EDITORIAL NOTE

Ho Chi Minh City is a favorite destination for many foreign tourists not only because of its beautiful scenery but also because of its diverse cuisine with many delicious dishes.

VietNamNet newspaper introduces a series of articles " Foreign visitors try Vietnamese food in Ho Chi Minh City " about the experiences of international visitors when enjoying Vietnamese food in this city.

Max McFarlin (from Arkansas, USA) is a famous YouTuber in Vietnam with a personal channel of more than 715,000 followers. He often shares videos about culinary experiences in some provinces and cities that he has the opportunity to visit.

In a video posted about "giant" sized dishes with prices ranging from cheap to expensive in Ho Chi Minh City, Max introduces the unique giant pho dish that he has enjoyed and loved.

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Max brought the "huge" bowl himself to a local pho restaurant on Le Lai Street (Tan Binh District, HCMC).

The place where American tourists enjoy the "giant" pho is a restaurant hidden in an alley on Le Lai Street (Tan Binh District).

Interestingly, the restaurant does not have large pho available, it only serves when customers bring their own bowl and want to enjoy the meal on request. Therefore, Max proactively brought a bowl that is several times larger than the usual bowls here.

The American YouTuber revealed that his bowl of pho is served with a portion equal to 4 regular servings, priced at 180,000 VND, including all kinds of toppings (side dishes) such as rare beef, beef tendon, flank, brisket, beef balls...

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The "giant" bowl of pho that an American YouTuber enjoyed in Ho Chi Minh City

To fully appreciate the original flavor of the beef pho here, Max tasted the broth first before adding the spices. He exclaimed with delight, praising that “the broth touches the soul” because it has a natural sweetness and is not greasy.

Next, the Western guest chopped herbs, added a little lemon and garlic vinegar to the bowl of pho and enjoyed it. Max commented that the beef was fresh and tender. The pho noodles were thin, soft and easy to eat.

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Max tasted the broth and exclaimed how delicious it was.

He rated the dish as visually appealing with the pinkish red of the rare beef, the white of the noodles and the green of the herbs. “It’s a blessing to be able to eat pho with so many herbs like this in Vietnam,” Max said.

The handsome YouTuber also expressed his impression of the taste of the beef balls.

“Beef balls are simply made from ground beef and fat, with some spices like sugar, pepper, etc., but have a surprisingly soft texture and rich flavor, completely different from sausages,” he added.

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Western guests continuously expressed satisfaction while enjoying a large bowl of pho.

According to Max, the highlight of the pho here is the thick black bean dipping sauce that the restaurant mixes according to its own secret recipe.

At the end of the meal, the Western guest commented that the large pho was excellent, both in taste and appearance. He was even surprised and touched when the restaurant owner refused to charge him, offering him a free bowl of special pho that was just enough to eat.

“The restaurant does not serve that giant pho. If you want to try it, you have to bring your own bowl,” he emphasized.

Sharing with VietNamNet reporter, Ms. Huynh Thi Yen Xuan - owner of the pho restaurant that Max visited said that the restaurant has been open for more than 30 years.

Previously, her mother-in-law, Ms. Hoang Thi Kim Lan, opened a restaurant selling beef noodle soup. After taking over her mother's business, Ms. Xuan also sold beef noodle soup and received a lot of support from customers.

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The restaurant serves beef pho with many toppings, priced from 45,000 - 55,000 VND/serving. Photo: Pho Xuan

The owner said that the broth for the restaurant's pho is mainly simmered from beef bones and beef for more than 12 hours to ensure a natural sweet taste.

The pho noodles used are fresh every day and guaranteed to be borax-free.

The restaurant opens from 3:30 p.m. to 2 a.m. the next morning, serving many types of pho with side dishes such as brisket, flank, rare, tendon and beef balls.

Photo: Mac Oi

Vietnamese woman sells sweet soup on truck in Australia, sells hundreds of cups a day . The shop of the woman from Quang Binh is located in one of the largest Vietnamese areas in Australia with a menu of many dishes such as mixed sweet soup, grapefruit sweet soup, sweet potato sweet soup, etc.