Vietnamese noodles: a cultural pho-nomenon

At his three Hanoi restaurants, for example, he offers a salmon pho as well as a pho au fois gras priced at $10 a bowl—“you cannot put pho in a museum,” he said.

Not at the price you can't.

For the people who say pho is "easy," could you tell me how your roast your bones?

I believe there maybe one or two places in Kichijoji. One is called Miss Saigon. I stopped by there with my neighbor who is Vietnamese and the cook is from Vietnam. Although we didn't eat there, it looked like the real McCoy. Might be worth a try.

gaijin traveller - not that one. Actually been there and dont like the pho. Thi Thi is near book off, its basement floor so a little hard to find..they have a menu at street level. Try the banh mi there, its pretty close as well. Watch the chilli though.

pho is awesome...so is bun rieu and their viet style bbq...heaven

Is Thi Thi the Vietnamese place next to the JR Tracks on the sea side of the station a short walk from the end of the station nearest? There used to be a little place on the second floor in that area. The door used to rattle every time a train went past. You could see the place from the tracks. I thought the name was just "Vietnamese Restaurant".

Afanofjapan, if you boil the beef, at least you know the soup is made from beef and not a generic chemical artificially-flavoured soup from kapabashi. The restaurants in Japan probably won't take the trouble to boil the stock for 8+ hours either.

Most of the herbs can be bought from Thai food shops. If you go to the Thai food shops, you can probably find instant pho to which you can add fresh herbs, or you can buy rice noodles and start from there.

Thanks for the advice. Kamata is a bit out of the way, so will check out Miss Saigon soon.

Gaijintraveller - growing the herbs fine... but boiling the beef stock for 8+ hours? I would rather let someone else do that :-)

@ afanofjapan

Anyone know where to get good, authentic pho in Tokyo?

the pho here is "so so", prob not as good as the bankstown or cabramatta districts in Sydney, so i wouldnt compare. There are two places i recommend which are "close enough' , "miss saigon" in shibuya - near citibank, the lady is vietnamese and the pho is abit different but it tastes fairly authentic. The other one is called "Thi Thi" at Kamata, abit hard to find, but the pho is more authentic there (although abit salty) - owner is also vietnamese. I like this place since it has more variety. In both places the food is cheap - not like the rip off Japanese versions, which supposedly serve pho, but really just a bit of chicken broth, some chewy noodles, some negi and two little cha shew peices.

Anyone know where to get good, authentic pho in Tokyo?

You can't unless you grow the herbs yourself. You need fresh mint, which is comparatively easy to grow or get, sweet basil of the Thai/Vietnamese type, lemon basil and coriander. Some other herbs are often used as well. These should be served in copious quantities on a plate, not on your noodles. You should be able to add as much as you like to your noodles. Then you should also be given some raw garlic and fresh hot chilli, not the mild Japanese variety.

Anyone know where to get good, authentic pho in Tokyo?

Not talking about the watered down, coriander-removed junk they serve in the places i have been to so far. I understand they are modifying it to suit Japanese tastes, but I miss the stuff i got in the grimy restaurants in the vietnamese areas in Sydney (havent been to Vietnam, but my Vietnamese friends tell me that the stuff they serve in Sydney is right up there)

continually raising the standard: recipe for becoming rich and capitalist.

First: Tea in bags

Second: cook tea in wine

Third: extract antioxidants

4th: antioxidants in delicious tablet sales - more than you eat, the more weight you lose.

5th: antioxidant mixing pills in iced tea and sale

Americans are now shifting Chinese to Vietnamese cusine as the Vietnamese use less oil.

I have many herbs (basil, mint, cilantro) always available in my refregirator to prepare Vietnamese Pho and Bun bowl. They are not hard to make. I also love fresh rice paper rolls stuffed with shrimp, meat, all herbs with penut sauce.

"For me Vietnamese cuisine is the best in the world.”

Very stupid to argue with a chef knife in/at hand.

Hardworking people using fresh organic ingredients from volcanic soils. =Only the chef can mess it up. Pho noodles are rice noodles -good for the gluten-free people + the veggies.

Outsiders do not understand how people can tell differences in food (e.g. rice) quality. -but it is a big deal.

pho is good, i grant you that. But ........... Corlou said. “For me Vietnamese cuisine is the best in the world.”

Surely you jest.

ah, no Pho restaurants around here...

Pho was already the plan for dinner tonight, now my mouth is really watering. Can't wait for a big bowl of deliciousness.

Pho is a work of art, especially with a shot of fresh lime juice, a sprinking of raw chiilis and a fistful of Thai basil.