How to order phở in Hà Nội (and what to say)

Phở is breakfast in Hà Nội. Most stalls open before six, cook one thing, and sell out by mid-morning. Here is everything you need to sit down and order like you have done it a hundred times.

1. Pick the meat

• Phở bò: beef. The classic, and what most stalls sell.
• Phở gà: chicken. A lighter, clearer broth, usually at stalls that sell only chicken.

One stall, one broth. If the sign out front says phở bò, don’t ask for chicken.

2. Pick the cut

• Tái: thin slices of raw beef that cook in the hot broth in front of you.
• Chín: well-done brisket, sliced.
• Tái lăn: beef flash-fried with garlic before it goes in the bowl. Smoky, very Hà Nội.
• Nạm (flank), gầu (fatty brisket), gân (tendon): for when you are ready.
• Đặc biệt: “special”, a bit of everything.

3. Say it

Put it together: “Cho tôi một bát phở bò tái.” One bowl of rare beef phở, please. Two bowls is hai bát, three is ba bát. In Sài Gòn a bowl is a tô, not a bát.

• Không hành: no spring onion.
• Thêm thịt: extra meat.
• Trứng chần: an egg yolk blanched in the broth, served on the side. Ask for it.
• Quẩy: fried dough sticks for dunking. They are often already on the table; you pay for the ones you eat.

4. Season at the table

Hà Nội phở arrives almost finished. On the table you will find lime (chanh), fresh chilli, chilli sauce and garlic in vinegar (tỏi ngâm giấm). Taste the broth first, then add a squeeze of lime and a few slices of garlic.

A big plate of herbs and bean sprouts, and hoisin sauce, are a southern habit. In Hà Nội, don’t be surprised if there are none.

5. Eat, then pay

Chopsticks in one hand, spoon in the other. Lean over the bowl; slurping is fine. Pay at the end, at the counter or to whoever served you: “Bao nhiêu tiền?” means “how much?”. At the time of writing a bowl at a street stall costs about 40,000–70,000₫ (roughly $1.50–3).

Where to start

Our Dawn Phở Run starts at 6 a.m. in the Old Quarter: you see the broth that simmered all night, then eat at two rival stalls and vote.