We arrived at our hotel in the city centre just before lunch time, which was a bonus because we were able to relax, recover from the long ordeal the night before and freshen up before going out for lunch. It took us actually some time to get out of the airport because of my visa. I will post a separate entry about this soon, as well about the hotel we stayed at.
A lovely spread of our delicious pho lunch.
The restaurant is located on top of the Coffee Bean Company Cafe besisde Ben Thanh market.
We found out about the restaurant courtesy of our hotel, the Avanti Hotel. Upon check-in they gave us a few 10% discount coupons of Pho 2000. It was very timing as we were looking for a restaurant to have lunch. Well, why not? The bellboy told us that it’s just around the corner above a coffee shop. At least my mom does not have to walk that far and we can check out the Ben Thanh market across after lunching.
When we arrived at the restaurant, one of the female personnel quickly noticed my mom’s walking stick and assisted her. The stairs were a bit steep but with proper assistance my mom was able to climb to the upper floor where Pho 2000 is located.
The restaurant seemed to be very popular because it was full with guests, and mostly foreigners. I was already thinking – Is this a tourist trap? But if it is, then the food must be good?
This is the scene when we arrived. So busy, eh!
I ordered the 333 beer for myself.
Not sure what my sister is doing here.
We were quickly given a table and then we ordered the restaurant’s specialty – Pho, the national dish of the country.
So what is pho actually? Pho is Vietnamese noodle soup. It basically refers to the white flat silky rice noodles but the broth is what makes it a magical dish.
I could not wait to eat and slurp my pho discreetly, haha. My dad and sister ordered the same thing, a standard bowl of seafood based pho. My mom had a chicken pho, while I had the beef. We noticed that they were serving large bowls so we made sure that we do not end up with it. We insisted to the wait staff that we want the standard order by pointing to the size of a normal standard bowl.
We did not really waited that long because the service here at Pho 2000 was really quick.
With the pho came some garnishing such as chili peppers, coriander, bean sprouts, Thai basil, and culantro. I love all these garnishing. They are like art to me. I love the heat and the extra taste. The Thai basil, coriander and culantro have a special taste and aroma so not everyone really likes to eat this. My family for example ignored them. I just wished they gave us fresh raw bean sprouts instead of steamed ones.
Here’s the real thing. When I tasted my pho? It was lovely. Like the whole world of Vietnamese cuisine opened up to me and cradled me in her arms. So poetic haha but I really felt so good when I slurped, albeit discreetly, my pho. This is one of the best noodle soups I have tasted. The broth really made a huge difference. This was much better than the noodles I have had in Xiamen. My mom, dad and sister also said that their pho were very good.
The chicken pho.
The seafood pho.
The garnishing: chili, bean sprouts, Thail basil, coriander, culantro.
This is my beef pho. Delicious.
And oh, after gorging down the pho we saw pictures of Bill Clinton and Chelsea on the wall. It looks like the Clintons visited the restaurant many years ago and they used this to market their business. Well, we came here not because of the Clintons really or someone tipped us that this is best pho in Saigon. We came here because of the 10% discount coupon and that it is just a few minutes’ walk from our hotel. That practical, haha.
This was just the start of our foray into Vietnamese food and I am already liking it. I have eaten Vietnamese food before but I have a feeling that Vietnamese food is going to become a favourite of mine after this holiday.
The Pho 2000 discount coupon we got from our hotel and pictures of Bill Clinton and Chelsea on the walls of the restaurant.
The restaurant is located on the corner, right under the Mitsubishi Electric above the Coffee Bean Company Cafe. This is across Ben Thanh market. It is very easy to find.
Travel Period: December 2016
Destination: Ho Chi Minh City (Southeast), Vietnam
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Happy Travels! Enjoy Life =)
All pictures were taken by a point and shoot pocket camera or a smartphone.