Phú Gia – Hanoi-Style Phở

Phú Gia
146E Ly Chinh Thang
P.7, District 3

0942 848 268

**********************************

Here in Saigon (and all of Vietnam), locals and visitors alike spend endless days and countless meals searching for that perfect and amazing bowl of phở.

As Eating Saigon! readers know, Hai and I have done the same …  consuming liters of beef broth, chewing kilos of sliced beef and shredded chicken, and plowing though mountains of ngò gai, rau huế (Vietnamese basil) and bean sprouts in search of the most wonderful phở experience.

Many of those phở adventures have been good, some amazing, and a handful worthy of international recognition (and Eating Saigon! accolades.)

This morning, we decided to visit a phở shop that hadn’t yet appeared on our “Best Saigon Phở“ listing (but probably should have by now), but that is, in fact, one of my favorites – Phú Gia.

Serving its phở bò (beef noodle soup) for over 70 years, Phú Gia prides itself and achieves its long-standing success by serving truly authentic Hanoi-style phở.

Cancel the sweetness common in most Saigon phởs. Forget the mountain of fresh herbs essential to southern Vietnam phởs. No plum dipping sauce here either.

I ordered my usual, phở tái nạm. Tái, rare roast beef to become fully cooked only after being dropped into our hot soup bowls. And nạm, beef brisket. In this case, the nạm was cut thickly, had little of those to-me-undesirable sinewy nerve runs, and was just chewy enough without being a masticating challenge. In other words, perfect nạm. And, the tái, mềm (tender and moist)!

And all that beef sits atop flat slightly chewy phở rice noodles – cooked to perfection. Sprinkle on some green onions and give a twist of lime.

The big hit here, however, is the nước leo – the broth. Yes, a bit salty (not sure if that’s msg or just lots o’ salt.) BUT, very delicious in any case, in a very northern Vietnam kind-of-way.

Here’s what I recommend (and what is a usual practice for Hai and I). In addition to ordering your bowl of phở, also order a small bowl of nước leo (phở broth) with no onions nor beef.

Here, you’ll get the true flavor of the phở itself. Note the very strong favor of ginger. Note the strong flavor of shallots. And behind all of that, the subtle flavor of the beef bones that had simmered for hours. Compare the pure nước leo with the broth in the bowl of phở. In the bowl of phở, the broth flavor has been diluted by the pile phở noodles and its boiled water. In the bowl of nước leo, you can discern the true flavor of the ingredients of the phở recipe.

For a few more dong, you can ask that your beef be first stir-fried before it’s dropped into the hot phở broth (phở tai lan). Major Yum! Or, perhaps you can ask for an order of quẩy to dip in and soak up that delicious nước leo.

Among our top 3 bowls of phở in Saigon, try to get here to enjoy authentic northern Vietnam phở – especially if you’re not going to visit Hanoi itself.

And don’t just take our word for it. Glance down at the original handmade cement tiles on the floor here to get a feel for how many tens of thousands of local sandals have shuffled to these tables over the past 70 years to enjoy a hot bowl of phở ~ Hanoi style. [You can read about the background of those hand-made Vietnam cement tiles here].

A regular bowl of this delicious phở, 60,000 vnd ($2.63 usd).

UPDATE – February, 2018:  Still love the phở here. The broth is still salty, but still delicious.  Absolutely you must try this Hanoi-style phở, particularly if you won’t be making it to HaNoi.

UPDATE – January, 2020:  The phở broth here is still incredibly flavorful. Just a little “fattier” than I recalled, but no less delicious!  Still a must try. Now 65.000 vnd for your basic bowl.

OPEN: 6:15 am – 11 am; 5:00 – 9:00 pm

Phú Gia
146E Ly Chinh Thang
P.7, District 3