From the corner of the pho restaurant, the fragrant smell of burning garlic wafted out. The chef quickly stirred batches of fresh beef in a small, deep pan, making a pleasant sizzling sound and the flames attracted the eyes.

The rich, fatty rare beef pho with clear, sweet broth is the restaurant's best-selling dish. Especially the beef shank, people slice it, people stir-fry it, it's sold out as soon as it's out of the oven.

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The pho restaurant is crowded every morning.

Mrs. Van (the restaurant owner) confided that she and her husband both love pho so they often cook it at home. 30 years ago, they opened the restaurant to make a living. Until now, she still maintains the habit of eating pho every day.

The restaurant used to open at the intersection of Hang Chieu and Nguyen Thien Thuat streets, then moved to O Quan Chuong, so many customers still call it "Pho Van Hang Chieu".

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Mrs. Van works hard to sell pho at the age of 70.

Mrs. Van sat next to the steaming pot of broth, quickly making each bowl of rare, rare flank, corn, red wine sauce... for the diners. At the age of 70, she is still very agile and highly focused so as not to make mistakes in the dishes ordered by the customers.

Ms. Van said that to keep customers, the ingredients must always be fresh, delicious, and of good quality. Bones and meat are ordered separately from reputable establishments and delivered every morning. "I will return old, frozen, and poor quality goods immediately," she said.

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The owner is very careful in importing raw materials.

With the rare beef dish, the meat is sliced ​​and sold as it is. The fresh meat is quickly stir-fried over high heat to ensure sweetness and richness without burning or drying out. Add crushed garlic and onions for an attractive aroma.

Mrs. Van blanchs the rice noodles in water, places them in a bowl, and sprinkles them with chopped green onions. The rare beef rolls are added last, then ladled with hot broth. The broth is clear, so eating it with rare beef rolls is not boring.

The restaurant's "fiery" rare dish is popular with customers.

For the broth, Ms. Van said, the bones are carefully processed to remove the odor. The broth does not use grilled onions or grilled ginger, but uses fresh onions, fresh ginger, and a little cinnamon and star anise to create a fragrant aroma.

The broth is simmered for 12-15 hours. "The restaurant's specialty is clear broth. Making clear broth is actually not difficult, the difficulty lies in how to make it clear but still sweet and rich," said Ms. Van.

The special thing about Mrs. Van's pho is that each bowl of pho has a small spoon of anchovy fish sauce added to create flavor and aroma. If you prefer bland food, you should inform the restaurant owner in advance.

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Mrs. Van adds fish sauce to the pho bowl before pouring the broth.

The restaurant's pho noodles are soft, thin, and soaked in broth. The noodles are always hot until the end of the bowl.

Her pho costs from 45,000 to 80,000 VND/bowl. The bowl of pho is quite full. The brisket is crispy, cut into large pieces, of moderate thickness. The rare meat is soft and fresh. The meat used to make the restaurant's red wine sauce is beef tendon and brisket, not flabby meat.

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According to diners' experience, the restaurant's broth is already delicious, so don't rush to add chili sauce or garlic vinegar.

The restaurant is crowded but the waiting time is not too long, because the owner and staff are quick. As for the rare pho dish, the restaurant only makes it when ordered, so the waiting time is about 10 minutes.

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Ms. Le Phuong is a regular customer of the restaurant. She really likes the flavor of the broth here.

Pho Van is open every day of the week from 6am to 12:30pm. Every morning, the restaurant can sell out several hundred bowls.

Japanese tourist tries famous pho in Hanoi at 4am, admits it's 'worth waking up early to eat' Trying famous pho in Hanoi at 4am, the Japanese tourist kept nodding, praising the thin and smooth pho noodles, and the tender beef stew, so delicious it's "worth waking up early to eat".