As an international student from Vietnam, I occasionally get bouts of homesickness and the only way I can cure it is to get a taste of home. Out of all the Vietnamese dishes, pho is the humble noodle soup that has gone international. On the outside, it is a simple dish with rice noodles and a clear broth, topped off with meat and garnish (Vietnamese basil, bean sprouts and onions). Traditionally, pho is served with beef or chicken. But don’t be deceived by its effortlessness because flavours are complex and rich.
So I set out to find the best pho in London.
1. Viet Food
Located right on the edge of Chinatown, Viet Food is run by an ex-Hakkasan chef, bringing a more elevated taste to traditional Vietnamese street food. They pride themselves on the quality of their ingredients and keeping their dishes healthy with no preservatives and added colouring. Viet Food offers pho with some variation from the traditional beef to chicken and even prawns! The broth was quite flavourful and the beef was cooked to perfection. Sadly, the noodles were quite thick and weren’t delicate at all. The price was also on the higher end — but then again, their portions are huge!
Taste: 6/10
Authenticity: 6/10
Price: 5/10
2. Viet Eat
Viet Eat is a casual and friendly restaurant right next to Holborn station. Much like Viet Food, their menu is focused on offering the best and most authentic Vietnamese street food to Londoners. Their pho comes with beef, corn-fed chicken, prawns and tofu (vegetarians rejoice!) and it was one of the best broths out of all of the ones I tried: clear and flavoursome! They went a little overboard on garnish, but hey — that might be your thing! Viet Eat gets extra points for the fact that you can order fried dough-sticks to go with your pho — props to them!
#SpoonTip: If you ever do visit, their Vietnamese baguettes (banh mi) are to die for!
Taste: 7/10
Authenticity: 8/10
Price: 5/10
3. Sen Viet
This cosy restaurant is situated in the quieter part of King’s Cross. Rather than serving Vietnamese street food, it has more of a home-cooked vibe to it. The menu is extensive, serving up not only pho, but also other traditional noodle soups, which contributed to the more authentic impression that it gave. Their pho comes in all of the regular combinations with the choice of a small or large portion. Since this was both cheapest that I tried and very close to home in authenticity, it’s definitely good value for mony. The broth was rich and full of flavour; the noodles were soft and delicate. There was also just enough garnish to satisfy!
Taste: 8/10
Authenticity: 9/10
Price: A gigantic 10/10!
4. BúnBúnBún
Although BúnBúnBún specialises more in vermicelli noodles, I wanted to try out the pho anyway. BúnBúnBún was by far one of my favourites atmospherically — I loved the brightness and minimal decor of the restaurant. The pho portion was huge, but it was also the most expensive out of this whole list despite offering the same variations in pho as the other restaurants did. However, this one ticked all my boxes and I was not disappointed. Although the price is definitely on the higher end, it was worth it!
Taste: 8/10
Authenticity: 8/10
Price: 4/10
Conclusion
After trying out these 4 places, Sen Viet was the only true winner! I genuinely enjoyed the food there and not only was their pho great but most other dishes were good too! The menu was the most authentic and there was no fancy modern twist to things. All the other places had commendable traits but in terms of taste, Sen Viet takes the cake.