is quite simple — It depends.

The best phở in Saigon, of course, depends upon what pleases your palate

Do you prefer your phở rice noodles with chicken or beef?  Or perhaps ground beef balls, or tripe? Do you prefer a mountain of vegetables and herbs and/or piles of meat?  Do you prefer subtly-flavored broth or “know-your-socks-off” beef- flavored stock?  And then there’s Vietnam’s long-standing regional schism that must be considered in your phở preference.  Northern cuisine – no  sugar please. Southern cuisine – everything must be sweetened – sometimes to excess!

The best phở in Saigon depends upon your mood

Perhaps, today you want to sit comfortably in a high-back chair and enjoy your phở in an air-conditioned eatery.  Or, let’s jump off the motorbike, or stroll down a narrow alley, and slurp our phở squatting on a stool in front of a one-table street vendor.  Or, god help us, you prefer to consume your Mc-Phở at one of the fast-food chains-with-a-number, e.g., Phở 2000, Phở 24, that are spreading like wildfire throughout Saigon.

The best phở in Saigon depends upon your wallet

Phở in Saigon can be had at 10,000, 20,000, 30,000, 40,000, 50,000,+++ VND, completely unrelated to its quality or any of the other factors mentioned above.

But, I must admit, it would be a cop-out on my part not to take a stand on such an important question – Where is the best phở in Vietnam?  Let me try to appease.

Yesterday morning

Yesterday morning I was in a gentle mood.  “Quiet” was appealing to me.  Quiet as in a stroll through Công Viên Lê Thị Riêng (Le Thi Rieng Park).  Quiet as in skipping the regular morning dose of US political campaign drama reporting on CNN.  And quiet as in a bowl of phở gà (chicken phở) at Phở Hữu.

A simple, clean and clear chicken broth.  Moist and meaty white chicken meat, stripped (upon request) of its fatty skin and sinews.  Fresh herbs and a twist fresh lime. Easy, open-air seating, fans and friendly table service. Phở Hữu  was the best phở in Saigon for me yesterday morning.  And when it was time to pay the bill, all remained quiet at a non-startling price of 30,000 vnd ($1.50).

Thursday night

Thursday night was different.  After a 500 calorie-consuming half-an-hour on the California Wow (my health club) elliptical trainer, and some shoulder exercises (still working on the post-rotator cuff surgery physical therapy), I was very hungry.  It was dinner time and I wanted meat!  Piles of beef to be exact.  Hai and I were on our motorbike, so getting to our destination was not an issue.  And price – never mind – I’m hungry!

In such circumstances, the choice was easy. That evening, the best phở  in Saigon was being served up at Phở Lệ.

I can say without hesitation that in my 5 years consuming phở in Saigon, few places put more beef meat in their phở bò (beef phở ) than Phở Lệ.  I always order phở tái nầm.  That’s phở bò served with a combination of bò tái (rare slices of beef cooked as it’s dropped in your own bowl of hot nước lèo (soup stock)); and bò nầm (well-done beef brisket -often including a good portion of beef brisket fat). And all the beef is served in very generous portions at Phở Lệ!

The nước lèo (soup stock) itself is clearly a product of “the bones”, as Hai would say.  A rich meaty flavored broth – with a sweet accent.  Excellent phở requires 4-6 hours – or more – of simmering lot o’ beef bones together with varying combinations of  cinnamon, star anise, ginger, roasted onion, black cardamom, coriander seed, fennel seed, and clove.

And then there’s the small mountain of herbs and greens and bean sprouts that Phở Lệ provides at every table.  Always fresh and always well-cleaned. Add some fresh-squeezed lime, red chili sauce, and tương(bean sauce/hoisin sauce) – excellent!

A very satisfying “hungry-man’s”, beefy dinner served up at this clean and comfortable eatery.  The 52,000 vnd ($2.50 usd) dinner price was VND well spent.

UPDATE – February, 2018: The phỡ bò here at Phở Lệ remains among the very best in Saigon. If possible, there seemed to be even more beef than before in our bowls of phở this morning.  And the broth … major YUM!

UPDATE – February, 2019: Once again, the phỡ bò here at Phở Lệ remains excellent. Prices for a delicious bowl have creeped up a bit to 67,000 vnd!

Another favorite

As mentioned here some months ago, Hai and I still agree that Phỡ Thanh Bình is one of our favorite spots for phỡ bò in Saigon.

Not quite “on the street”, but funky enough to qualify on our Best Saigon Street Food list.

Only 30,000 VND for a generous large bowl, or 35,000 VND for their phở đặc biệt (extra special!) you can savor the beef noodle soup here with lots of very tender and delicious beef, tái or nầm , or both.

The endless search for the best phở in Saigon 

Hai and my search for the best phở in Saigon is unending.  I’ll periodically report my findings here. But please, I’d love to hear from you on some leads for Saigon’s best bowl of phở.

Phơ Hữu
58 Cửu Long
Bac Hai neighborhood
P.15, District 10

Phở Lệ
303 – 305 Võ Văn Tần
District 3

Phỡ Thanh Bình
18B Nguyễn Thị Minh Khai
District 3

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