Pho Gia Truyen, Hanoi, Vietnam (Alissa and Don Eat Asia Day 29, Part 1)

Having had to ‘unfortunately’ take a free upgrade of our room from Elegance Ruby to their more upmarket Elegance Diamond, we now had a bit further to walk to get to Pho Gia Truyen – the Old Quarter pho shop that is so good that they sell out of their noodle soup by not long after midday.  Alissa had wanted to do the touristy trishaw ride at least once. We decided that now was as good a time as any, so we took the trishaw to the restaurant's location on Bat Dan St. When we got there, the trishaw driver commented that ‘this is a very good shop’ before asking we wanted a ride back later. I thanked him but declined, pointing at my stomach and saying that we needed the exercise. He laughed, and we went on our way into the restaurant.

At first Alissa and I were a bit confused as to how to order the pho, as the shop seemed to have an entirely local clientele with no English signage at all to cater for tourists. Thankfully, a nice local was able to explain to us that you can order either raw or cooked beef, and then passed on our order to the staff.  After a short wait, two steaming hot bowls of pho were given to us.

This was phenomenal pho – there was a very marine umami richness to the broth that was altogether gutsier and more delicious than the pho at Pho 10, and the noodles themselves were of a better texture. I’m guessing it was a generous quantity of fish sauce and a lengthy boiling of beef bones that made this great, but I wouldn’t be surprised if some other secret ingredients were involved to get the broth to be so flavoursome. This was easily the best pho either of us have ever eaten, truly excellent.

There is one caveat though – this place was absolutely filthy, with discarded tissues and napkins of previous customers unashamedly littering the floor. While I took the cut chilli, I dared not add the chilli sauce that was on the table given that there was no way of knowing how long it was sitting there. As with the questionable hygiene of Bun Cha Dac Kim, I’d contend that if you want to eat the most delicious versions of a dish in Vietnam you’ve just bite the bullet when it comes to the local eateries, take precautions by not adding things like communal shared sauces and pickles and just pray that traveller’s diarrhoea does not set in.

The Verdict: Excellent
As someone who loves a good bowl of noodles, I was very satisfied with the meal – definitely a step up from the more sanitized fare available at Pho 10. Of course, the messiness of the restaurant might be a bit off-putting, but if you really want to try an excellent bowl of pho, Pho Gia Truyen cannot come more recommended. 

Pho 10, Hanoi, Vietnam (Alissa and Don Eat Asia Day 22, Part 2)

While were in a bookshop in Perth, I came across a book published by Phaidon called 'Where Chefs Eat'. At this stage Hong Kong's dining experiences had been long planned and booked, India's had largely taken shape and at least the Iggy's reservation had been made. Hanoi on the other hand was another story. Typing in 'best restaurants Hanoi' into Google during lunch breaks was not very conclusive, and it was only after digging deeper into the food blogs that I found some of the really exceptional places for the Vietnam leg. So finding a book that could give us some indication of where we should be eating was very useful. I skipped straight to the Hanoi page and found Pho 10 as a recommendation. I did my research and they were certainly one of the names most mentioned on the blogs as one of the places to go for a good bowl of pho in the Old Quarter, along with Pho Gia Truyen.

I was told Pho Gia Truyen were so popular that the sell out by midday, so we made Pho 10 one of our first night meals (being greedy foodies, Banh Mi was also on the agenda). Located in the Old Quarter within walking distance of our hotel, it was not hard to find - especially given its bright orange sign. Walking in what struck me was that while it was very simple in design and comfort level, it was very clean and orderly with the small kitchen separated from the diners by a glass partition.

We ordered the pho with the raw beef that would cook in the broth as we ate it. Having eaten at a few of the pho joints throughout Perth, it was instantly recognisable as a better, more focused version of the dish I've known and loved. However in its focus there was something slightly sterile about it - like it had been cleaned up of its 'streetness' to some degree and in its refinement had lost something of itself. Its hard to describe - the dish was very well executed in all ways and was very enjoyable, but there was just something special missing in it.

The Verdict: Very Good

Don't get me wrong - Alissa and I definitely enjoyed this pho, and it was as good or better than the best you can get in Perth. Its just that looking back on our time in Hanoi we'd rather eat Cha Ca La Vong or bun cha over pho at Pho 10. Eating at Pho Gia Truyen later made it clear that while Pho 10 was clean and thus tourist friendly, the filthy tissues-all-over-the-ground environs of Pho Gia Truyen housed a far superior version of this dish that had a richer, more umami flavour to it and a gutsiness that the good but safe pho at Pho 10 lacked. Which is perhaps no so much a reflection on how good Pho 10 is, but just how high the standards of the best food can be in Hanoi.