Best Pho in Ho Chi Minh – Top 10 Ultimate 2024 Guide
I ate my way through over 10 bowls of Pho to find the best pho in Ho Chi Minh City to recommend to you. Travelers are expected to eat at least one bowl of pho while visiting Vietnam, so I wanted to make sure you had an epic list to choose from.
I created this list with my operations manager, Ms. Chau. With each of us giving our ratings for each pho that we tried. I only included my ratings of each bowl on this blog to avoid confusion, but you can see her rankings in the videos below.
I made this list by focusing on vendors and restaurants that were easy to get to for travelers and would most likely be open the day that you visited. Guides that recommend many street food vendors will be incredibly hit or miss if they are open for the day, so for now, only one of those types of locations is included on this list.
Don’t Have Time To Read?
Here are our Top 3 Recommendations!
Remember, taste is subjective, so my favorite bowl may not be yours, but this list is a great reference point for travelers searching out their bowl of pho.
I’ve created a video of me tasting and rating all of these bowls of Pho, which you can find throughout the blog. If you want to learn more about where to eat in Ho Chi Minh City, you can also check out our Ho Chi Minh Food Guide, which not only recommends small local restaurants but more up-scale restaurants as well!
⏰What’s the Best Time to Eat Pho in Saigon?
I’ll put this at the top of this best pho in ho chi minh article to help you not waste time. Many, many great little pho stalls are only open in the morning. That’s why most of my recommendations in this article are for restaurants that are established and open for most of the day. I don’t want to see you guys and girls waste your time traveling to a little vendor you read about only to find out they are sold out and closed by 8 am!
🤔What to order in my Pho?
I ordered Tai, Gau, and Bo Vien in my reviews below, which translates to tenderloin, brisket, and beef meatballs. Most pho menus have other options, though! If you order “Dac Biet” which is like a special bowl, you’ll get a little bit of everything. I don’t always think this is the best for a traveler as some of the textures on things like Tendon or really fatty pieces aren’t really suitable for some people. If you know that’s you, totally okay! Just order your bowl with the good stuff you like so there is more for you to eat!
Items on the Pho Menu:
- Tái – Rare beef slices
- Chín – Well-done brisket
- Nạm – Flank steak
- Gầu – Fatty brisket
- Gân – Tendon
- Sách – Tripe
- Ức – Beef brisket and flank combo (Special combination)
- Bò Viên – Beef meatballs
How Much Is Pho in HCMC?
Food in Vietnam is cheap compared to prices in places like Australia and the US where a bowl of Pho might cost you $12-$18. Nearly all of the bowls that I ate to create this list cost about 70-85,000 VND per bowl, which is about $3 USD. For a traveler, that’s cheap, but Vietnamese would consider this an expensive bowl of Pho. Your average bowl of Pho from a street food vendor will be about $2 USD and for a nicer bowl of Pho the average cost is between $3-$5 USD.
Best Pho In Saigon Video Pt.1
🍜Pho Le
📍Location: 415 Nguyen Trai Street, District 5
⏰Open: 6 AM – 12 AM
💸Price: 90-100,000 VND
🌟Star Rating: 4.3/5
💡 Tips: If you are a foodie looking for the best bowl, then the trip out to District 5 to eat here is worth it.
As I was making The Best Pho in Ho Chi Minh content for this blog and YouTube videos, I saved the trip to Pho Le for the last spot because it was close to my house, and wanted to save it for the very last video shoot. I didn’t expect to be so nervous to try this bowl! This has been our recommendation to customers for many years and a spot that we have used on our city tours as a lunch, and we use it anytime a customer on a private tour requests a bowl of pho.
Why so nervous? What if it wasn’t the best bowl of pho in Ho Chi Minh City anymore? I had just finished tasting some amazing bowls, and I felt worried that this wouldn’t stand up anymore as the #1 overall bowl for me. Well, no need to worry! This is still the best pho in Ho Chi Minh City. In my opinion, of course!
While leaning towards the sweet side, the broth here feels like the most complete broth among anything I have eaten in the city. It hits all the right notes of salty while keeping the flavor profile of a Southern Pho. Those background flavors I love are there, and you can feel it, but it doesn’t become too overwhelming. The meat here is always great. I didn’t get the brisket on this tasting, but the flank steak was cooked perfectly. Overall, this is the true winner for me!
🍜Pho Viet Nam
📍Location: 14 Pham Hong Thai, District 1
⏰Open: 6 AM – 3 AM
💸Price: 100.000 VND (~$5) per serving
🌟Star Rating: 4.1/5
💡 Tips: This is easily walked to from the city center! This is a great bowl of Pho, if you are limited on time. This might be the one!
This Michelin-recommended Pho spot was new to me when I came here. I was immediately impressed when the bowl hit the table. Served in a hot bowl, the broth boils away, ready for you to add your raw beef tenderloin and fresh homemade pho noodles.
The broth’s flavor was excellent. I love it when a pho broth has background notes to it, adding depth to the enjoyment. The noodles were silky smooth and delicious. The meat was also of excellent quality, and I enjoyed the texture of their brisket a ton!
For me, this is a fantastic bowl of Pho. While not your traditional bowl and a bit more upscale, I found it delicious and highly recommend it. I didn’t put it in the top 3 recommendations for Best Pho In Ho Chi Minh City at the top of this blog, because its not exactly traditional and might not be for everyone!
🍜Pho Bo Phu Gia
📍Location: 146e Ly Chinh Thang, District 3
⏰Open: 6:30 am-11 am, 5pm-9pm
💸Price: ~ 70.000 VND (~$3-4) per serving
🌟Star Rating: 3.8/5
💡 Tips: This spot is not open in the afternoon, so plan to eat here for breakfast or dinner!
This popular Northern Style Pho eatery is a win! If you want a bowl of Pho that is filled with a strong beef flavor, lots of onions, and leans towards being salty over sweet, then don’t miss Pho Bo Phu Gia. I included this spot on our walking tour years ago but haven’t reopened that option since the pandemic. But if I did, this spot would make its way back onto the tour!
The broth has a simple flavor of beef, onion, and salt. The signature item is the beef tenderloin that has been wok-fried in beef fat and garlic! This adds a strong salty beef flavor to the bowl that should not be missed when you come here. While Ms. Chau loved the flavor and texture of the brisket, it was really my least favorite part of this bowl of Pho. If you like a chewier brisket texture, then go for it. If like me, you want a braised brisket that falls apart, just focus on the stir fried beef when you come.
Best Pho In Saigon Video Pt.2
🍜Pho Phu Vuong
📍Location: 120 Nguyen Thai Binh, District 1
⏰Open: 6 AM – 10 PM
💸Price: 65 – 85,000 VND (~$3-4) per serving
🌟Star Rating: 3.75/5
💡 Tips: Be careful with the Hoison sauce here. It is powerful. I recommend not adding it directly into your bowl until you have tasted it first. And for the first time, I enjoyed this bowl more before adding lime to the broth.
Years ago, I heard about this Pho restaurant from Eating Saigon’s blog. I wanted to try it, but the location was too far away. I just was never in that part of town much. Luckily for all of us, they opened this location in the city’s center, which is easily accessible from centrally located hotels.
The first time I had this pho, a few months before writing this article, I didn’t appreciate the aftertaste I got from the broth. I retried it before writing this article and in the video here. I believe my first opinion was wrong, and this bowl of Pho is extremely good and one of the best in town. The broth has a ton of flavor, the cuts of meat are significant (although this time around, I didn’t get good cuts of brisket; it was too fatty), and I enjoyed trying a couple of different chili sauces for dipping.
I recommend that both the taste and location make this a great bowl of pho to have in Saigon, especially if you are limited for time because of its great location!
🍜Pho Hung
📍Location: 243 Nguyen Trai Street, District 1
⏰Open: 6 AM – 3 AM
💸Price: 70-85,000 VND
🌟Star Rating: 3.1/5
💡 Tips: No Tips, just a delicious bowl of Southern Pho 🙂
I’ve known Pho Hung for quite some time as they were one of the better Pho restaurants providing delivery when I lived in District 4 from their old centrally located restaurant. During that time, I never thought of this bowl as standing out as much as it does to me now. The score of 3.1 was rather surprising as I didn’t expect it to be such a solid bowl of Pho and I really expected it to fall into more of the range of average.
The broth here is absolutely fantastic! It’s subtle but still has background flavors coming through to make the broth a bit more interesting. The cuts of meat and noodles are all very good! Overall a great bowl, not the best in the city, but a really good choice and I can see why some consider this bowl the best pho in Ho Chi Minh City. While it is not valid for me, I respect that opinion.
Pho Thin by Sol
📍Location: 27 Đ. Hải Triều, Bến Nghé, Quận 1, Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh
⏰Open: 6:30 AM – 12 AM
💸Price: ~ 70.000 VND – 150,000 VND
🌟Star Rating: 2.8/5
💡 Tips: They have a $32 dollar bowl of Pho if you want to give it a try! The other options like braised beef Pho were really good!
This Ha Noi-style Northern Pho has an excellent reputation in Ho Chi Minh City and is even my friend Chef Chad Kubanoff’s favorite bowl of Pho. With that being said, I really wanted to love this bowl, but it wasn’t as great as others I’ve had. As always, that’s a personal preference, so give it a try and see what you think! I just wish it was a bit less salty, and I would love more tender cuts of beef.
🍜Pho Hoa Pasteur
📍Location: 260C Pasteur, District 3
⏰Open: 6 AM – 12 AM
💸Price: 70.000 – 100,000 VND (~$3-5) per serving
🌟Star Rating: 2.7/5
💡 Tips: Do not skip using the donut in your soup! It was my favorite part! They also have chicken pho here if you don’t eat beef.
This Pho location has been open for many years, serving all day and night! Many locals and travelers love it. The bowl isn’t exactly what I’m looking for, but I still think it’s a good bowl of Pho. The location is excellent and just a short trip from popular tourist attractions in Ho Chi Minh City, like the War Remnants Museum.
The broth’s flavor is good; it’s far from bland but a bit shallow for me. The meat is nice; I enjoy how they chop their beef tenderloin. The flavor on the brisket cut is deep and beefy as well!
🍜Pho Hanh
📍Location: Alley 165 Cống Quỳnh Street, Pham Ngu Lao Ward, District 1, HCMC
⏰Open: 6 AM – 9 AM?
💸Price: ~ 40.000 VND
🌟Star Rating: 2.7/5
💡 Tips: This is the spot if you want a local experience. Her hours? Whenever she sells out.. so it’s not certain.
If someone asked me to show them a quintessential bowl of Southern Pho this would be a perfect example. This family of sisters has been open in this location in District 1 for over 40 years! Do not expect speed when you come here, as Ms. Chau said in our video, the highlight of this spot is how long you have to wait. Which is okay, you can see a lot of love going into each bowl of Pho she makes.
This Pho has a unique flavor to it, which is noticeable during the first taste of the broth. It was a bit sour to me on the first bite, actually, which is different than what I was expecting. For Ms. Chau, our operations manager here at Back of the Bike, this is a 5-star bowl of Pho, and nothing compares. Her love for this pho comes from the distinct taste of this vendor’s broth, which transports her back to her childhood days.
While, not my favorite bowl of pho, I love the atmosphere and history here. The highlight was the taste of the brisket and meat ball, for me. I thought it had a ton of strong beef flavor. If you are looking for that Anthony Bourdain experience of getting extremely local and maybe even feeling a bit uncomfortable with what to do, check this spot out. It’s walking distance from the back packer area of Ho Chi Minh City.
🍜Pho Quynh
📍Location: 323 Pham Ngu Lao, District 1
⏰Open: 8 AM – 3 AM
💸Price: 70-85,000 VND (~$3-4) per serving
🌟Star Rating: 2.5/5
💡 Tips: This restaurant also serves a dish I really enjoy called Bo Kho. Go ahead and order that as well to give it a try!
In the heart of the backpacker area of Ho Chi Minh City, Pho Quynh might be the most eaten bowl of Pho among travelers in Saigon. This was one of my first bowls of Pho in the city when I arrived in 2012. This is a decent bowl of Pho, especially if you are in the area and looking for something late at night or early morning.
The broth tastes average for me, but it has a lot of flavor. The meat left something to be desired as it was a bit too chewy for my liking, but the taste of the fat on the brisket was nice. Egg served in a little bowl on the side is also a nice touch!
🍜Pho Tau Bay (Yellow)
📍Location: 433 Ly Thai To, District 10
⏰Open: 6 AM – 12 AM
💸Price: 60-70,000 VND (~$3-4) per serving
🌟Star Rating: 2.5/5
💡 Tips: The separated twin of Pho Tau Bay red focuses on a more Northern-style flavor. Which translates into a saltier Broth. For me, this made the bowl a bit better.
This location is a perfect example if you are unfamiliar with the competition between businesses in Vietnam. A family separated by a business feud, serving the same dish right next to each other day after day. Somehow, they co-exist, but “friendly” isn’t the term I would use to describe the relationship between these two pho restaurants.
If you come here, be respectful and avoid referencing the other restaurant if you engage with the owners, even if you try one bowl here and then go next door to try another, which I recommend doing if you make your trip here.
For me, this Pho bowl had a saltier beef broth flavor. The brisket and tenderloin cuts didn’t stand out for me, though. This is a standard bowl of Pho, but it’s still good. We gave this a 2.5/5 Stars compared to 2.25/5 Stars because of that broth.
🍜Pho Tau Bay (Red)
📍Location: 435 Ly Thai To, District 10
⏰Open: 6 AM – 12 AM
💸Price: 60-70,000 VND (~$3-4) per serving
🌟Star Rating: 2.25/5
💡 Tips: This is a decent bowl of Pho, but I don’t know if it’s worth the expedition to this vendor. This vendor has been open since 1954, and it feels a bit like the recipe hasn’t changed, and I don’t know if that is for the best.
Surprisingly, I’ve passed up this pho location and its twin location next door a million times on our night food tour. I just never noticed it since they aren’t open at night. I was surprised to see it so highly recommended online when I researched our video and this article. It’s hard for me to say this because the owner was so lovely, but this bowl of pho is just average at both locations, as you’ll read below.
I think this recipe was an absolute killer in the past, but other vendors and locations have been outdone in recent years, yet the recipe remains the same. I believe this is most likely the type of Pho that an older Vietnamese person looking for a bowl of nostalgia should seek out. Younger people used to more recent Pho recipes should look elsewhere if they have a limited amount of time.
